A blank sheet means the paper went through but no ink or toner reached it. Either the printer can’t put marks on paper (ink, print head, toner or drum), or the computer sent a job the printer couldn’t render (driver, app or the file itself).
One test separates the two: print the printer’s own self-test or configuration page from its control panel, with no computer involved. A blank self-test points at the printer; a clean one points at the PC.
If jobs don’t come out at all or sit stuck in the queue, that’s a different problem: see printer not printing.
Try these first
- Print a self-test or configuration page from the printer’s own control panel.
- If you just fitted a new cartridge, check that all tape, seals and packing pieces are off, then reseat it until it clicks.
- Check ink or toner levels on the printer’s display or in the maker’s app and replace anything empty.
- Print a short page from Notepad: if that comes out fine, the problem is one app or file, not the printer.
- On an all-in-one, copy a printed page placed face down on the glass: a blank copy points at the printer itself, not the computer.
Print a self-test page first: printer or computer?
Print a page straight from the printer: a self-test, configuration page, status report or print quality report, usually under Reports, Information or Tools. Names vary, so check the manual if you can’t find it.
The Windows Print test page button in Printers & scanners is a different test: it also goes through the driver and the connection.
| What you see | Most likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The self-test is blank, and copies are blank too | Supplies or the print mechanism: empty or unseated cartridge, dried nozzles, toner seal, drum | The inkjet or laser section below |
| Blank pages began right after fitting new ink or toner | Tape or a seal left on, a cartridge not clicked in, or one the printer rejects | The new ink or toner checklist |
| The self-test is fine, but every job from the PC is blank | The wrong or a damaged driver | The driver section |
| Notepad prints fine; one program or file comes out blank | That app, the file or its print settings | The one-program section |
| Normal pages, plus an extra blank sheet with each job | A separator or cover page, a trailing empty page, or firmware | The extra-page section |
| Blank pages plus an error code, grinding or a burning smell | A hardware fault | Stop and read the last section |
Printing blank pages with new ink or toner
When blank pages start the moment new supplies go in, the new cartridge is almost always the cause. Check these before running cleaning cycles, which waste ink on a cartridge that can’t print yet.
- All protective tape is off. On inkjet cartridges it can cover the nozzles, the copper contacts or both. Peel it off completely without touching either.
- Each cartridge is in its own slot and fully seated. A half-seated cartridge can still look right.
- The printer finished its startup routine. A new printer or print head often primes the ink system or prints an alignment page first; switching it off midway can leave it unprimed.
- No cartridge message is showing. A printer that rejects a cartridge (a non-original chip, one for another model or region, or an HP printer tied to HP+ or Instant Ink) usually shows an error rather than printing blank. Clear that first.
- A refill or third-party cartridge. If an original prints and the refill doesn’t, you have your answer.
- Ink-tank printers (EcoTank, MegaTank, Smart Tank). Ink should sit between each tank’s lower and upper lines. After unboxing or a move, set any transport lock or ink valve lever back to its printing position; Canon models with a valve show an error code while it’s closed.
Inkjet printing blank pages: ink, nozzles and cleaning
- Check levels, but don’t trust them blindly. The gauge is an estimate: a cartridge that reads half full can still print blank if its nozzles have dried, and refilled or third-party cartridges may show a wrong level, or none. If color prints but black text doesn’t, start with the black cartridge.
- Reseat each cartridge. Open the access door, wait for the carriage to stop, press each one in until it clicks and close the door. Watch the display for a cartridge message.
- Run a nozzle check, then a cleaning cycle. Cleaning forces ink through the nozzles to clear dried ink, so it helps after weeks without printing but uses ink. Print a check page after each cycle; each maker’s limit is below.
- Know where your print head lives. On many cartridge inkjets the head is part of each cartridge, so a new cartridge brings a new head. On ink-tank and many office models it stays in the printer, so a clogged head survives a refill.
Epson and Canon: where cleaning lives and when to stop
| Maker | Where to find it | How far to go |
|---|---|---|
| Epson | On Windows, the printer’s Printing preferences > Maintenance tab: Nozzle Check, then Head Cleaning | Up to three cleanings, then Power Cleaning if your model has it (ink at least a third full). Still blank? Turn it off with the power button and wait 12 hours before cleaning again; Epson says the rest lets trapped air clear and dried ink soften. |
| Canon PIXMA (models with a screen) | Maintenance > Cleaning, then Deep Cleaning | Two cleanings, then a deep cleaning. Still blank? Power off and deep-clean again after 24 hours; beyond that, Canon says the print head may be damaged. |
Don’t poke at the nozzles or clean them with alcohol. If built-in cleaning fails, follow your maker’s manual-cleaning steps exactly, because some print heads damage easily.
Laser printer or copier printing blank pages: toner, seal and drum
A completely blank page from a laser printer means toner never reached the drum, or never moved from the drum to the paper.
- A seal or packing piece still in place. Many new toner cartridges ship with a sealing strip, pull tab, protective cover or shipping lock. Compare the cartridge with the leaflet from the box; a seal that tore partway can leave most of the toner locked in.
- Empty or nearly empty toner. Many makers suggest gently rocking a low cartridge to spread the remaining toner. If that gets a few readable pages, you’ve confirmed it.
- The drum or imaging unit. Many printers build the drum into the toner cartridge; others use a separate drum or imaging unit with its own lifespan, which can print blank or very faint pages when worn out or not fully seated. Don’t touch the drum surface or leave it in bright light.
- Transfer roller, belt or high-voltage parts. If known-good toner and drum still give a blank self-test, the part that moves toner onto the paper, or the supply that charges it, has likely failed. That’s a service repair.
Let a laser printer cool before reaching inside; the fuser near the paper exit gets hot enough to burn. On a leased or contract copier, check the service agreement before buying toner, drums or imaging parts, since they’re often covered.
Rather have a technician sort it out?
With your approval, we can connect remotely and check the driver, print settings and the app while you run the printer’s self-test, and tell you plainly if it’s a supplies or hardware problem instead. A GoProIT technician can connect remotely, with your permission, and fix it while you watch. $59 per fix, Mon–Fri 8am–8pm ET.
HP printer printing blank pages: HP’s current steps
These are HP’s own support steps. GoPro IT is an independent IT support company and isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by HP, Epson or Canon. Labels vary by model and firmware.
HP inkjet printers
- Check ink levels, then print a test page from the printer; on many models that’s the Information button. If it prints correctly, go to print settings and the driver.
- If it’s blank, clean the print head. With a touchscreen or menus: Settings or Setup, then Tools or Printer Maintenance, then Clean Printhead or Clean Cartridges. Without a screen, use the HP app from 123.hp.com or your app store: select the printer, then Diagnostics or Tools, Print Quality Tools and Clean Printhead. Older setups may still use HP Smart.
- Run up to two more cycles if needed. After three, HP says to replace the cartridges and check whether its cartridge warranty covers them.
- Confirm paper type, size and quality in the print dialog, then update the printer firmware.
HP LaserJet printers
HP’s order is toner levels, a test page from the printer, then a cleaning page if that’s blank; steps differ by model, so HP points you to your model’s “poor print quality” documents. If the cleaning page is still blank, replace the toner cartridge.
Skip any guide that tells you to download HP Print and Scan Doctor: HP removed it from its website in May 2025.
Blank pages from one program or file only
If Notepad prints normally but one program or document comes out blank, the printer and driver are fine; fix the app or the file.
- PDFs in Adobe Acrobat or Reader. If a PDF prints blank pages, update with Menu > Help > Check for updates. Then in the Print dialog select Advanced, tick Print as Image, select OK and print. That sends each page as a picture, getting around fonts or graphics the printer can’t render. Still blank? Try another viewer such as Microsoft Edge; if that prints it, repair Acrobat with our guide to fixing Adobe Acrobat and Reader.
- Web pages. If the print preview looks right but the sheet comes out blank, choose Save as PDF in the print dialog and print the PDF. If the preview itself is blank, the page isn’t rendering for print: try another browser or the site’s own print or download button.
- Excel. A print area or stray formatting far below your data produces empty pages. Check View > Page Break Preview, then set or clear the print area under Page Layout > Print Area.
- Word. Turn on formatting marks with the ¶ button on the Home tab and delete empty paragraphs or breaks at the end. A document ending in a table always has an empty paragraph after it; if that spills onto a new page, set it to a 1-point font.
Printer printing extra blank page with every job
- A separator page. In Printer properties, open the Advanced tab and select Separator Page. If a file is named there, clear it; one that doesn’t suit the printer can come out blank or garbled.
- Cover or banner pages on office copiers. Many copier drivers have a cover sheet or job-separation option in printing preferences. Turn it off unless you use it.
- Paper size mismatch. A document set to A4 printed on Letter paper, or the reverse, can push the last lines onto an almost empty extra page. Match the size in the app and the driver.
If every app adds the blank page, update the printer firmware, then remove the printer and its driver package, as in the driver section below, and add it back with the maker’s current software or the Windows built-in driver.
Self-test prints fine but everything from the PC is blank
A good self-test plus blank pages from every program points at the driver: Windows is sending data the printer can’t render. A driver for a neighboring model, a PostScript driver on a printer that only speaks PCL (or the reverse), or a damaged driver package can each cause blank sheets, pages of symbols, or both.
- Check the driver. In Printer properties, the Advanced tab shows it next to Driver. It should name your exact model, or a universal driver the maker says covers it.
- Test another driver. On a Mopria-certified printer, Windows’ built-in Microsoft IPP Class Driver needs no download. If pages print on it, the maker’s driver was the problem.
- Remove the old driver package and install the maker’s current one. Our guide to the “Driver is unavailable” printer error covers a clean removal and adding a printer by IP with the built-in driver.
In an office, one PC means that PC’s driver; every PC on a print server points at the server’s copy, so fix it there first. Since Microsoft’s August 10, 2021 security updates (KB5005652), installing or updating a printer driver through Point and Print needs administrator rights by default, so an admin may need to reconnect each PC or push the driver with Intune or Group Policy. Our guide to Windows cannot connect to the printer explains why.
When it’s hardware, and when to stop
Stop working on the software side when:
- The self-test is still blank after fresh original supplies and the maker’s full cleaning routine on an inkjet, or a new toner cartridge and, where it’s separate, a new drum on a laser.
- The display shows an error for the print head, carriage, laser unit or fuser, or the printer grinds or clicks.
- You smell burning or see toner spilled inside. Turn the printer off, unplug it and don’t use it until it’s been looked at.
Under warranty, contact the maker before opening anything. Out of warranty, get a quote first, since a failed print head, fuser or transfer assembly can cost close to a new printer. Don’t take it apart beyond what its manual describes.
The computer side (drivers, print settings, apps and the PDF reader) can usually be handled remotely, in a session you approve and can end at any time. If you’d rather not do it yourself, that’s a typical $59 remote fix through remote support, and the Business Support Plan includes unlimited remote help desk tickets for each user on the plan.
Neither covers printer parts or repairs to the printer itself, which go to the maker or a repair service. If someone needs to be on site for the computer or network side, on-site visits can be arranged, where available, through vetted local partner technicians as a separate paid add-on.
Common questions
Why is my printer printing blank pages when it has ink?
Ink in the cartridge doesn’t help if it can’t leave the nozzles. Nozzles that dried out after weeks without printing, tape left on a new cartridge, or a cartridge that isn’t fully seated all produce blank pages with plenty of ink left. Ink gauges are estimates too. Print a nozzle check or self-test from the printer, then run its head-cleaning cycle (HP and Epson say up to three times) before replacing the cartridge.
Why does my printer print blank pages after I put in a new cartridge?
Usually something on the new cartridge still covers the nozzles or contacts, such as tape, a seal or a pull tab, or the cartridge isn’t clicked fully into its slot. Take it out, compare it with the instructions in the box, reinstall it and let the printer finish any priming or alignment. If the printer shows a cartridge error, deal with that message first.
How do I fix a laser printer that prints blank pages?
Print a configuration page from the printer’s panel. If it’s blank, remove the toner cartridge, make sure its seal or pull tab is fully out, and reseat it. Then try a new cartridge and, if your model has a separate drum unit, check that the drum is seated and within its life. Blank pages with known-good toner and drum usually mean a transfer or power fault that needs service.
Is it worth fixing a printer that prints blank pages?
Usually, when the fix is a supply. On many cartridge inkjets the print head is part of the cartridge, so a new cartridge is the repair, and on lasers a new toner cartridge or drum is often the fix. A failed built-in print head or transfer assembly is different: out of warranty, those repairs can approach the price of a new printer. HP’s rule of thumb is to replace the printer when a repair quote tops half the cost of a comparable new one.
Why does a PDF print blank when other files print fine?
The PDF reader is sending something the printer can’t render, often a font or graphic, or the file itself is damaged. In Adobe Acrobat or Reader, install updates, then choose Advanced in the Print dialog and turn on Print as Image. If that fails, save a fresh copy to your own drive and print it, or open the file in another PDF viewer to see whether the file is the problem.
Why does my printer print an extra blank page after every document?
Check three things: a separator page set on the printer’s Advanced tab, a cover or banner page option in the driver’s printing preferences, and the document itself, where an empty paragraph or page break at the end creates a final empty page. If it happens from every program, update the printer’s firmware, then remove the printer and its driver package and reinstall it with a fresh driver.