What to do if 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 a printed version never ceases to be relevant. In addition, thanks to modern technologies, you can independently print family photos, design projects, business cards and even large posters. Not everyone manages to carefully familiarize themselves with the operating rules of a particular device, which sometimes leads to a number of issues that, upon closer examination, are quite possible to solve on their own. One of the most common is that the printer is turned on and working, but cannot capture the next sheet of paper to print.

Why doesn't the printer take paper?

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

1. There is a foreign object stuck inside the printer, between the print heads, or in the paper pickup tray itself, restricting the movement of the mechanism. This situation is most likely if the device is located on a desktop, above which there are shelves with office supplies. A paperclip, a button, a pen cap, an eraser... Even a piece of carelessly pulled out sheet can cause a malfunction.
2. Incorrect paper.Some of its types have insufficient or excessive density, which means the printer simply cannot capture the sheet.
3. The paper pickup rollers become dirty or begin to deviate from the operating algorithm. This reason can also be eliminated on your own.
4. Even if the paper is selected correctly, the device may not be able to handle it due to deep creases, unevenness, or incorrect sheet dimensions.
5. Hardware drivers are malfunctioning. In this case, you will 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 a technician 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. You should not use physical force or try to disassemble the printer yourself, because it is a rather complex device.

Checking the paper

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

IMPORTANT! Some devices are equipped with special stops that prevent the sheets from moving or getting wrinkled. If your device is not equipped in this way, try holding the paper yourself while printing, guiding it for smoother and clearer printing.

Resetting the settings

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

1. Clear the document 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 your device to the network again. In this case, it should turn on on its own, but without the previous settings. If this does not happen, turn on the printer manually using the start button.
4. Do a test print. If the problem was a software glitch, you won't have any further difficulties.

Removing foreign objects

You can use tweezers if it is difficult to remove a foreign object with your fingers. Proceed slowly and carefully to avoid damaging the device. If a piece of paper is stuck in the printer, pull in different directions to understand where exactly the piece of paper is caught.

Cleaning the rollers

The most common cause of roller contamination is poor quality paper and ink. Paper fibers settle on the rollers, as does ink residue, thereby reducing their ability to grip and move the sheet during printing. If the printer is old, instead of cleaning it would be much more rational to replace the rollers with new ones. If you need to print something urgently, just make a couple of turns of electrical tape on the worn-out rollers.

To clean usable rollers you will need:

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

It is necessary to wet the cloth and gently wipe the rollers until all the dye comes off. To clean hard-to-reach places, you can use damp 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 studying in advance.

Changing driver settings

Sometimes printing does not occur due to incorrectly configured printer drivers, in particular, incorrectly specified paper size and type. In order to eliminate this problem, you need to manually set the required 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 printer functions 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, you may need to reinstall the drivers. To do this, you need to remove previous versions using the device manager. After this, you can download new software that is suitable for your printing device and install it on your computer.