Problems with Canon printers printing blank pages: a variety of causes and solutions

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Canon is the 2nd largest printer manufacturer in the world, with a market share of 17.7%, only second to HP. They provide customers with a large variety of printing machines, tailored to their specific needs, from personal to business use, if you need a printing machine, Canon is there for you.

However, just like all machines, even Canon printers are vulnerable to functional failures. It’s not about whether a machine will fail in its lifetime, it’s how easy is it to fix.

Canon as a manufacturer has learned from their history and mistakes and made machines that can be fixed even by a layman at home.

Today we’re going to discuss one such failure, its causes, and how to fix it.

Why is My Canon Printer Printing Blank Pages?

Every one of us who uses a printer has had this problem at one point. This is a fairly common problem for printers, and also an easy one to solve in the majority of cases, but let’s first discuss what are the various circumstances that can cause your Canon printer to print blank pages.

  • Low Ink level
  • Dirty/Clogged Print Heads
  • Cartridge Failure
  • Corrupted Driver
  • Low-Quality Ink
  • Problem with the Document
  • Defected Hardware
  • Problem with the Commanding System

Solutions

Let us discuss possible solutions for these problems, according to their causes.

Low Ink Level – Low ink levels will cause your printer to not print properly or print blank pages, to resolve this you need to check your ink level, and there are several ways to check this,

  • Menu Buttons
  • IJ Scan Utility
  • IJ Status Monitor
  • Manual Check

Refer to your user manual, to see the detailed instructions on how to check & refill the ink for your printer model.

If you don’t have a manual, then,

Dirty/Clogged Print Heads – This problem is very common for users who do not use or clean their printers, regularly. Irregular use of printer results in the ink inside the print heads drying up, clogging them up.

There are 2 possible ways to solve this issue-

  • Manually clean the print heads.
    • Refer to your printer’s manual on how to access the print heads.
    • Use a soft microfiber cloth to wipe the print heads clean.

*Make sure it’s microfiber cloth, to prevent any lint from jamming inside the printheads.

  • Using the auto clean/deep clean.
    • Refer to your printer’s manual, to see if your printer accommodates auto cleaning or deep cleaning.
    • If it does, then follow the instructions.
    • After cleaning, check to see if the printer is working optimally.

Cartridge Failure – Improper installation of an ink cartridge or toner, can lead to it failing during functioning, to solve this –

  • Refer to your manual.
  • Look up instructions on how to access/check/remove/install an ink cartridge or toner.
  • Make sure that you’ve removed the protective covering from the ink cartridge, this is the most common reason for this problem.
  • Access the cartridge/toner.
  • Check if it’s properly installed.
  • If not, remove and reinstall it.
  • Put the printer components back together.
  • Check to see if the printer is working optimally.

Corrupted Driver – Drivers are responsible for operating the hardware, so an outdated and corrupted driver can result in your canon printer printing blank pages.

Solve this issue by,

  • Updating Driver.
    • Open the Start Menu/Click on Type Here to Search (Win 10).
    • Click on Search.
    • Type Device Manager.
    • Open it.
    • Click on Print Queues.
    • Right-Click on the name of your Canon Printer.
    • Click on Update Driver.
    • Click on Automatically Search for Updates.
    • Click on Search for Update on Window Updates.
    • Install the update, if one is found.
  • Reinstall Driver.
    • Open the Start Menu/Click on Type Here to Search (Win 10).
    • Click on Search.
    • Type Control Panel.
    • Open it.
    • Click on,
      • Program (If viewed by Category).
        • Program and Features.
      • Program and Features (If viewed by small/large icons).
    • Lookup for your Canon printer’s driver.
    • Right-Click on it.
    • Select Uninstall.
    • Type in your printer’s name, in the search bar, or select it manually.
      • Device
      • Series
      • Model
    • Download the driver you uninstalled.
    • Restart your computer.
    • Install the driver.
    • Check to see if the printer is printing properly now.

Low-Quality Ink – Every printer manufacturer designs their product to work on a particular kind of ink, it may be more expensive than some generic ink, but when it comes to the quality of the output and the health of your printer, it’s better to spend a few extra bucks.

If you’re using a low quality/generic ink, other than the manufacturer’s certified ink for your product, it can lead to your Canon printer printing blank pages. To fix this,

  • Refer to your manual on how to access the ink cartridge or ink tank.
      • Remove the cartridge.
      • Reinstall an authentic Canon Ink Cartridge.
    • Ink Tank
      • Refer to the manual.
      • Remove/Flush the Ink Tank.
      • Refill it with authentic Canon Ink.
      • Reinstall the tank.
  • Wipe the print heads clean with a microfiber cloth.
  • Do an auto/deep clean.
  • Check if the printer is printing properly.

Problem With the Document – At times the problem doesn’t lie in the printer but rather in the document that is to be printed, this could be due to the document being-

  • Blank
  • Corrupted
  • Incompatible

Make sure to check your document for all these things, if your Canon printer is printing blank pages.

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