HP6032e online, Smart App says online but I'm getting a new Printing pop-up that says it's 'Unknown'

[Peej16]

This is driving me mad! I have an Envy 6032e that was fine for years, but the last six months seems to be going into some sort of spasm. I try and print, the usual print box comes up asking Layout / Pages / Colour / single sided etc. I click on Print but now a new HP Smart Printing box comes up. (When I say 'new' this never popped up until a few months ago) This tells me my printer is 'unknown' and print is greyed out. I can only select 'Change Printer' but my 6000 series isn't there. It says 'No printer found'. However, if I click on the HP Smart app my printer is there and is active.  There is a button that says 'Always show before printing' and I have tried deselecting this but it just comes back regardless. Once at this point I can't print at all as the only option is to close the box and my printing is cancelled. Why am I getting this extra Print box? It just randomly started coming up (I'm assuming after an upgrade?). This is at the end of a long period in which I've had multiple issues with this, so I've deinstalled, installed etc multiple times. What is going on here? Does anyone know of a simple solution both to this problem and as to why my printer constantly loses connection to my PC over Wi-Fi?     

[Max3Aj]

@Peej16, Welcome to HP Support Community. 

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you. 
The "new" printing pop-up you're seeing is part of an HP Smart Print dialog (added via a recent update to HP Smart or Windows), which attempts to override the default print dialog to include extra features (e.g., ink subscription info, job tracking, and cloud print). But it’s often buggy, especially when:

• The printer is added via Windows settings and not the HP Smart app.
• The HP Smart app updates but the driver doesn’t.
• The HP Smart Printing module is partially broken or misconfigured.
• There’s a network/Wi-Fi instability causing momentary disconnects.

Please follow these steps, 

Bypass or Remove the HP Smart Print Dialog

Let’s try to force your system to use the regular print dialog:Option A: Use System Driver Instead of HP Smart Print

• Go to Control Panel > Devices and Printers.
• Right-click on your HP ENVY 6032e and choose "Printer Properties".
• Under the "Advanced" tab, check if the driver says something like:
  • "HP Smart" or "HP Print Device" → problematic.
  • "HP ENVY 6000 series PCL-3" or "PCL-6" → this is ideal.

If it says HP Smart or doesn’t list PCL, do the following:

• Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
• Remove the printer completely.
• Open HP Smart, re-add the printer from within the app.
• Now download and install the full driver package from HP support site (not Windows Update):
  👉 HP ENVY 6032e Drivers

Disable the “HP Smart Printing Dialog”

Unfortunately, unchecking "Always show before printing" often doesn't stick. Try this registry fix to disable it at a system level (you can copy-paste into Notepad and save as .reg to run):

reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\HP\SmartPrint] "DisableSmartPrintDialog"=dword:00000001

Or, navigate manually:

• Press Win + R, type regedit, press Enter.
• Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\HP\SmartPrint.
• If DisableSmartPrintDialog doesn’t exist, create a DWORD (32-bit) value with that name.
• Set its value to 1.
• Restart your PC.

Wi-Fi Disconnection Issues Fix

This is common with dual-band routers and sleep-mode triggers.Try these:

1. Assign a static IP to the printer via your router settings or in HP Smart:
   • Go to printer’s EWS (Embedded Web Server): type printer's IP in a browser.
   • Go to Network > Advanced Settings > Manual IP.
   • Set a manual IP (just outside your router's DHCP range).
2. Disable IPv6 on the printer:
   • From EWS > Network > Advanced Settings > uncheck IPv6.
3. Set Wi-Fi Direct Off (unless you're using it):
   • EWS > Wireless > Wi-Fi Direct > Off.
4. Turn off printer sleep/power-save mode:
   • Via printer control panel or EWS > Preferences > Sleep Timer > set to a longer duration or off.

Bonus Clean Reinstall Steps (if all else fails)

If you want to completely nuke and reset everything:

1. Remove printer from Settings > Printers & Scanners.
2. Uninstall HP Smart app.
3. Delete these folders:
   • C:\ProgramData\HP\
   • C:\Users\[YourName]\AppData\Local\HP\
   • C:\Users\[YourName]\AppData\Roaming\HP\
4. Restart the computer.
5. Download and install the Full Software Solution from HP’s site.
6. Then install HP Smart, sign in, and add the printer.

I hope this helps. 

Take care and have a good day. 

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Select "Yes" on the bottom left to say “Thanks” for helping! 

Max3Aj

HP Support 

[Peej16]

Thank you. Wow! A new feature that installs itself onto your system but doesn't work. That's something. I urgently needed to print when I posted my question, so shortly after, I removed all printer traces and reinstalled, and the dialogue box didn't load this time. So, I've not had the issue again, but I'll print off your reply when I can and try it if the box comes back. Many thanks for your help.