Skip to main content

Sail POS: A kitchen printer is down — reroute its tickets to a working printer

Summary. When a kitchen or bar printer stops printing, add a Ticket Routing Rule in Backoffice to send its tickets to a working printer instead — no waiting on a repair to keep the kitchen moving.

Applies to. Sail POS — all current versions.

Before you start

  • Backoffice access with permission to edit System Setup
  • Know which printer is down and which working printer will take its tickets
  • A few minutes where all terminals can be logged out/back in without disrupting active orders

What's happening

A kitchen or bar printer isn't printing — items sent to that station aren't reaching the cooks/bar.

Can you keep serving? (triage)

  • Is there another functioning printer, or can one be freed up? Yes — continue below.
  • No working printer anywhere in the kitchen — skip to "When you must call."

Two situations, two levels of fix:

  • Option 1 — Down printer isn't in a critical spot. A software reroute alone is enough; nothing physical needs to move.
  • Option 2 — Down printer is a main/critical station and nothing else is already sitting in that physical location. You'll need the software reroute and to physically move a working printer to that spot.

Keep-serving steps

  1. In Backoffice, go to POS → System Setup → Kitchen Setup → Ticket Routing Rules (this opens the "Kitchen Routing Rules" screen).
  2. Click Add new record.
  3. Name it something logical and clearly temporary — e.g., "Hot printer reroute."
  4. Set Original Kitchen Printer to the down printer, and New Kitchen Printer to the working printer.
  5. Leave the Active Period as-is if you want the reroute active right away and indefinitely — the default already covers all hours. Only adjust Start/End Time if you want the reroute to apply during a specific window only (e.g., just for tonight's dinner rush).
  6. Save.
  7. Log out and back in on all terminals — routing changes only take effect once a terminal signs back in.
  8. Option 2 only: physically disconnect a working printer that can be spared, move it to the down printer's location, and reconnect it.

Don't confuse this with the "Failover Printer" field found on each individual printer's own record (POS → System Setup → Devices → Kitchen Printers) — that's a separate backup set up in advance, not the tool for an in-the-moment reroute.

Verify it worked

  • Send a test ticket for an item from the affected station on each terminal and confirm it prints at the new printer.

When you must call

  • No working printer available anywhere in the kitchen to reroute to — call support.

Restore

  • Once the original printer is fixed/replaced: delete or edit the routing rule back to normal, reconnect the moved printer to its original spot (Option 2), and log out/back in on all terminals again.
Back to top