Last updated: Jun 29, 2026, 1:15 PM
Applies to: Toast POS, Toast Web
Permissions needed:
What you'll accomplish: Identify why kitchen tickets aren't printing (or are printing to the wrong station) and fix the underlying routing or configuration issue.
Prerequisites: Access to Toast Web, a Toast POS device on the secured Toast Wi-Fi network, and a working kitchen printer assigned to at least one prep station.
The fastest path covers the most common cause — a routing or configuration issue, not a broken printer. Work through these high-level steps in order:
Find the symptom that matches what you're seeing and start there. If multiple symptoms apply, work top to bottom.
| Symptom | Most common cause | Quick fix | Self-service? |
| Printer is offline, blank tickets, paper jam, error lights, mechanical sounds, or printing in faded or split characters | Hardware-level issue | This article doesn't cover device-level hardware. Start with My Printer Isn't Working for hardware troubleshooting, then return here if the printer is working but tickets still aren't reaching it. | No — start with the hardware article first |
| Kitchen tickets don't print at all from one POS, but other POS devices print fine | The non-printing POS isn't on the secured Toast Wi-Fi network | Confirm the device is on the Toast network, then run a test order | Yes |
| Kitchen tickets don't print at a specific prep station | Always Print Ticket is disabled, or the printer isn't assigned to that prep station | In Toast Web, navigate to Kitchen > Kitchen stations > Prep stations and confirm the printer is assigned and Always Print Ticket is enabled | Yes |
| Drinks (or other items) still print to a kitchen printer when they shouldn't | The prep station is missing or not set as a non-printing prep station | On the POS device, navigate to Setup > Device setup > Non-printing Prep Stations and add the prep station, or update the item's assigned prep station | Yes |
| Items are printing at the wrong station (e.g., food items going to the drink printer) | Menu item-to-prep-station assignments | Update the menu item's prep station assignment in Toast Web. See Configure and Assign Prep Stations | Yes |
| Online orders aren't firing to the kitchen | Online order routing or prep time configuration | See Printing Behaviors for Online Orders Overview | Yes |
Before changing any settings, rule out the device. If the printer itself is the issue, no amount of configuration change will fix it.
Check the printer:
If you answered yes to any of the checks above, the issue is hardware-level. Start with Get Help: My Printer Isn't Working, which covers the three-step reset, paper and cable checks, and printer-specific troubleshooting. Return to this article only after confirming the printer itself can power on, print a test slip, and stay connected to the network.
If none of the hardware checks apply, the printer is healthy and the issue is routing or configuration. Continue to the section that matches your symptom.
This is the most common cause when the printer is powered on, connected, and printing test slips but no kitchen tickets arrive.
Expected outcome: The prep station has at least one assigned printer.
Expected outcome: Orders sent to this prep station will print regardless of whether they are also displayed on a KDS.
A non-printing prep station can be configured on individual POS devices. If a device is configured to treat a prep station as non-printing, no tickets will print from that device for that station — even though the prep station is otherwise correctly assigned to a printer.
Expected outcome: The prep station is not listed under Non-printing Prep Stations, so the device will send tickets to its assigned printer.
If one POS device sends tickets to the kitchen printer fine and another doesn't, the issue is almost always with the non-printing device's network configuration — not the printer.
Expected outcome: The device prints kitchen tickets after reconnecting to the Toast network.
Expected outcome: The device is configured to send to the right printer for its location.
Expected outcome: The printer is securely connected and receives orders from the device.
If your tickets are printing but specific items are showing up at the wrong printer (for example, salad items printing at the hot line, or fruit sides going to the entrée station), the issue is the menu item's prep station assignment — not the printer setup.
When making changes in Toast Web you may need to resync, or log out on the device and log back in, to ensure the new changes are fully synced on the device. For the full walkthrough of item-to-prep-station assignments, see Configure and Assign Prep Stations.
Expected outcome: The menu item prints at the prep station you assigned, and not at any other.
When a bar or beverage prep station shouldn't be sending tickets to a physical printer (for example, the bartender uses a screen, or drinks are made at the same terminal where they're rung in), you need to configure the prep station as non-printing on the relevant POS devices.
Expected outcome: Drinks (or your designated non-printing items) no longer print from this device.
Online orders follow a different printing path than in-store orders. They fire based on the prep station assignments of the items in the order and the online ordering prep time configuration.
If your in-store tickets print correctly but online order tickets don't, the issue is likely one of:
For the full breakdown of online order printing behavior, see Printing Behaviors for Online Orders Overview.
A new or recently replaced kitchen printer often shows as connected in Device Setup but still doesn't print because the printer hasn't yet been assigned to a prep station, or the device hasn't been told to use it as a receipt printer.
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To fix this, work through both Tickets don't print at one or more prep stations and Step 2 of One POS prints, another doesn't. For the full new-printer setup walkthrough, see Configure and Assign Prep Stations.
Yes. On the terminal you want to use without printer routing — for example, a farmers market or pop-up location — configure every prep station as non-printing on that device. Navigate to Setup > Device setup > Non-printing Prep Stations and add all prep stations. For broader off-site terminal setup, see Use Toast for Off-Site Operations.
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Third-party orders enter through the online ordering pipeline, so they are processed by the autofire device in the same way as Toast Online Orders. Some locations may have separate menus for third party ordering, by enabling the visibility of the Menus to Partners, and not Toast. Inconsistent printing is usually caused by a mismatch between the third-party menu item's prep station assignment or item routing rules. See Printing Behaviors for Online Orders Overview [Link may be broken – requires validation — replace with support.toasttab.com URL before publish; Information missing: requires input on X — confirm whether third-party orders (Uber Eats, DoorDash) follow the same printing rules as Toast online orders, or whether there is a separate troubleshooting path—this has been added].
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