Why Is My Canon MX922 Printer Not Responding?

The Canon Pixma MX922 is a workhorse for home offices: it prints, scans, copies, and faxes with a surprisingly robust feature set for its age. But if you’ve ever hit Print and watched nothing happen—or seen a “not responding” message in Windows or macOS—you know how disruptive it can be.

In almost every case, “not responding” is not a mystery failure. It’s a specific chain break between your computer and the printer. Below I’ll walk through the most common causes, how to identify which one you’re dealing with, and what to do to prevent it from coming back.

What “Not Responding” Usually Means

Your MX922 can stop responding for three broad reasons:

• Connection issue: The printer is on a different network, lost Wi‑Fi, or changed IP address.
• Queue/driver issue: Windows/macOS is using a stale port or a corrupted driver, so jobs never reach the printer.
• Printer-side hold: The printer is awake but stuck in an error state (jam, low ink, carriage problem), so it ignores jobs.

Step 1: Check the Printer Itself First

Walk to the MX922 and look at the screen. If there’s a support code, paper jam warning, or ink alarm, clear that first. Make sure the output tray is open and paper is loaded.

A quick test: make a photocopy. If the printer can copy, the hardware and print engine are fine. That means the problem lives in the connection or driver layer.

Step 2: Confirm Network Status and IP Address

From the printer menu, print a LAN details or network status page. Note the IP address.

If the printer shows “Disconnected,” rejoin Wi‑Fi using Wireless LAN setup and your 2.4 GHz SSID. Avoid guest networks and disable VPN during troubleshooting. If you recently changed your router or Wi‑Fi password, this is almost always the reason the MX922 went silent.

Step 3: Test Reachability from Your Computer

On a computer that says “not responding,” open a browser and type the printer’s IP. If the Canon web page loads, the network path is good and your issue is driver/queue. If it doesn’t load, the printer isn’t reachable—focus on Wi‑Fi and router settings.

Step 4: Fix Ports and Queues on Windows

Windows is notorious for holding onto old ports.

1. Open Settings > Printers & scanners and select the MX922.
2. Open the print queue and cancel every job.
3. Click Printer and make sure “Use Printer Offline” is unchecked.
4. Open Printer properties > Ports and verify the selected port matches the current IP.

If the port is WSD or points to an old IP, add a Standard TCP/IP port with the correct address and select it. Then print a Windows test page.

Step 5: Re-add or Add by IP on macOS

On a Mac, remove the old MX922 entry in Printers & Scanners and add it back. If Bonjour discovery doesn’t show it, use the IP tab and enter the printer’s IP with protocol IPP. Choose the Canon driver rather than AirPrint when possible for better stability and access to utilities.

Step 6: Clean Driver Conflicts

If your system has multiple Canon entries (USB and Wi‑Fi, or duplicates from old routers), delete them all, reboot, and reinstall the Canon MX920 series driver fresh. A clean driver install often restores scanning tools and correct status reporting.

Step 7: Reserve the Printer IP (Prevention)

The MX922 is old enough that it doesn’t always handle IP changes gracefully. In your router, create a DHCP reservation for the printer’s MAC address so it always gets the same IP. After reserving, update Windows/macOS ports to that fixed IP.

Other Gotchas I See Often

• Band steering: If your router uses a single SSID, the printer might end up on 2.4 GHz while your laptop is on 5 GHz with isolation enabled. Temporarily split SSIDs to confirm.
• Mesh networks: Pair the printer with the main node, not a satellite. Some mesh systems isolate 2.4 GHz clients on different nodes.
• Firewall/VPN: VPNs reroute traffic; firewalls block Bonjour/mDNS. Disable during setup.
• Firmware age: If you’ve never updated firmware, check Canon’s utility; some updates improve Wi‑Fi reconnection.

Quick Recovery Checklist

• Clear panel errors and test copying.
• Print network status and confirm the correct Wi‑Fi SSID.
• Check the printer IP loads in a browser.
• Fix Windows/macOS ports to match the current IP.
• Reinstall drivers if duplicates exist.
• Reserve the printer IP to prevent repeats.

“Not responding” on the Canon MX922 is almost always recoverable without replacing the printer. Once you stabilize the IP and clean up ports, the MX922 tends to run for years.