Why empty sheets come out of the printer

Many users are faced with a situation where the printer prints blank sheets. This behavior of the device is puzzling, and sometimes even panic, if an urgent need is to print the document, but the equipment refuses to work normally. A malfunction in the apparatus can cause many causes. The most common ones will need to be considered in more detail.

User inattention

Before looking for reasons for the device’s malfunction, print a test page without a PC. To do this, different models of devices have their own ways: start a special button that you need to hold for some time, a combination of buttons, select from the service menu of the unit, etc. It is necessary to take the instruction to your printer or multifunction device and study the information about this.

So, you found how to print a test page, started the process and saw that the sheet is not empty, but has text. This means that there is paint in the ink tanks, and that the problem is not in the unit. The reason for it may be hiding in the wrong interaction of the device with the PC or in the confusion of the user.

Wrong connection

Sometimes during the cleaning process, you can hook the USB cable connecting the PC to the printer and break the connector. It is necessary to insert and move the plug of the cable well to ensure that it is tight in the socket.

It is not recommended to use different cable extenders, as electromagnetic interference may cause problems in the operation of the device.. In addition, a good cable must have ferrite filters that smooth out interference.

Ferrite Cable

Protective film

If the cartridge is new or refilled in a special service center, then a protective film will be stuck on it, which protects it from drying out or from ink leakage. If this film is not removed, then the machine simply will not “see” the ink bottle or the paint will not be able to flow onto the print head (PG), or it will not be sprayed from the PG nozzles themselves. The problem is solved removing the sticker from chips, nozzles (if they are located on the cartridge) or from a hole in the ink well into which the SG pipe is inserted (if it is located on the carriage).

Wrong paper selection

It is necessary to check in the settings of the printer which paper size is by default. If there is a paper of a different size in the tray (different from the one in the machine settings), then the device will issue blank sheets.

To correct the settings, do the following:

• go to the “Control Panel” PC;
• select “Printers and Faxes” or “Devices and Printers”, depending on the OS on your computer;

• select the device (if there are several of them in the system) that does not work correctly, and click on it with the right mouse button (right-click);
• choose in the menu “Print Settings” or “Properties” or “Printer Settings” (depending on the model of the machine and the OS used);

• A window will open where you need to select the default paper size that matches the one in the printer tray.

To test printing, without leaving the device properties menu, go to the “General” tab, you can print a test page by clicking “Print a test page”.

Software crashes

Often white sheets come out when incorrectly executed document in a text or graphic editor (there may be blank pages). To find out, open the “File” menu and select the “Preview” line. A window will open where you can view all the pages prepared for printing. If blank pages are found, delete them.

It is also recommended to try printing any document from another program. There are cases when the printer does not “want” to work with any editor.

Wrong settings

All modern printers are connected to the computer via USB port. But there are software failures when the previously installed settings of the device “fly off”, and it starts either to produce blank sheets, or to stand and do nothing, although it is written on the computer screen in the program window of the device that the print is on.

This problem is solved as follows: go to the device properties window in the “Ports” tab. After a failure in the line of ports through which the printer should work, the port LPT1 usually stands. Select from the drop-down list “USB Virtual printer port for USB”.

Also in the device settings, you need to see if the checkmark is not unchecked in front of the line “Print text only” or “Print image only”. If this is the case, then depending on which file was sent for processing (text or graphic), the printer will print blank pages.

Print file corruption

When you send a document to print, the system creates a special file that contains information about the print queue. Sometimes due to software failures, this file is damaged, and the proper operation of the unit may be disrupted. Therefore, you must first try to just clear print queue: go to “Control Panel” → “Devices and Printers” and right-click on the necessary machine, then select the line “View Print Queue”.

A window will open where you need to delete all lines.

In most cases, the queue can be cleared. If this does not work, you will need Stop the Print Spooler service:

• right-click on the “My Computer” icon, for example, in the explorer;
• select “Management”;

• find “Services and Applications” on the left and double-click on it with the left mouse button (LMB);
• select “Services” and in the right part of the window find “Print Spooler”;
• after right click on this line, the menu will appear, where select “Stop”;

• then you need to enter “C: \ WINDOWS \ system32 \ spool \ PRINTERS” (without quotes) into the address bar of the explorer and delete all files in the found folder;
• go back to “Services”, and selecting “Print Manager”, click on “Start”.

Thus, any errors associated with the print queue will be eliminated.

Driver problem

“Flying” drivers may interfere with the proper interaction of the PC with the printer. Therefore recommended upgrade software. To do this, you need to download the driver from the website of the manufacturer of your unit, or install it from the disk that came with the device. But before updating it is recommended to remove the old driver.

1. Turn off the device, unplug the cable from the PC and unplug the power cord.
2. Go to the PC in the following way: “Control Panel” → “Device Manager”.
   
3. From the list of equipment, select the printer you need and double-click on it with the LMB.
4. Right-click on the name of the machine and select “Delete device”.
5. After removing the device from the system, it is recommended to restart it.
6. After the OS has restarted, start the installation of the new driver and follow the instructions of the installation wizard. You can also do this in the device manager, where you should click “Update hardware configuration” (after connecting the printer and turning it on), select the unknown equipment that appears and after clicking RMB, click “Install driver”. The system prompts you to select a driver from the Internet or from a PC disk. This method helps when the downloaded driver files do not have an installation file (executable file).

Antivirus or virus intervention

If an anti-virus program interferes with the operation of the device, then you need to change the settings in it.

Typically, printing problems occur in network printers (connected by a local network).

To get rid of the effects of anti-virus equipment,You need to enter the program settings in the following way: “Settings” → “Firewall settings” → “Network properties”. After that, you should select your network, right-click on it and select “Trusted”. After these actions, the unit will work without problems.

If the device crashes after a PC has become damaged by a virus, you will have to reinstall the driver in the manner described above.. Of course, before installing the PC driver, you need to clean the virus from special programs.

Software conflict with hardware

What to do if you have an old-fashioned printer, and the OS on the latest computer or newer than the required hardware manual, and, despite the driver installed, does not work correctly, releasing blank pages? In this case, you can use a special program (emulator) that allows you to install an older OS in your operating system. In this case, the outdated OS will work on the virtual machine and in no way affect the operation of the main system.

This program is called VirtualBox (Virtual Boxing), and you can download it freely from the Internet.Next you have to download the distribution of an outdated OS with which your printer can work, and install it on a virtual machine created by the VirtualBox program. All instructions on how to install this shell and configure the equipment can be found in the description for it.

technical issues

Technical malfunctions of the device include problems with the cartridge or the print head, as well as failure or clogging of some units of the unit.

Ink run out or dried out

Ink cartridges that run out can cause blank sheets. In this case, you need to replace the cartridge or refill it (if it is refillable).

In the case when the printer is not used for a long time, drying of ink in the print head nozzles is possible. If this happens, you will need washing or soaking the cartridge (if the PG is located on the ink tank, for example, as in Canon or HP cartridges) or the same actions, but with a separate head.

Due to the user's inattention, the ink in the print head may dry up, for example, if the electricity was cut off during operation of the device and the carriage did not enter the parking space, but stopped elsewhere in the machine.In this case, the ink that is present in the GHG nozzles is exposed to air for a long time, drying it out. After the paint dries, it clogs the capillaries of the head.

To avoid ink drying, you will need to manually move the carriage slightly to the right, place a gauze napkin pre-moistened with distilled water or water for injection (not to be confused with saline solution) at the bottom of the machine and “run over” it with a carriage. The thickness of the napkin should be sufficient for the PG to come into contact with it. After turning on the power, remove the napkin and turn on the power cord of the device in the socket, then turn on the printer and wait until it performs self-diagnosis and parks the PG.

Malfunction assembly units

The appearance of clean sheets may be due to overheated print head, with prolonged operation of the machine (with large print volumes). In this case, the malfunction is eliminated by simply cooling the SG, if the apparatus is turned off for a while.

Also not excluded print head failure or burnout of the chip in it. If the device does not print a test page without using a PC, then there are suspicions that the problem is in the head (if there is nothing wrong with the ink and nozzles).

It is impractical to change a burnt print head if it is separate from the ink tanks, since its cost is almost equal to the cost of a new device. If the head installed on the ink tank is faulty, then you will need to replace the cartridge with a new one, although the price for it is also considerable.

If a laser printer prints white sheets, this indicates photodrum faults or about the problem with contacts.