A printer includes an ink jet head, a recovery unit, a moving unit, a conveying unit and a cover. The ink jet head performs printing on a printing medium and has an ink ejection port on an ejection port forming surface. The recovery unit is used for a recovery process for maintaining an ink ejection state of the ink jet head in a good condition. The recovery unit includes a cap for covering the ejection port forming surface, a wiping member for wiping the ejection port forming surface, and an absorbing member for receiving ink ejected from the ejection port of the ink jet head. The moving unit moves the recovery unit to a position where the recovery unit faces the ink jet head and to a position where the recovery unit does not face the ink jet head, the ejection forming surface of which is oriented toward the printing medium. The conveying unit conveys the printing medium to be printed by the ink jet head. The cover contains the ink jet head and the recovery unit. The cover is arranged to be opened so that a conveying path of the conveying unit appears and to be closed to cover the conveying path.