Cannot print directly to the printer

[Bryan_Kelly]

Windows 11, HP Office Jet Pro 9125e

Only one printer is installed on this computer. When printing there are two HP options: 

HP Office Jet Pro 9120e [HPID84000] 

HP Smart Printing                    the default printer

When printing to the first item, nothing ever prints.  The “Printer” field displays

connecting to printer...

and hangs there.  The escape key must be pressed to continue.  Just now when trying to print, and it hung. pressed Escape then had to close MS Word to continue.

The HP Smart Printing option usually works, but takes a long time and requires clicking a second Print button.

This complaint was triggered when it would not print one specific PDF document. Click ctl-p, leave HP Smart Printing selected, click the Print button.  After failing several times, and two reboots, I was able to print that document.

Why might I not be able to print directly to the printer rather than through HP Smart Printing? 

[Garp_senchau · Accepted solution]

@Bryan_Kelly, Welcome to HP Support Community,

Thank you for posting your query; I’m here to help by guiding you through steps to resolve this issue

1. HP OfficeJet Pro 9120e [HPID84000]

This is likely the real device driver, but it's not connected properly, or it’s broken.

The “connecting to printer…” hang means Windows can't find or talk to the printer over the network or via USB.

2. HP Smart Printing (default)

This is the cloud-based printing proxy HP installs through the HP Smart App.

It prints via a cloud service or handles print jobs in a virtual queue.

It works, but it's slower and often less reliable for certain file types (like PDFs), especially if not fully synced.

Let’s set up the printer correctly, bypassing HP Smart Printing when possible.

Remove All Current HP Printer Entries

Open Control Panel > Devices and Printers.

Right-click and remove both:

HP OfficeJet Pro 9120e [HPID84000]

HP Smart Printing

Reinstall with Full HP Driver (Not Just Smart App)

Download the full software and Driver Package from HP:
HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e All-in-One Printer Software and Driver Downloads | HP® Support

During install:

Choose USB or Manual IP (not WSD or Auto).

Opt out of HP+ Smart Print, if prompted.

Set this as the default printer.

After install, go to Devices and Printers and confirm you only see one printer, like:

HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e (Network) or similar — NOT HP Smart Printing or HP Universal.

I hope this helps.

Please feel free to reply here if you have any questions or if you need further clarification on any of the steps. 

Take care and have a good day. 

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going!

Regards,

[Bryan_Kelly]

Yes, that was helpful.  It required a bunch of dialogs and options. It wanted me to to install stuff from Driver Support One and they wanted to charge me $9.95 a month.  No.  Several times it wanted to install HP Smart, but I declined those, and eventually the printer was installed.  It seems to be working.

Thank you for your time and that comprehensive reply.

[Garp_senchau]

Hey @Bryan_Kelly,

Thanks for letting us help you out! If you're all set, please mark this post as 'Accepted Solution' so I can do a virtual happy dance! 

If you need anything else, I'm all ears (or rather, all text). Just let me know! 

You're awesome, and I'm honored to have been your go-to guide today! 

Stay fantastic, and have an amazing day ahead! 

Regards,