HP Officejet Pro 8600 does not print or export Excel comments at end of sheet

[APLAV]

In Excel, I have printed worksheet comments "at end of sheet" for years, yet suddenly my HP Officejet Pro 8600 does not print the comments but prints black lines instead (like redacted stripes--photo attached below), and when I export those worksheets to PDF with "comments at end of sheet," the pages for comments are attached but they are blank pages.

If I create a brand new Excel worksheet with "comments at end of sheet" and print that, the comments print normally. However, if I export this same new worksheet to PDF with "comments at end of sheet," a blank page is inserted at the end and the comments are completely gone--a blank page in PDF.

So with my HP Officejet Pro 8600, export with comments at end of sheet does not work in new or existing worksheets. And print comments at end of sheet does not work with existing worksheets, but does work with new worksheets. (Prints normally with Word, web pages, etc.)

My attempts at solutions:

1. At the Microsoft Support, I have followed all their suggestions, including finally uninstalling all Office software and reinstalling, and it did not fix the problem. Microsoft says that it's an HP printer problem, even with the export to PDF because Excel uses the printer driver to do that.

2. From the HP Support Community, I have uninstalled the printer software via Apps and Features > Uninstall. And from the Device Manager. Then followed the "remove printer software from printer properties via "Print server properties" > Drivers tab > Remove. Restart.

3. From the HP driver link I installed OJ8600_1316.exe (134.2 MB). Restart. Print test page--successful. Print Excel worksheet with comments at end--fail/black lines redacted on comments sheet (photo attached) (worksheet page printed perfectly). Exported Excel worksheet to PDF with comments at end--fail/blank pages at end of document (worksheet page PDF'd perfectly).  Created new Excel worksheet and printed comments--successful (worksheet + comments printed). Same new Excel worksheet export to PDF--fail/blank page at end of document (worksheet page PDF'd perfectly).

Please help me find a solution to export with comments and print with comments in Excel to my HP Officeject Pro 8600. Thank you.

[Betty0610]

@APLAV

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Let's try to do a root uninstall and reinstall of the software:

Unplug any USB cable, if any, before doing this.

1.) In Windows, search for and open Programs and features

2.) Select your HP Printer

3.) Select Uninstall

4.) In Windows, search for and open Devices and printers

5.) In the Devices and Printers windows look for your HP printer. If you see it listed right-click on it and choose 'Delete' or 'Remove Device'

6.) Open up the run command with the "Windows key + R" key combo.

7.) Type printui.exe /s and click Ok. (Note: there is a space in between “printui.exe” and “/s”)

8.) Click on the "Drivers" tab

9.) Look for HP Printer driver. If you see it Click on it and click Remove at the bottom

10.) Select Ok

11.) Select Apply and Ok on the Print Server Properties windows

12.) Close Devices and Printers

13.) Open up the run command with the "Windows key + R" key combo

14.) Type c:/programdata and click Ok. Go to Hewlett Packard folder, remove any printer related folders & files.

15.) Restart the computer.

Once done, please download and install the software from here:

https://support.hp.com/in-en/drivers

Let me know if this helps.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Thanks!

Have a great day!

[APLAV]

Thank you for this. I did all the steps you indicated and the result is still the same. Officejet Pro 8600 will not print or export Excel comments at end of sheet.

One thing that is interesting: my husband's computer is connected to the same home internet wifi network and is connected to the same Officejet Pro 8600 wirelessly (same as my Surface Pro 4). I took a USB with my excel workbook and saved it to his computer, then printed the worksheet, and all the comments printed normally. So...

If it's not a Microsoft Office/Excel issue, and it's not an HP Officejet issue, then it must be... what? My computer updates are set on automatic updates and everything is up to date.

Your help is appreciated.

[Betty0610]

@APLAV

Are you able to copy well?

Also, are you able to print other documents from other applications well?

Thanks 🙂

[APLAV]

Yes, the HP Officejet Pro 8600 copies documents, prints from other applications (including emails, Word, Dropbox, Google Calendar), and my phone can print to it. It also scans to PDF and JPEG. All of this I do regularly.

I recently tried to print comments "as displayed on sheet" and it prints the comments in the yellow boxes just fine. Unfortunately, there's so many comments that it covers the data, which is why I print comments "at end of sheet."

It appears this printing comments as black lines happens only on existing workbooks, and the failure to export comments at end of sheet happens to new and existing worksheets.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[Betty0610]

@APLAV

This is definitely an Excel setting related issue. You may either call the Microsoft Support Team or contact the HP Phone Support Team as they can remotely access your Computer and help you with this.

Click on this link – www.hp.com/contacthp/

Let me know if this helps.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!