HP OfficeJet Pro 6960 and Mac won't connect

[MoreTea]

I can't get my Mac to print to my HP OfficeJet Pro 6960. I've been using the HP with the Mac for nearly 18 months, successfully. Although the router was up and working, and the printer connected to it, and the printer the only one listed on the list of printers, it was not waking the printer up.  The message on the printer proxy dialog box was that the printer was not connected.

I tried various ways of getting around this: turn printer off and then on again; soft-reboot the router with the reboot button; delete the file to be printed and restart the printing sequence; hard-reboot the router (unplug, wait 30+ seconds, plug in again); various combinations, in various orders of those things. Eventually I decided to try to delete the printer from the Mac's list of printers and add it on again. MISTAKE! It went off the list and I have not been able to "find" the printer from the Mac ever since.

I then downloaded the HP Easy Start app for Mac and, at the "Prepare printer for setup" page, had done all the checks it asked me to, then clicked "Continue", at which point it went to the "Connect" page, gave me the spinning arrow for a while and then the message, "No devices have been found". I clicked the Information button to find the official tips for what else to do and went through all the wireless connection info. I used the "Restore Network Settings" option on the printer itself, used the Wireless Setup Wizard and made sure the printer and router were connected. I even went into the Mac's Network Utility and used the Ping function to ping the printer's IP address,  where I got the results,

          --- 192.168.1.218 ping statistics ---

          10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0.0% packet loss

          round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 7.444/29.608/95.228/24.748 ms

So it's obviously "there" in some senses, but the Mac won't find it to use it.

**HOW** can I get the Mac and the printer to acknowledge one another? I can print off the other Macs in the house, and off my iPhone, so the printer is obviously listening to them via the router. I want to get my MacBook Pro back in touch with it. What must I do?

System:  MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) with 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 processor, running OS Mojave 10.14.6

[MoreTea]

OK, I've got the printer up on the System Preferences "Printers & Scanners" list by clicking the "+" symbol, then opting for an IP address and entering the printer's local IP address. It's currently printing my document from my phone, so I haven't been able to test it printing yet, but since it appears as a printer and is identified as an HP OfficeJet Pro 6960 using AirPrint, I have to work on the assumption (for now) that when I try to print it will work. When the doc that's currently printing finishes, I can test that. Watch this space.

[MoreTea]

Success!

[B_Will]

So the printer IP address does not change, you should set a static IP address on the printer.

If you don't know how, then try

AUTO STATIC IP
https://supportvideos.ext.hp.com/detail/video/1972074076001/assigning-your-hp-printer-a-static-ip-ad...

[rromf]

 I have the same issue with an HPOfficeJet All-in-one 8620 and I have done everything suggested here, including adding the printer using it's IP address on our network. I've even given the printer (when I could still reach it) a static IP address. Now I can't get my Mac (Catalina) to communicate with the HP. I generally can print from iPad/iPhone. Any other suggestions? Thank you,

[MoreTea]

OK, that worked up to a point, but I'm still having problems. 

I can't use the scan function at all, and I still can't install the printer from System Preferences in the usual way (clicking the [+] button on the Printers and Scanners section of System Preferences).

[MoreTea]

For months I had just given up on this. Now I determined to try again, so I just tried the HP Easy Start app again, and I still have the same outcome.

On the Prepare the Printer for Setup page it tells me to: 

1. Make sure the printer is plugged into a power source (well, DUH!).
2. Make sure the printer is turned ON (OK, I get it, this is for real dummies).
3. For wireless printer setup, remove any Ethernet or USB cables that might be connected to your printer.

I did all that (it's not rocket science--see 1 and 2 above). Then I clicked [Continue].

That sent me to the next page, Connect, which gave me a turning wheel/circle graphic, then told me, No devices have been found.

That is absurd. Just moments before I had printed from the computer, but now the app on the computer couldn't find the printer. I want to use it as a scanner as well as a printer, but how can I if it won't install???

Please, SOMEBODY, please...

HELP ME!

[rromf]

All: Giving the printer a static IP address didn’t help. Nothing seemed to work. Interestingly, I reset my router to its factory settings and haven’t had an issue since with the printer. Odd.