Printer downtime costs far more than the repair. The real cost is staff time lost waiting and re-sending jobs, missed deadlines, rush reprints and delayed customers. Work it out as people affected, multiplied by time lost, multiplied by hourly staff cost, plus any outsourced printing. The biggest single factor is how long you wait for an engineer.
Because none of that appears on an invoice, most businesses never see it, and they carry on paying it every time a device fails. This guide explains where the cost of printer downtime really comes from, shows you how to calculate your own figure, and sets out the practical steps that stop it happening.
Where does the cost of printer downtime come from?
A shared printer or copier is a piece of infrastructure. When it stops, the knock-on effects spread across the whole team that relies on it:
- Lost staff time – people wait, walk to another floor, re-send jobs and try workarounds. A few minutes each, across a whole team, soon becomes hours.
- Missed deadlines – tenders, contracts, invoices and dispatch notes that cannot be printed or scanned simply do not go out on time.
- Rush reprints and outsourcing – urgent work gets sent to a print shop or reprinted elsewhere at a far higher cost per page.
- IT and office managers pulled away – whoever ends up troubleshooting the device is not doing their own job while they do it.
- Customer impact – delayed paperwork means delayed service, and in sectors such as healthcare, legal and logistics that has consequences beyond the office.
- Overloaded backup devices – the one working printer takes the whole team's volume, which wears it faster and makes the next failure more likely.
How do you calculate the cost of printer downtime?
You do not need a complicated model. Multiply the number of people affected by the time each one loses, then by their hourly staff cost, and add any direct costs such as outsourced printing. Repeat it for each breakdown and you have an annual figure.
Here is an illustrative example for a busy shared device. Swap in your own numbers:
| Item | Example figure |
|---|---|
| People who rely on the device | 15 |
| Time each person loses per day it is down | 20 minutes |
| Staff time lost per day | 5 hours |
| At a staff cost of £20 an hour | £100 a day |
| Waiting three working days for an engineer | £300 in lost time |
| Plus outsourced or rush printing | Your actual spend |
That figure covers one breakdown on one device, before you count a missed deadline or an unhappy customer. Repeat it a few times a year across several devices and downtime quietly becomes one of the larger costs in your print budget. The single number that changes it most is how many days you wait for a fix. Cut three days to the same day and most of that cost disappears.
Not tracking downtime yet? Most businesses are not. Start a simple log of each breakdown: the date, the device, how long it was out and how many people were affected. Remote monitoring does this automatically, and a few months of data shows exactly which devices are costing you most.
What causes printer downtime?
The good news is that most printer downtime is predictable, which means it is preventable:
1. Running out of toner
Still the most avoidable cause. Nobody orders a cartridge until the device stops, then everyone waits for delivery. Devices that report their own toner levels can have supplies sent automatically before they run out.
2. Jams and worn parts
Rollers and fusers wear with use. A device working well beyond its intended monthly volume jams more often and fails sooner. Regular servicing replaces worn parts on a schedule rather than after a breakdown.
3. Driver and network changes
Operating system updates, new laptops and network changes regularly break printing for some or all users. Our guide to Windows printer driver changes in 2026 covers one of the biggest upcoming examples.
4. Devices that have outlived their role
An ageing device bought for a smaller team often ends up doing the work of three. Repairs get more frequent and parts get harder to find. At that point, replacement is usually cheaper once downtime is counted.
How can you reduce printer downtime?
Cutting downtime comes down to spotting problems early and fixing them fast. The practical steps are:
- Monitor devices remotely – with fleet monitoring such as Printanista, toner is dispatched automatically and error codes are seen by your provider, often before users report a problem.
- Service proactively – replace wearing parts on a schedule rather than waiting for them to fail. See our guide to copier maintenance and office efficiency.
- Insist on real response times – check whether a quoted response means a phone call or an engineer on site, and whether it is measured to arrival or to a fix.
- Right-size your fleet – a print audit shows which devices are overloaded and which are barely used, so the workload is spread sensibly.
- Plan replacements – replace ageing devices on a planned cycle, which is where leasing helps, rather than waiting for a failure to force the decision.
Why does engineer response time matter most?
Every other measure reduces how often devices fail. Response time decides how much each failure costs. A provider that takes several days to get an engineer to site turns a small fault into a week of disruption, however good its prices look on paper. If you are comparing suppliers, our guide on how to choose a managed print provider sets out the questions to ask.
This is where Mastercopy is different. We provide same-day on-site engineer cover nationwide, backed by remote monitoring and automatic toner replenishment through our managed print service. From our Teesside base, where we have supported businesses since 1989, to customers across the UK, the aim is simple: when something goes wrong, it is fixed the same day, not later in the week.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does printer downtime cost a business?
It depends on how many people rely on the device and how long it is out of action, but the cost is almost always higher than the repair bill. Add up the staff time lost to waiting, walking to other devices and re-sending jobs, then add rush reprints, missed deadlines and any work sent out to a print shop. For a busy shared device, a few days waiting for an engineer can easily cost more than a year of servicing.
How do you calculate the cost of printer downtime?
Multiply the number of people affected by the time each one loses and by their hourly staff cost, then add direct costs such as outsourced or rush printing. Repeat it for every breakdown across a year. For example, 15 people each losing 20 minutes a day at a staff cost of £20 an hour is £100 a day in lost time, before any missed deadlines are counted.
What are the most common causes of printer downtime?
The most common causes are running out of toner, paper jams and worn feed parts, driver and network connection problems after IT changes, and ageing devices that have simply outlived their duty cycle. Most of these are predictable, which is why remote monitoring and proactive servicing prevent so much downtime before anyone notices.
What response time should a print service agreement include?
Look for a clear, written commitment to get an engineer on site, not just a call back, and check whether it is measured to the engineer arriving or to the fault being fixed. Make sure it applies to every one of your sites. For a device a team depends on, a same-day on-site response is a sensible expectation. Mastercopy provides same-day on-site engineer cover nationwide.
How do I track printer downtime?
Keep a simple log of each breakdown: the date, the device, how long it was out of action and how many people were affected. Better still, use remote monitoring, which records device status and error codes automatically. A few months of records shows which devices fail most often and what downtime is really costing you.
Does managed print reduce downtime?
Yes. A managed print service monitors devices remotely, so toner is sent before it runs out and faults are flagged early, often before users see a problem. Parts, labour and engineer call-outs are included, so there is no hesitation about calling for a repair, and the provider is accountable for keeping the fleet running.
When is it cheaper to replace a printer than keep repairing it?
When a device breaks down repeatedly, needs expensive parts, or can no longer keep up with your monthly volume, replacement usually works out cheaper once downtime is counted. A print audit shows how hard each device is working and how often it fails, which makes the decision straightforward.
Tired of waiting for repairs? Call Mastercopy on 01642 750404 or email sales@mastercopy.co.uk to talk about same-day support for your printers and copiers.
