Why Word’s Manual Feed Print Job Hangs on Specific HP Laser Drivers

When you send a print job from Word to an HP LaserJet printer using a manual feed tray, the print spooler may hang indefinitely. The document appears stuck in the print queue with no error message, and Word becomes unresponsive until the job is canceled. This problem occurs because specific HP LaserJet driver versions miscommunicate the paper source settings with Word’s print subsystem. This article explains the root cause of the hang and provides a reliable fix that does not require changing your default printer driver.

Why the HP LaserJet Driver Causes a Hang in Word Manual Feed

The hang occurs because of a specific incompatibility between Word’s print subsystem and the HP Universal Print Driver (UPD) version 6.x and some older HP PCL 6 drivers. When you select Manual Feed in Word’s print dialog, Word sends a paper source command to the spooler. The HP driver receives this command but does not respond with a valid status. The spooler waits indefinitely for the driver to confirm that the manual feed tray is ready, never releasing the print job.

The root cause is a timing issue in the driver’s binary data exchange with the print spooler. HP designed the driver to expect a specific handshake sequence when a manual feed is selected. Word’s print engine, however, sends the command in a slightly different order than the driver expects. Instead of returning an error or falling back to another tray, the driver simply stops processing. The print job remains in the queue with a status of “Printing” or “Spooling” until you manually delete it.

This problem is most common on HP LaserJet models that use the Firmware-Integrated Print Driver or the HP UPD. Models affected include the HP LaserJet 4000 series, 5000 series, and some newer M600 and M700 series printers. The issue does not occur with the HP PCL 5 driver or the HP PostScript driver on the same hardware.

Steps to Fix the Manual Feed Hang Without Changing the Printer

The following three methods resolve the hang. Start with Method 1 because it requires no driver changes. If Method 1 does not work, proceed to Method 2.

Method 1: Change the Paper Source to Automatically Select in Printer Properties

1. Open the document in Word
   Make sure the document you want to print is open and active.
2. Open the Print dialog
   Press Ctrl+P or go to File > Print.
3. Click Printer Properties
   Below the printer name, click the link labeled Printer Properties. This opens the driver settings dialog.
4. Go to the Paper/Quality tab
   In the Printer Properties dialog, click the Paper/Quality tab.
5. Change Paper Source to Automatically Select
   In the Paper Source dropdown, select Automatically Select instead of Manual Feed. Click OK to close the dialog.
6. Print the document
   Click Print in the Word Print dialog. The job should now print without hanging.

This method works because Automatically Select lets the printer firmware decide the tray, bypassing the driver’s broken manual feed handshake. If the printer still hangs, move to Method 2.

Method 2: Disable the Manual Feed Tray in the Driver

1. Open Devices and Printers
   Press Windows+R, type control printers, and press Enter.
2. Right-click your HP printer and select Printer Properties
   Do not select Printing Preferences. Click Printer Properties at the bottom of the context menu.
3. Click the Device Settings tab
   This tab shows all installed paper trays and accessories.
4. Locate the Manual Feed entry
   Scroll down to the Tray Configuration section. Find Manual Feed or Tray 1 (Manual Feed).
5. Change Manual Feed to Not Installed
   Click the current setting and select Not Installed from the dropdown. Click Apply and OK.
6. Print the document from Word
   Use File > Print. The manual feed option will no longer appear in the driver. Word uses the default tray instead.

This method removes the manual feed tray from the driver’s capability list. Word never sends a manual feed command, so the hang cannot occur. Use this if you do not need manual feed for any other application.

Method 3: Replace the HP Universal Print Driver with the HP PCL 6 Driver

1. Download the correct HP PCL 6 driver
   Go to HP’s support website and download the HP PCL 6 driver for your exact printer model. Do not download the Universal Print Driver.
2. Open Print Server Properties
   In Devices and Printers, click any printer. On the toolbar, click Print server properties.
3. Go to the Drivers tab
   Click the Drivers tab and locate your current HP driver in the list.
4. Remove the old driver
   Select the current HP driver and click Remove. Confirm the removal.
5. Add the new HP PCL 6 driver
   Click Add, then follow the wizard to install the HP PCL 6 driver you downloaded.
6. Set the new driver as default
   Right-click the printer, select Set as default printer. Print from Word using Manual Feed to test.

The HP PCL 6 driver uses a different communication protocol that correctly handles Word’s manual feed command. This is the most thorough fix and preserves full manual feed functionality.

Other Symptoms That Appear With the Same Driver Issue

Word Prints to the Wrong Tray When Manual Feed Is Selected

Some HP drivers do not hang but instead print to the default tray even when Manual Feed is selected. This happens because the driver ignores the paper source command from Word. To fix this, use Method 3 above to switch to the HP PCL 6 driver, which correctly routes manual feed requests.

Print Spooler Service Stops Responding After a Manual Feed Job

In rare cases, the hang escalates to the Windows Print Spooler service itself. The spooler stops and all queued print jobs are lost. To recover, open Services.msc, right-click Print Spooler, and select Restart. Then apply Method 2 to prevent recurrence.

HP Driver Versions: Manual Feed Behavior Comparison

Item	HP Universal Print Driver 6.x	HP PCL 6 Driver (Model-Specific)
Manual feed in Word	Hangs indefinitely	Prints correctly without delay
Driver installation type	Single driver for many models	Dedicated driver per model
Paper source handshake	Broken timing with Word	Correct sequence
Workaround required	Yes, change source to Auto	No workaround needed
Recommended for manual feed	No	Yes

The HP PCL 6 driver is the only option that supports manual feed in Word without a hang or workaround. If you must keep the Universal Print Driver for other reasons, use Method 1 or 2.

You can now print from Word using a manual feed tray on an HP LaserJet printer without the job hanging. Start with the Automatically Select workaround in Printer Properties. If that does not work, disable the manual feed tray in the driver or switch to the HP PCL 6 driver. For environments with multiple HP models, test the PCL 6 driver on one printer first before rolling it out to others. An advanced tip: If you manage many printers, use Group Policy to deploy the HP PCL 6 driver silently via Print Management console, which avoids the UPD hang across all workstations.