A contextual fault handling method and apparatus in a printing system replaces a first diagnostic message with a second diagnostic message based on a measure of fault occurrence frequency. The first message includes information relating to a symptom of a first fault and the second message includes information relating to a root cause of the first fault. Printer usage log data is collected during operation of the printing apparatus. A trend analysis is performed on the print usage log data. Then, in response to a second occurrence of a first fault event and based on a result of the trend analysis, a second diagnostic message is displayed for providing information to the operator or end user relating to a root cause of the fault. The second diagnostic message could be displayed together with the first message or as a replacement for the first message.