Printing question marks in boxes

Hello joshfromsan anselmo.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. It looks like you're experiencing some issues when attempting to print from your Mac. Specifically, information is coming out with question marks in boxes. We can understand how this would be an issue. Allow us to investigate this issue and assist in any way we can.

Ever since this issue started to occur, have you been able to restart both your Mac and printer to see if that helps? If you've already tried this step with no success, we would like to share some helpful resources with you. Please check out the links below:

Solve printing problems on Mac - Apple Support

Reset the Mac printing system to solve a problem - Apple Support

These resources have great troubleshooting steps you can attempt. It even guides you through resetting your Mac printing system in case you need to go down that route.

We hope this information is useful. Best of luck.

I have exactly the same problem. I tried everything mentioned in the Apple Support pages, restarting both Mac and printer, resetting the Font cache, but it goes on printing strange squares with "?" inside, and this only from .doc and text .pdf files. Images or image-pdf files are printed correctly.

Thanks for your support,

Best,

Giovanni

I did it but the problem remains. What should I do after I validate the fonts?

(One font comes out with minor issues, should I delete it? I usually never use it, by the way. Didn't even know it was there)

Thanks!

Giovanni

Either delete it or disable it.

Are the two fonts that you use listed in the Font Book and OK?

Try the following: boot into Safe Mode according to Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support and see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and check again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

The fonts I am using are ok, it's just a normal Arial. And the issue I am experiencing is related to all the .doc files that I try printing.

I have tried also rebooting the Mac in Safe Mode but the problem is still there...

Hello, I noticed this problem as well, starting from the 29th of July on HP Pagewide I have the problem. Talked with HP Support, the technician told me that HP retired the last firmware update because of bugs. So it seems to affect all Pagewides printing on Mac with Calibre (... and other office fonts (not proven but most probably). The HP guy send me a prior version of the firmware, have to check if it solves the issue, but I think so.

So.. no Apple fault, but HP's.

Greetings from the Dolomites

I'm having the same problem. Noticed it also with word docs and pdf . I'm printing from Macbook Pro and Macbook Air with updated software. Printing on HP Pagewide 477dw mfp. Printed an HP network configuration Page. All looks good. Printed a google doc from Google drive--all good. Restarted my computers. Restarted my printer. Checked print cartridges for any issues. None. Followed all of the advice noted above except for starting in Safe Mode. Come on Apple and MS, play nice together. I need to print docs!! And, I've already printed multiple 50 page docs that came out with boxes and question marks. Need to work!!!

According to this Apple document, About AirPrint - Apple Support, your printer model is AirPrint compatible. So when you get back go into the Sytstem/Printers & Scsnners preference pane and remove the printer. Then add it back with AirPrint. See if that will jumpstart correct printing.

Another thing comes to mind: could the printer be needing a firmware update? My Epson multi did shortly after I got it. Just some food for thought.

Me too. Pagewide HP Big Sur 11.5 - out of no where. It also has a problem with MS Word 16.51 that has a bug that won't let you select to print a page range without crashing the program. I hooked up an old HP 860 and the problem with the fonts doesn't happen. I've lost two days work. Oh I can print a pdf - at least now I can - who knows what tomorrow will bring. Every day its seems to get worse.

Hey there!

Normally, for this type of issue, I’d reset Font Book:

https://support.apple.com/guide/font-book/restore-fonts-that-came-with-your-mac-fb34862/mac

Then reset the printing system:

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/reset-mac-printing-system-solve-a-problem-mh14001/mac

Re-add the printer/scanner and test, but this would be if the question marks were showing on the Mac and not the final, printed product.

Likewise, if seen on Mac, I’ve seen removing third party login items, plugins and launch/startup items, restarting have fixed similar issues, but again, this is if the fonts show question marks on the Mac itself.

Considering it shows normal on the Mac interface, but not as a printed product, yet works using a generic print profile/driver, definitely insinuates an issue with the printer software/firmware, etc.

Remember the HP issue last year? Due to a certificate signing issue, many HP Printers stopped working on Macs, this is of course way different, but I can see how a similar bug could affect many people.

In any case, hope they work it out soon, I retired my HP printer last year, but know what a pain it can be when it’s not working right. There are alternatives though, but if a Mac issue I’d follow the two articles above.

I'm experiencing the same...Macbook Pro connected to HP Pagewide577. Prints are ok if I "print to PDF" (from HP driver) or save as PDF then print, but get all these ??? in boxes when printing from the MS applications (Word, Excel, PPoint, Outlook, etc.). I worked for HP--feels like a driver issue. Would be good to see if this happens to different model printer

For us Generic Postscript Printer is not even an intermediate solution either. Allows only Black&white printing. Seems that it is quite limited. Any information from HP as of when the problem could be solved? Soon must go to look for Canon i-SENSYS MF printers…

Thanks that link worked great, unfortunately for anyone else it seems the moderator has removed the link. As this has been a very frustrating event with both Apple and HP neither wanting to really assist, I hope that since I'm not providing links that what I type next will be allowed to stay up as plenty of us have to get prints done for jobs and this is what worked for me.

I would suggest searching "hp-essentials-s_5_15_5_12 " OR " MACOS 10.15.7 CATALINA SENDS ERR MESSAGES ON STARTUP - out of date" on the big search engine. You should get a hit from HP forums. I went there and about 3/4 down the forum page there is a link to an FTP site from HP with the said hp-essentials-s_5_15_5_12 install file. I downloaded directly from the ftp installed it and installed the certificate, added the printer again and now I have all functionality with the printing side. I did notice the scanner functionality from the system preferences, printers& scanners >and then my Pagewide Pro 477dw does not allow me to scan from there but at this point I could care less as all I really need is to print documents with color from Word and converted files to pdf. Both worked for me.

The problem also occurs when printing from iPhones and iPads using AirPrint so it’s not just for Mac users. As indicated previously, it appears to be HP Firmware. If HP does not review this blog, then what’s the point? They surely must know there’s a problem though, as I also belong to HP Support Community blog and the same problem is being discussed - see https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printing-Errors-or-Lights-Stuck-Print-Jobs/only-prints-little-boxes-instead-of-text/m-p/8155624#M927969 The issue is that I have NEVER seen a post by anyone from HP. Why don’t they at least acknowledge there is an issue and are investigating???