Check Your PaperCut Account Balance

Questions

  • How do I check my PaperCut account balance?
  • Where can I see how much printing money I have left?
  • How much is in my print account?
  • Can I check my print balance from my phone or iPad?
  • How do I view my recent printing activity and charges?
  • As a student, where do I see my printing balance?
  • Where can I see a history of what I've printed?
  • Do I need to be on campus to check my PaperCut balance?

Environment

This article applies to:

  • Bowdoin students, faculty, and staff with a PaperCut account
  • The PaperCut web portal at papercut.bowdoin.edu
  • Any device with a modern web browser — Bowdoin-issued MacBook Pro, Bowdoin-issued iPad mini, a Windows 11 computer, or a personal phone or tablet

You do not need to be on campus or connected to the Bowdoin VPN to check your balance.

Resolution

Check your balance in the PaperCut web portal

  1. Open a web browser on your computer, phone, or tablet.
  2. Go to papercut.bowdoin.edu.
  3. Sign in with your Bowdoin username and password.
  4. Your current Balance is shown at the top of the Summary page, which is the first page that loads after sign-in.
Note: Students receive a print allocation each semester that is loaded into PaperCut automatically. Unused balance does not roll over between semesters.

View your recent printing activity

From the PaperCut web portal you can also review what has been charged against your balance:

  • Recent Print Jobs — a log of each print job, including document name, pages, cost, and printer.
  • Transaction History — every charge, refund, and allocation added to your account.

Both are available in the left-hand navigation menu of the portal.

Balance looks wrong? If a job was never released at the printer, you should not have been charged for it. If you believe you were charged in error, see PaperCut Print Troubleshooting in the Related Articles section, or contact the Service Desk.

Additional Help

If you need further assistance, you have several options:

  • Bowdoin Bot: Chat with Bowdoin Bot directly from any KB page for instant answers.
  • Phone: Call the Bowdoin College Service Desk at (207) 725-3030.
  • In person: Visit the Tech Hub in Smith Union during business hours.
  • Submit a ticket: Request assistance through the Service Catalog.

Additional Resources

Print Article

Related Articles (6)

Bringing Personal Printers to Campus: Guidelines for Students
Guidance for students deciding whether to bring a personal printer to campus. Covers which printer types work on the Bowdoin network, adapter requirements for Bowdoin-issued MacBooks, where to buy supplies locally, and how campus PaperCut printing compares as a free alternative.
Charging a department code when printing in PaperCut
How to charge a print job to a department or shared account instead of your personal PaperCut balance. Faculty, staff, and authorized student workers can select a shared account at the time of printing, once their access to that account has been set up by IT.
PaperCut Print Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting the PaperCut print workflow on a Bowdoin-issued Mac, iPad, or Windows 11 computer. Covers jobs that won't print, jobs stuck in the queue, releasing from the web portal, balance or quota errors, blank pages, and unresponsive release stations. For PaperCut Client software problems, see PaperCut Client Troubleshooting.
Print Job Expiration - The 48-Hour Hold
Explains PaperCut's 48-hour print job hold policy at Bowdoin. Covers why jobs are held, when they expire, what happens to charges when a job expires, and what to do if a job disappears before you could release it. Applies to all Bowdoin students, faculty, and staff.
Printing to a PaperCut printer
The end-to-end workflow for printing to a campus PaperCut printer from a Bowdoin-issued Mac or Windows 11 computer. Covers signing in to PaperCut, sending a job, and releasing it at the printer. Links to other articles for installing printers, charging a department, and troubleshooting.
Student print fund allocation
Overview of the PaperCut print allocation for Bowdoin students. Explains the $60/semester allocation, printing rates, how color jobs charge to OneCard rather than the allocation, what happens when the allocation runs out, how to request additional funds through Bowdoin Bot or the Service Catalog, and when unused funds clear. Faculty and staff printing is not covered here.

Related Services / Offerings (2)

Add to or remove from PaperCut cost center
Request to add or remove people from a PaperCut cost center, or to create, modify, or remove a cost center for departmental print charging. Faculty and staff only.
Request Additional PaperCut Funds
Students with a PaperCut balance below $3.00 can request $3.00 in additional free print funds for coursework. Approval required. Not for faculty or staff.