This means you would have to remove some of those components to clear the problem. If you aren't comfortable doing so, bring it into a PC repair shop for help. If your printer tells you it's out of ink, but you know it isn't, there are a few things you can do. First, the print head may be clogged or dirty, and you can clean it out through your printer's built-in cleaning routine which you'll find detailed in the manual.
Alternatively, if your printer's heads lie on the ink cartridges themselves—the little copper strip where the ink comes out—you can blot it with a wet paper towel to clean it up. Once ink starts to flow more freely onto the towel, give it a quick dab with a dry paper towel before re-inserting the cartridge. If you have a laser printer , you may be able to get a bit more toner out of the cartridge by shaking it from side to side, then re-inserting it.
It's also possible your printer just doesn't realize you put in new ink cartridges. If it doesn't detect new ink automatically, there may be a setting on the printer that allows you to "reset" the fill levels. Check your printer's manual to see how on your specific model. Remember that certain third-party cartridges may cause problems, too, so try genuine cartridges from the printer manufacturer to see if they work better.
If you still can't figure out the problem, it may help to run a few diagnostic tests. Both your printer and your computer can print test pages that may help you narrow down your issue.
You can usually run your printer's self-test by pressing a series of buttons as the printer boots up, which you'll find outlined in your printer's manual. If your printer's own test page comes out fine but Windows throws an error, you can be reasonably sure you have a software problem. If the printer can't even print its own test page, then you'll want to focus on repairing the printer rather than driver or software issues. If you're lucky, your printer may even give you a test page with an error code or other information on it you can decipher.
By Whitson Gordon Aug. Check Your Printer's Error Lights Frustrating as they can be, printers do sometimes tell you what the problem is so you can avoid trial-and-erroring your way through the troubleshooting process.
More Inside PCMag. He eats potato chips with chopsticks so he doesn't get grease on his mechanical keyboard. Select your printer and then select Open queue. If you see a message that says, "Windows will stop managing your default printer for you," select OK.
Note: If you select OK , Windows will stop automatically setting the last printer you used as your default printer. Under Document Name , select any documents listed, and under Document , select Cancel. In the search box on the taskbar, type services , and then select Services in the list of results.
Find the Print Spooler service, right-click it, and select Restart. Select your printer, select Remove device , and then select Yes. Rebooting your PC can sometimes help to refresh the services and components necessary for your device to communicate with your printer. Windows 10 More Check to make sure the printer is turned on and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your device.
Need more help? Join the discussion. As other technology gets more sophisticated, printers have remained as frustrating and difficult to manage as ever. Fortunately, some common issues that relatively easy to fix. This post has been updated to see the news tips click here. As simple as it seems, this is one of the most effective ways to get a printer back on track and functioning normally.
Sometimes the most frustrating problems are caused by the smallest details. Checking that everything is connected will properly alieve a surprising amount of issues. In some instances, the printer will tell you exactly what is wrong with it. Go to the Control Panel and select Devices and Printers. Click on the printer that is having problems.
It will usually tell you what is wrong. If you have permissions, clearing problematic print jobs can get the printer back up and running.
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