What to do if the printer does not pick up paper: why the printer does not pick up paper.

We constantly have to work with various information and documents in electronic form, but the need to duplicate them in the printed version does not cease to be relevant. In addition, thanks to modern technology, you can independently print family photos, design projects, business cards and even large posters. Not everyone can carefully read the operating rules of a device, which sometimes leads to a number of issues that, upon closer examination, are quite possible to resolve by yourself. One of the most common is that the printer is turned on and working, but cannot capture the next sheet for printing.

Why the printer does not pick up paper

There may be several reasons why the printer does not take paper well:

1. A foreign object has stuck inside the printer, between the printheads, or in the paper pick-up tray itself, restricting movement of the mechanism. This situation is most likely if the device is located on a desktop, above which there are shelves with stationery. A paper clip, a button, a cap from a pen, an eraser... Even a piece of a sloppy ejected sheet can cause a malfunction.
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2. Incorrectly selected paper. Some of its types have insufficient or excessive density, which means the printer simply can not capture the sheet.
3. Paper pick rollers become dirty or begin to deviate from the working algorithm. This cause can also be eliminated by yourself.
4. Even if the paper is selected correctly, the device may not be able to cope with it due to deep creases, bumps or incorrect sheet sizes.
5. The drivers for the hardware failed. In this case, you have to diagnose both the printer and the computer.

What to do if the printer does not pick up paper

Do not rush to call the wizard or reboot the device. Most likely, you will be able to fix the problem yourself. Inspect the printer and, if possible, its internal mechanisms, check the connection to the network and to the computer or laptop. Do not use physical force or try to disassemble the printer yourself, because this is a rather complicated device.

Checking paper

Examine the specifications of your device, paying attention to the acceptable paper weight. Before printing, you should carefully smooth the sheets and check for bent corners. Also ensure that the sheets are aligned with the edges of the paper feed tray.

IMPORTANT! On the part of the devices, special limiters are installed that do not allow the sheets to move or jam. If your device is not equipped in this way, try holding the paper yourself while printing, guiding it for smoother and sharper printing.

Reset the settings

Sometimes hardware or software crashes. You can reset the current print settings, which is very simple:

1. Clear the print queue to put the device into standby mode.
2. Without turning off the printer, unplug it from the power supply and leave it for about half a minute.
3. Connect the device to the network again. At the same time, it should turn on independently, but without the previous settings. If this does not happen, turn on the printer manually using the start button.
4. Run a test print. If the problem was a software failure, you will not have new difficulties.

We remove foreign objects

You can use tweezers if it is inconvenient to remove a foreign object with your fingers. Proceed slowly and carefully so as not to damage the device. If a piece of paper is stuck in the printer, pull it in different directions in order to understand what the scrap is for.

We clean the rollers

The most common cause of roller contamination is poor quality paper and ink. Paper fibers settle on the rollers, as well as ink residues, thereby reducing their ability to pick up and move the sheet when printing. If the printer is old, instead of cleaning it will be much more rational to replace the rollers with new ones. If you need to print something urgently, it is enough to make an insulating tape a couple of turns on worn rollers.

To clean workable rollers you will need:

• pure water;
• lint-free fabric;
• cotton swabs.

You must dampen the cloth and gently wipe the rollers until all the dye has come off. To clean inaccessible places, you can use wet cotton swabs. If you are confident in your abilities, you can try to remove the rollers for a more thorough cleaning. Each model or company has its own algorithm for this procedure, which is worth exploring in advance.

Change driver settings

Sometimes printing does not occur due to incorrectly configured drivers for the printer, in particular, incorrectly specified paper size and type. In order to eliminate this problem, you must manually set the necessary indicators, which is not particularly difficult.

You need to call up the print menu, select the printer you need and go to its properties. Next, open the tab with the functions of the printer and set the paper characteristics in accordance with the data indicated on its packaging. Or choose the option closest to them from those offered by the system. Next, you need to save the changes and try to print.

If this procedure does not help, it might be worth reinstalling the drivers. To do this, uninstall previous versions using the device manager. After that, you can download new software that is suitable specifically for your printing device and install it on your computer.