> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.now-os.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Receipts and printing

> What prints from the NowOS register — receipts, bills, kitchen tickets, refund tickets — how to set up your printers, and what to check when nothing prints.

The NowOS register prints to Epson thermal printers connected to your store network. Every print goes through the main register: it holds the print queue and talks to the printers. If the main register is off or the app is not in the foreground, nothing prints.

<Note>
  Some documents only exist in **restaurant mode**: the bill printed before
  payment and kitchen tickets. In **retail mode**, printing comes down to the
  receipt issued at payment (and the refund ticket when applicable).
</Note>

## What prints

### The receipt

As soon as a check is fully paid, the receipt prints automatically on the counter printer — whichever device took the payment. The receipt carries your business details (name, address, tax identifiers), configured in [the backoffice](/en/backoffice/settings).

To reprint:

* right after payment, tap **Reprint** on the **Payment complete** screen;
* later, reopen the paid order from the **Orders** list:
  * in **restaurant mode**, open the **Actions** tab — the **RECEIPTS** section lists each receipt with its number; tap **Reprint receipt**;
  * in **shop mode**, open the paid order and tap **Actions**: the sheet lists **Reprint receipt**, **Issue invoice**, and — if the sale was refunded — **Reprint refund**.

<Note>
  Every reprint is stamped **DUPLICATA**: the original receipt stays unique —
  that's a legal requirement.
</Note>

### The bill (restaurant mode)

Before payment, you can drop the printed bill at the table: open the order, go to the **Actions** tab, then tap **Print bill** in the **CHECK** section. If the check was split, one slip prints per check.

The printed bill is not a sales receipt: it's stamped "Not a receipt", with no sale number and no payments. The button stays disabled until at least one item has been sent to the kitchen (it shows **Nothing sent yet**).

### Kitchen tickets (restaurant mode)

When you tap **Send**, each item goes to its **preparation station**. Depending on the station setup, staff receive it verbally, a kitchen ticket prints, or no preparation is needed. Verbal handoff never raises a printer alert.

At a printer-backed station, the ticket only contains items assigned to that station and displays its name, such as **HOT KITCHEN** or **BAR**. Modifiers follow their parent item. If a kitchen note is set on the order, it prints as a banner on every round.

<Warning>
  Every item must belong to at least one active station. Otherwise, **Send** is
  rejected and names the item: an order cannot disappear silently.
</Warning>

To reprint a round: **Actions** tab, **KITCHEN** section, tap **Reprint round 1**, **Reprint round 2**… Each row shows the time it was sent and the item count.

If you void an item that was already sent to the kitchen, a void notice prints automatically on the same printer: the kitchen knows to stop making it.

### The refund ticket

When a refund is confirmed on the register, its ticket prints automatically on the counter printer, stamped **REFUND**, with negative amounts, the original sale number and the reason. See [Refunding a sale](/en/pos/refunds).

### Other documents

* **The invoice** — tap **Issue invoice** on the **Payment complete** screen, or reopen the paid order and go through **Actions** (the tab in restaurant, the sheet in shop mode): the invoice prints on the counter printer.
* **The Z ticket** — at [close of day](/en/pos/close-of-day), the summary prints on the counter printer.

<Note>
  Manual print actions (**Print bill**, receipt and kitchen-round reprints) work
  from any device: a secondary sends the request to the main register over your
  local network, and the register prints. Automatic prints (receipt at payment,
  kitchen ticket on send) also work from any device.
</Note>

## Setting up your printers

Setup happens in two steps: you declare the printers in the backoffice, then the main register pulls the list.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Declare the printer in the backoffice">
    In the backoffice, open **Settings → Printers** and add the printer: its
    name, its IP address (static, on the store network) and its paper width (80
    mm or 58 mm). Also choose the default receipt printer.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set up preparation stations">
    In restaurant mode, open **Settings → Preparation stations**. Create each
    destination — it may stay empty while you configure the catalogue — then
    choose its mode: **Verbal handoff**, **Printer**, or **No preparation**.
    Assign every item afterward and check that **Unassigned** is zero before
    service. Keep **All registers** enabled unless the station should only
    receive sends from selected devices.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pull the list on the main register">
    On the main register, open **More → Printing** (manager sign-in required).
    The **Printers** tab lists each printer with its status (Connected, Failing,
    Inactive), IP address, MAC address and paper width. Tap **Refresh** to pull
    the latest configuration.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run a test print">
    On the printer's card, tap **Test print**. A test page comes out within a
    few seconds if the connection is good; otherwise the error shows on the
    card.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Give each printer a static IP address on your network (a DHCP reservation on
  your box or router). If the address changes, the register can no longer find
  the printer.
</Note>

## The print queue

On the main register, the **Print queue** tab of **More → Printing** shows everything going through the printers, all printers combined — filter by printer with the chips at the top of the screen:

* **Needs attention** — prints that failed, isolated at the top, with the reason in plain words (out of paper, printer unreachable…), the device that asked for the print, and the time. The actions sit on the right of each card: **Retry** runs the print again, **Dismiss** files it without retrying. When the register could not tell whether the sheet came out, it says so: confirm with **It came out**, or tap **Retry** otherwise.
* **In progress** — what is waiting to print, with any scheduled retries.
* **Recent history** — the latest successful or handled prints. A filed failure can still be retried from the history.

Tap any row (or **Preview** on an attention card) to see the document faithfully reproduced, exactly as it comes out on paper.

The moment a print fails for good, the main register shows an on-screen alert, and a red dot stays on the **More** tab until the failure is dealt with — you cannot miss it mid-service.

## When nothing prints

Check, in order:

<Steps>
  <Step title="The print queue">
    Open **More → Printing**, **Print queue** tab, on the main register: if the
    print failed, it is listed there with the exact reason. Fix the cause, then
    tap **Retry** — no need to look further.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The printer itself">
    Powered on, paper loaded, cover firmly closed. Out of paper or open cover:
    the print fails immediately, with no retry.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The network">
    The printer must be on the same network as the main register, at the IP
    address declared in the backoffice.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The main register">
    It must be on, with the NowOS app in the foreground: it's the device that
    sends everything to the printers. See [The main
    register](/en/pos/main-register).
  </Step>

  <Step title="The configuration">
    The message **No receipt printer configured** means no printer has that
    role. For preparation, check the station in the backoffice (**Settings →
    Preparation stations**). Then tap **Refresh** in the **Printers** tab of
    **More → Printing** on the main register.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The test print">
    Run **Test print** from the **Printers** tab of **More → Printing**. If it
    passes, the connection is good: just trigger the document again (receipt
    reprint, **Print bill**, etc.).
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  After a transient hiccup (printer rebooting, flaky Wi-Fi), the register
  retries automatically for several minutes. No need to trigger the print again
  right away: give it time to recover.
</Note>

<Warning>
  A failed print never blocks the sale: the payment is recorded no matter what.
  Fix the printer issue, then reopen the paid order and reprint the receipt
  through **Actions** (the tab in restaurant, the sheet in shop mode).
</Warning>