How do I change which items are printed by my kitchen printer?

[JLkeller]

The title of this thread has been edited from the original: Kitchen printer is printing items i down want to print.

My Kitchen printer is printing items I dont want to print. i.e. Sodas, Ice cream etc.  I have those items turned off on the pos but they are still printing.  What am i doing wrong.  

[ryanwanner · Accepted solution]

Hello @JLkeller 

First thing to check would be your categories that you have enabled to print in your kitchen printer.

From the POS: Settings -> Printers. Choose your kitchen printer, then order tickets. Check that the "Categories to Print" section has only the categories you want to print selected.

If those categories are set correctly, then the next step is to verify your items aren't in the wrong categories. You can check these one by one via the Items library (desktop or POS), or from the desktop you can download an excel spreadsheet of your entire item library. Check and change any categories and re-upload your library.

Between these two ideas, you should be able to eliminate items printing where they're not supposed to.

Useful Help Articles:

Create a printer station and connect a printer 

Print order tickets 

Import/Export item library 

[JLkeller]

Thanks.  I was able to reach someone at square.  It was your second suggestion.  I didnt have them in the right category. 

[mspeak]

Hi,

I have a terminal and also an Ipad to take and send orders to the kitchen printer.     The terminal doesn't send drinks to the kitchen, but my Ipad does.    How do I fix that?

[ryanwanner]

Hi @mspeak !

If the tricks in the Best Answer to this post aren't working for you, we definitely need to do some more digging.

First and foremost, how is your kitchen printer connected to your iPad? If it is connected via Bluetooth or USB then unfortunately your terminal won't be able to see it. Those connections don't support multiple devices due to the iPad running it.

If the printer is connected via Ethernet, your terminal should be able to see it. You'll just have to make sure the terminal is connected to the same WiFi network as your iPad and printer. Once it is, it should just be the matter of creating a printer station pointed at that printer.

Please let us know if you're still having troubles!

[septemberfarm]

When we create new categories they are being auto added to the categories set to print on the restaurant POS print station. Is this a bug or is there a way to turn this off?

[_Violet]

Hi @septemberfarm- Thanks for reaching out to us here on the Square Seller Community👋

I went ahead and merged your post to an existing thread where other Square Sellers have discussed how to edit the Categories to Print order ticket printers.

Please see the reply from one of our Super Sellers, @RYANWANNER, which has been marked as the Best Answer.

I hope this information is helpful but please do let me know if you have any additional questions.

[septemberfarm]

This isn't the same issue that i'm encountering.  The issue we have is that when we create new categories, they are automatically added to the print station categories.  This causes confusion in the kitchen when items are printed that shouldn't be printed.  

[_Violet]

Hi again, @septemberfarm - Thanks for your reply.

I hear what you are saying: "when we create new categories, they are automatically added to the print station categories". To fix this, my suggestion would be to double-check your printer station settings, when you create a new category, so you can remove unwanted categories from this list.

You will want to follow the instructions from @RYANWANNER above to check your printer station settings.

The categories are set to print automatically unless you disable them, per these instructions.

Please let me know if this resolves the issue for you! I'll keep an eye out for your reply 👀

[septemberfarm]

Ok, we were hoping there would be a way to change this default because it is something we need to constantly be checking as we add new categories.