Isn’t it frustrating when you are on the clock and give the command to print something? And when you rush to the printer you see a bunch of blank pages being printed out!
Printers printing blank pages is a common problem a lot of us face and there are numerous reasons why this can happen.
So, How to fix Printer Printing blank pages?
To fix printer printing blank pages:
- Check for Low ink levels
- Check for loose or damaged ink cartridges
- Run an auto cleanup process
- Update printer drivers
- Check the paper size
Please follow these step by step guides to solve your printing problem.
1. Check for Low Ink Levels
The first thing you need to do if you get blank pages while printing is to check whether your cartridges have ink in them or not. Most printer manufacturers provide their own software to manage them.
For example, HP has the HP Smart app that goes on your mobile phone and can be used to monitor ink and toner levels. They have various software for different printer models that constantly check the ink levels.
The same holds true for all other brands as well. You can use these softwares to check your ink levels and give you reminders when cartridges are running low on ink.
2. Check for loose or damaged ink cartridges
Often loose or malfunctioning cartridges result in the printer printing blank pages. To resolve this, the first thing you need to do is to switch off the printer and connect again using our guide on How To Connect HP Printer To Wifi.
Open the printer cover where your ink cartridges are inserted. Now you need to check if the ink cartridges have been inserted correctly or not. Take out all the cartridges and see if there is any visible damage to them.
Check for ink cartridges leakage as well. If everything looks fine, reinsert the ink cartridge in their slot and make sure they fit properly. Close the cover and restart the printer. To see if the issue has been resolved or not, you will need to print out one document and see if everything works or not.
Due to prolonged or constant use, sometimes printer nozzles get clogged and this can result in blank pages being printed. If you know how to access the printer nozzle, you can clean them up with a soft brush or cloth.
Wipe off any ink on the ink cartridge nozzles till it is completely dry and see if there is any visible blockage. Now if you do not know where the nozzles are or how to clean them, then we suggest you execute step 3 listed below!
3. Run an auto cleanup process
Most modern-day ones come with an auto-cleaning feature that can be used to debug printing issues. The instructions to do so will be in your printer manual. However, if you don’t have access to the printer manual then you can follow these steps.
Open your system settings (Control Panel in Windows or System Preferences in Mac) and head to the Devices and Printers section. Open that and look for your printer. If you can’t find it, check out our guide for mac.
When you right-click on your printer name, you should get a Settings or Maintenance option which will contain the Auto Clean function.
When you run this feature, the printer will take a couple of minutes to perform the auto clean. And when it is completed, print out a test page.
If the print quality isn’t very good then run the Auto cleaning function once more after about 15 minutes. Repeat these steps and it should solve the printing issue. Sometimes, it can lead to a temporary why is my hp printer offline issue – but that can be fixed easily.
4. Update printer driver
Outdated printer software could be one of the reasons to print blank pages and this can be resolved by a simple software upgrade. To do so, you need to again head to the Device Manager section and right-click on your printer name.
There will be an option to update the printer driver there. Click on Update Driver and let the system run the upgrade. Once the new drivers have been installed, print a test page to see if everything works fine.
Alternatively, you can visit your printer manufacturer’s website and head to the downloads section or the software section. There you will need to search for the driver corresponding to your printer. Download that file and run it.
Follow the instructions during the setup process and once the installation is done, restart your computer and printer and then print out a test page to check if printer prints blank pages.
5. Check the paper size
If someone inserts an incompatible paper size in the paper tray, then your printing output might get affected. All devices have a setting for paper size and the paper in the tray needs to match that size. For example, if the default paper size setting is A4 then you need to use A4 size paper for printing.
These are the 5 highly effective steps to resolve the issue of blank pages being printed. As a good practice, whenever you face such issues, you should first cancel all the printing jobs in the print queue. Once this is done, you turn off the printer and your computer system as well. Restart both of them and try printing out a test page. In a lot of cases, this simple process is known to have resolved printing issues even in the case of 3d printer (our recommendation)!
So, what happens if none of the above work?
If you have followed all the debugging solutions we mentioned above and your printer still prints blank pages then it’s time for your to either contact your tech support or get in touch with the printer manufacturer’s helpline. Tech specialists will be able to guide you towards more detailed solutions that might get you the desired results. You can also check our guide on connecting Canon printer to wifi.
Check if your printer is still covered under warranty as chances are that the printer could have developed a defect. If the printer is under warranty, you can get it repaired. But if it is out of warranty then you either bear the repair cost or get a new printer!