topic Re: HP printer stopped printing in color in Electronics

HP printer stopped printing in color

Isobel Archer — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 19:42:02 GMT

Help

My HP printer just stopped printing in color. I did nothing to cause this.

I checked the print properties and grayscale is "off." I have plenty of colored ink and I have done printer maintenance. I have turned it off and back on. Nothing helps.

I have run the troubleshooter and everything is fine - so it says.

What can I do?

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

SilleeMee — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 19:50:59 GMT

Try removing the printer from the Printers & Scanners section found under the System Settings. Reboot after you have removed your printer form the device list and then go back and add that printer back into your system.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Mz iMac — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 19:54:19 GMT

@Isobel Archer wrote:
Help

My HP printer just stopped printing in color. I did nothing to cause this.

I have plenty of colored ink
Did you check your "black ink?" Depending on your modle HP printer (which you did not mention) If low, your printer may not print.

What can I do?
Did you check your "supply level" app?

Researched HP support site? Wealth of info there.
Post in HP support forums?
Researched YouTube for help?

@Isobel Archer

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

geezerette — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 20:11:52 GMT

Have you tried a different color cartridge? Just because it may show it still has ink left doesn't necessarily mean it will print in color. Something else may be wrong with it.

I've had a few cartridges, both color and black, over the years that I have had to replace even though they appeared to be fine.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Isobel Archer — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 21:47:38 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
Try removing the printer from the Printers & Scanners section found under the System Settings. Reboot after you have removed your printer form the device list and then go back and add that printer back into your system.

Tried that. Didn't work.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Isobel Archer — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 21:53:32 GMT

@Mz iMac @geezerette

It printed in color in the morning. I went to print later that day - no color. Same ink - which I just replenished the week before - all colors.

I have tried the HP forums. They all tell me to - check the ink, check the print properties to be sure grayscale is off, do the printer maintenance, reboot, remove and reinstall the printer, update the printer apps, clean and align the printhead.

I have done all that and no change. It's definitely a mystery. It worked fine and then suddenly it doesn't.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

SilleeMee — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 22:18:44 GMT

I agree with @geezerette about changing out the cartridge(s).

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Mz iMac — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 22:33:01 GMT

@Isobel Archer In addition to geezerete's excellent advice, make sure you are using HP cartridges & NOT a generic/no name brand.

Which model HP printer do you have & its age? Time for a new printer?

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Venezia — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 23:47:55 GMT

@Isobel Archer - It could be an issue with the drivers for your printer (even though you didn't do anything).

We run into this occasionally when Windows does something behind the scenes.

Go into your settings and do a search for any updated drivers to make sure you have the latest version.

I hope you find the solution. These things are irritating!

(One other thing. Until recently we had both an HP printer and a Brother Laser printer. We now only have the Brother, but the same thing happens, when Windows installs its generic drivers instead of the dedicated Brother drivers.)

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Isobel Archer — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 23:51:28 GMT

According to the troubleshooter my drivers are up to date.

The cartridges are hp and are the right ones. It's an hp officejet pro 6970. It's about 2 years old.

It has printed in color just fine until this week. As I said, it printed in the morning, and then if the afternoon, it stopped printing in color.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Venezia — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 06:13:00 GMT

@Isobel Archer - When you uninstalled your printer, did you also then uninstall any HP drivers? Then reinstall the printer followed by the drivers.

I know in the past, when I've had a similar issue, even though the troubleshooter told me I had the updated drivers, the only thing that worked was to delete them and reinstall. You can google how to do it.

HP has a pretty comprehensive tutorial on the issue. (I noticed they suggested that, if you haven't regularly cleaned the printhead, it may take several goes and you should leave a half-hour in between.)

One other possibility: do you have any other printers in whatever network you have set up? If something changed on another printer, it could affect the HP printer, too.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Nuttmeg — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 15:53:02 GMT

@Isobel Archer

When I update Windows sometimes my HP Printer stops working. I just update all the printer software and drivers and everything was fine.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Marp — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 18:00:36 GMT

Try unplugging the printer directly from the outlet for a minute or so then plug back in.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Isobel Archer — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 20:17:09 GMT

I have uninstalled the printer, deleted the software, reinstalled the printer, software and driver. I have unplugged it and plugged it back in.

It prints black and white - no color.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Venezia — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 06:07:48 GMT

@Isobel Archer - I found this doing a search for this problem. It's worth a try as a last resort. (It's doing a hard reset on your printer.) If this doesn't work, I'm afraid it looks like you'll have to find a tech person somewhere to have a look at it.

-----------------------

Please make sure that the printer is connected directly to the wall outlet and not to the surge protector.

Remove all the ink cartridges and then try to perform a hard reset on the printer.

With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer and also unplug the power cord from the wall outlet.

Remove USB cable, if present.

Wait for 2-3 minutes, press and hold the power button on your printer for about 30 seconds to remove any additional charge.

Now plug back the power cable straight to a wall outlet without any surge protector or an extension cord and then plug back the power cord to the printer.

Turn on the printer and wait till warm-up period finishes and the printer is idle.

Now insert the ink cartridges and then try to print a test page and check if it works.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Isobel Archer — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 13:54:51 GMT

@Venezia OK I just did all that - still black and white - no color.

This is truly a mystery.

I've had various problems with my laptop and printer and always before I could google and fix the issue. I even replaced the fan in my laptop when it was making a noise.

I just have no idea what to do about this.

My husband also has an hp printer (different model) and it quit printing altogether. He replaced the printheads and now it works fine - both b/w and color. I don't think that's the issue here, but at this point, who knows.

I think since his prints in color and mine prints fine in b/w and I only need the color sometimes, I'm just going to stop worrying about it.

I do hate it though when things don't work as they should and I can't figure out why. I've only had this printer a couple of years and it should work.

I really appreciate all the help everyone has offered. As I've found before, sometimes it's the one thing I hadn't thought to do that worked. Maybe I'll eventually stumble on the solution for this problem.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Isobel Archer — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 13:58:53 GMT

@Nuttmeg wrote:
@Isobel Archer
When I update Windows sometimes my HP Printer stops working. I just update all the printer software and drivers and everything was fine.

I did have a recent Windows 10 update and watched a youtube video that said he had tried everything and then - realizing it was the update - did just what you said and voila everything was fine.

I was encouraged. It was so simple. I did just what he - and you - suggested. Didn't work. I was depressed. Oh well.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

SilleeMee — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 14:14:20 GMT

Did you replace the cartridges yet? I realize that is an extra expense but if that works then problem solved.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

gadgetgal613 — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 14:18:15 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
Did you replace the cartridges yet? I realize that is an extra expense but if that works then problem solved.

I was about to post the same advice. If you don't print much, this can be a real problem. The ink driies up, the print head gets clogged or one color is out and it won't print.

Re: HP printer stopped printing in color

Isobel Archer — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 14:40:58 GMT

I replaced the cartridges last week. It printed in color with the new cartridges. Then it stopped.

They are hp cartridges - ordered directly from hp. They are the right cartridges for this printer.