Troubleshoot Double Printing

In this Article:

• Before you begin
• Quick fix
• If tickets print twice across the kitchen or for online orders
• If the expediter printer prints an extra ticket
• If tickets print at the wrong printer or at every printer
• If online orders print two receipts
• If the same ticket prints on two printers
• If item labels print twice
• Before you contact Customer Care
• Frequently asked questions
• Related articles

Before you begin

Applies to: Toast POS, Toast Web

Permissions needed: Access to Toast Web kitchen and online ordering settings (for example, an owner or manager role with kitchen configuration access)

What you'll accomplish: Identify which setting is causing a ticket or receipt to print more than once, and correct it so each order prints a single time.

When tickets are double or triple printing, the cause is almost always a configuration in Toast Web, not the printer hardware. Work through the causes below in order, starting with your auto-fire device.

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Quick fix

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If tickets print twice across the kitchen or for online orders

This is the most common cause of double printing. Autofiring sends scheduled and online orders to the kitchen automatically, and it must be enabled for your restaurant to receive online orders. Only one device can have autofiring enabled. If more than one device is active, every order fires twice and prints twice, including Uber Eats, DoorDash, and other online orders.

To check and update your auto-fire device:

1. In Toast Web, navigate to Takeout & delivery > Availability > Online Ordering.
2. Scroll down to the Approval section and find the Auto-fire Device setting.
3. If you see the message that your current auto-fire device is not the recommended one, select Change device and choose the recommended device from the list.
4. Select Update, then Save.

Expected outcome: Only one device is set to auto-fire, and each order prints a single time.

For more detail on this setting, see Set Up Order Auto-Firing.

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If the expediter printer prints an extra ticket

If your expediter (also called the expo) printer produces an extra ticket, there are two common causes: the expediter is set to print outside of offline mode, or the expediter and a prep station are pointed at the same printer.

First, check the expediter printing mode:

1. In Toast Web, navigate to Kitchen > Printers, tickets, & KDS devices > Kitchen and ticket setup.
2. Scroll down to the Expediter section and find the Printing Mode setting.
3. Confirm that Only print expediter tickets when Toast is in offline mode is selected.
4. Select Save, then Publish.

Expected outcome: The expediter prints expediter tickets only when Toast is in offline mode, so kitchen items no longer print a second time.

If a prep station and the expediter share the same printer, that printer prints both a prep station ticket and an expediter ticket regardless of the setting above. To check:

1. In Toast Web, navigate to Kitchen > Printers, tickets, & KDS devices > Kitchen and ticket setup and note the printer listed under Expediter Printer(s).
2. Navigate to Kitchen > Kitchen Stations > Prep Stations and review the Ticket Printer column for each prep station.
3. If a prep station uses the same printer as the expediter, change one of them so the expediter has its own printer.
4. Select Save, then Publish.

Expected outcome: The expediter and your prep stations use separate printers, and each order prints once.

Note: "Expo" is a common name for the expediter. The setting is labeled Expediter in Toast Web.

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If tickets print at the wrong printer or at every printer

If tickets print at a printer they should not, or at every printer, the usual cause is one or more menu items that have the wrong prep station, or no prep station assigned. When an item has no prep station, Toast routes it to all prep stations. For the full steps to assign prep stations to items, see Tickets Printing to Every Printer.

To review where your tickets are routing:

1. In Toast Web, navigate to Kitchen > Kitchen Stations > Prep Stations and check the Ticket Printer assigned to each prep station.
2. Confirm that each menu item is assigned to the correct prep station so it routes to a single printer.

Expected outcome: Each item routes to one prep station and prints at a single printer.

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If online orders print two receipts

If an online order prints more than one receipt, your settings may be configured to print both the itemized receipt and the payment information receipt. To print only one receipt with payment information:

1. In Toast Web, navigate to Takeout & delivery > Availability > Takeout/delivery.
2. Scroll down to the Receipt Printing section.
3. Select the Takeout / Delivery Printer drop-down and choose Print On-Demand Only.
4. Select Save, then Publish.

Expected outcome: Online orders print a single receipt with payment information.

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If the same ticket prints on two printers

If you have assigned the same IP address to more than one printer, the same ticket can print on both. Give each printer a unique IP address. For step-by-step instructions, see Change the Static IP Address on Your Printer.

Expected outcome: Each printer has its own IP address, and a ticket prints on only one printer.

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If item labels print twice

If an item label (sticky) printer prints more than one label per item, review your item label printer settings. For setup and configuration steps, see Set Up and Print Item Labels and Get Help With Your Toast Item Label Printer TLP400.

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Before you contact Customer Care

If you have worked through the causes above and tickets are still double printing, have the following ready so Customer Care can help faster:

• A description of which printer is double printing and whether it affects all orders or only certain items, menus, or order types
• Whether the issue started after a recent change, such as a menu update or a Multi-Location Management (MLM) change
• Your Toast POS access code

Contact Toast Customer Care.

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Frequently asked questions

Why are my tickets double-printing?

Tickets double-print when a setting routes the same order to a printer more than once. The most common cause is having more than one device set to auto-fire, which makes online and scheduled orders fire and print twice. Other causes include the expediter printing outside of offline mode, a prep station and the expediter sharing one printer, or two printers sharing one IP address.

Also asked as:

• • Why are my orders double-printing?
  • How do I stop tickets from double-printing?
  • Why is my kitchen printer double-printing?

Why do my online orders print twice?

Online orders print twice most often because more than one device is set to auto-fire, so each order fires and prints two times. Set a single auto-fire device in Toast Web under Takeout & delivery > Availability > Online Ordering. If a single online order prints two receipts instead, set the Takeout / Delivery printer to Print On-Demand Only.

Also asked as:

• • Why do my Uber and DoorDash orders double print?
  • Why do online orders print two tickets?

Why is my expo printer printing an extra ticket?

Your expo (expediter) printer prints an extra ticket when the expediter is set to print outside of offline mode, or when the expediter and a prep station use the same printer. Set the expediter to print only in offline mode in Kitchen > Printers, tickets, & KDS devices > Kitchen and ticket setup, and make sure the expediter has its own printer.

Also asked as:

• • Why does my expediter print two tickets?
  • How do I stop the expo printer from double-printing?

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Related articles

• Tickets Printing to Every Printer
• Set Up Order Auto-Firing
• Use the Same Printer for Kitchen Tickets and Receipts
• Configure and Assign Prep Stations
• Change the Static IP Address on Your Printer

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