9 Ways To Fix Your Printer Printing Blank Pages

You hit “Print,” everything sounds normal — the rollers turn, the page feeds — but the output is completely blank. No text. No color. Nothing. Blank prints are one of the most confusing printer issues because the device seems to be working, yet nothing ends up on the page.

Here’s what usually causes it and how to fix it quickly.

Even if the cartridge physically fits in your printer, it may not actually communicate with it. This happens when:

• you’re using third-party cartridges
• the printer doesn’t recognize the chip
• the cartridge was “refilled”
• the firmware was updated and now blocks non-OEM ink

Printers can be stingy, and rather than that pack of 6 no-name cartridges you bought online for $20, it'll force you to buy a single cartridge from Canon for $59.99. When the printer can’t read the cartridge, it sometimes prints… nothing.

Fix:

Check your printer display or software for warnings like:

• “Unrecognized cartridge”
• “Incompatible ink”
• “Cannot detect ink level”

If you see these, reseat the cartridge or try an OEM one.

If you print infrequently, ink dries inside the nozzles. When the nozzles clog, the printer goes through the motions but cannot spray ink — resulting in a blank page.

Fix:

Run:

• Printhead Cleaning
• Nozzle Check
• Deep Cleaning (only if necessary)

Print a test page afterward.

Be aware, the cleaning cycles will use quite a bit of ink so if your cartridges are already low, be ready to replace them soon after you run one. If nothing appears after two or three cycles, the clog may be too severe for the internal cleaning system.

In this case, you can physically clean the cartridges.

CAUTION: If this procedure is performed incorrectly, you run the risk of damaging your ink cartridges and/or your printer!

Take the cartridges out of the printer.

Note: the first test page might be a little smeared, this is normal. Print another one and check again. If it still isn't working correctly, re-run the process starting with printhead cleaning.

This one happens more often than you’d think. New cartridges come with:

• bright yellow or orange tape
• plastic covers
• vent seals

If any of these remain on the cartridge, ink cannot flow. Remove the cartridge and double-check.

Ink level monitoring is notoriously inaccurate on some models.

You might have:

• a nearly empty black cartridge
• an empty color cartridge (even if printing “black only”)
• a cartridge that ran out mid-job

Fix:

Remove the cartridges and visually inspect ink levels if possible.

Replacing low cartridges often fixes blank output immediately.

Sometimes the printer is simply told not to print anything.

Check for:

• Grayscale vs. Color mismatches
• “Print to file” options
• Blank page separators
• Wrong output tray
• Draft mode (can produce near-invisible ink levels)

Preview the document before printing to ensure it’s not the file itself.

Occasionally, specific files cause blank output — especially certain PDFs or documents with corrupted fonts.

Try printing:

• a screenshot
• a plain text file
• a web page

If those work, your original document is the issue. Exporting it as a PDF usually fixes it.

Turn the printer off, unplug it, and keep it unplugged for 60 seconds . This clears any cached jobs or firmware hiccups that might be interrupting ink delivery.

If nothing fixes the issue, you may be dealing with:

• a failed printhead
• dried internal ink absorbers
• broken purge mechanisms
• corrupted firmware
• a failing controller board

These are common in older or rarely-used inkjets, and repairs often exceed the value of the printer.

Home printers are fragile — especially if you print a few times a year.

With Have It Printed , your document is printed on commercial equipment that doesn’t clog, jam, or run dry.

Upload your file, and we’ll print it, mail it, and send tracking. No blank pages. No guesswork.