Lexmark Error 37 — What It Means & How to Fix It
By Ryan Green · Updated August 2026 · Independent guide · PrinterCare USA LLC (not affiliated with any printer manufacturer)
Lexmark error 37 is frustrating because your printer suddenly refuses to complete jobs that worked fine yesterday. This error specifically means your printer's collation memory—the built-in RAM used to organize and sort multi-copy print jobs—has run out of space or become corrupted.
The good news is that error 37 is almost always fixable without calling a technician or replacing hardware. Most users resolve this within ten minutes by clearing stuck jobs from the printer's memory and performing a full restart. If you collate large batches regularly, we'll also cover permanent solutions like memory upgrades.
How to fix it — step by step
- Cancel All Pending Print Jobs. Go to your Windows 11 or macOS print queue and remove every job waiting to print. On Windows, open Settings, navigate to Devices, then Printers and Scanners, select your Lexmark printer, and click Open Queue to delete jobs. On macOS, open System Preferences, go to Printers and Scanners, select your Lexmark, and click Open Print Queue to remove all items.
- Clear the Printer's Internal Memory. Power off your Lexmark printer completely and unplug it from the electrical outlet. Wait for at least sixty seconds to allow the printer's internal memory to discharge fully. Plug the printer back in and power it on, allowing it to complete its full startup cycle before attempting to print.
- Check Your Print Driver Settings. Open your Lexmark printer driver on your computer by searching for Lexmark in Windows Settings or System Preferences. Look for any Advanced or Job Settings options and confirm that collation is set to Off or Manual rather than Automatic. If collation is enabled by default, toggle it off temporarily to test whether the printer can complete the job without triggering error 37.
- Test with a Simple Single-Copy Job. Try printing a small document with collation disabled and only one copy requested. If this prints successfully, the issue is related to how the printer handles multiple copies or collation tasks. Gradually increase the number of copies in subsequent test prints to identify the threshold where error 37 reappears.
- Reduce the Complexity of Your Print Jobs. If you are printing documents with high-resolution images, embedded fonts, or complex graphics, these can consume collation memory quickly. Break large jobs into smaller batches of ten to twenty pages each, or reduce image resolution to seven hundred twenty dots per inch instead of the maximum setting. Print each batch separately rather than queuing them all at once.
- Update Your Lexmark Printer Driver. Visit the Lexmark support website, enter your specific printer model number, and download the latest driver version for your Windows 11 or macOS system. Uninstall your current driver completely, restart your computer, then install the new version. Driver updates often include fixes for memory management issues that cause error 37.
- Check Printer Firmware for Updates. Access your Lexmark printer's web interface by finding its IP address in the Network Settings menu on the printer's control panel, then typing that address into a browser. Look for a Firmware or System Software section and check for available updates. Download and install any updates available, as firmware patches commonly address collation memory errors.
- Upgrade Printer RAM if Error Persists. If error 37 continues after trying all software fixes, your printer's RAM may be genuinely insufficient for your workload. Contact a certified Lexmark technician or your printer's IT support provider to install additional memory modules, which typically costs forty-nine dollars plus labor. This permanent solution is ideal if you regularly print large collated batches of fifty pages or more.
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Frequently asked questions
What exactly is collation memory and why does my Lexmark printer need it?
Collation memory is dedicated RAM inside your printer used to temporarily store and organize pages when you print multiple copies of the same document. Your printer uses this memory to sort pages in the correct order before physically outputting them. When you request ten copies of a five-page document, the printer loads all fifty pages into collation memory first, then outputs them in the proper sequence.
Will error 37 damage my printer or cause permanent data loss?
No, error 37 is a temporary memory issue and does not indicate hardware failure or cause damage to your printer's components. Your document files remain safely on your computer and are not affected by this error. Once you clear the printer's memory and restart it, your printer returns to normal operation immediately.
Does disabling collation in my print settings permanently solve error 37?
Disabling collation reduces strain on your printer's memory and often eliminates error 37, but it changes how your documents are output physically. When collation is off, your printer outputs one complete copy of your job, then prints a second complete copy, rather than sorting pages. This method works fine for single documents but is inconvenient for batch printing, so it is better as a temporary test than a permanent solution.
Can a print job that is too large trigger error 37 even if my printer has plenty of free memory?
Yes, extremely large jobs with high-resolution images or complex formatting can exceed collation memory limits even on printers with substantial RAM installed. If you regularly print jobs larger than five hundred pages or documents with embedded video or heavy graphics, upgrading your printer's memory to the maximum supported capacity is the best long-term solution. Breaking jobs into smaller batches is a practical workaround if you cannot upgrade.