Common Causes Of Printer Not Printing Black Ink
Your Epson printer not printing black color can be caused by a handful of different factors. Some of these factors are:
Empty Ink Cartridge/s
This one’s pretty straightforward.
If your printer has an empty black ink cartridge, then you won’t be able to print any black and white documents.
Unfortunately for printer owners that have 4 or more ink cartridges inside, it gets a lot worse.
A printer that uses 4 different cartridges, such as black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, will need to have enough ink on all cartridges to print black and white documents. That means for you to avoid or fix your printer not printing in black problem, you should have sufficient ink levels in all of your four ink slots.
To know more about this one, go to our FAQ section at the end of this guide.
Printhead Issue
Your printer’s printhead is the most important and expensive part of your machine. If your printhead is damaged or dirty, then your printer won’t function properly. And may cause ink system failure or ink not being recognized by your printer.
There are two ways you can fix or clean your printhead: automatically by utilizing your printer screen or manually by removing your printhead from your printer and cleaning it on your own.
Just a reminder, not all printers have removable printheads. Some printheads are fixed in their position, so your only choice will be to do it automatically.
This is not as bad as it seems, since we strongly advised against cleaning your printhead manually as doing this may cause more damage.
There’s a good reason why manufacturers chose to automate printhead cleaning on their printers. The printhead is a very sensitive part of your printer and can be easily damaged if mishandled. If you have a damaged printhead, then you won’t be able to use your printer at all.
Incompatible Paper
This one does not happen a lot, but it’s still a cause of concern. The paper you’re using to print documents should be compatible with your printer as this affect your printouts’ quality.
Using incompatible paper may damage your printhead making it unable to print certain types of color. Incompatible papers are the ones that are too thick for your printer.
Some may also have a glossy surface that your printer may not be able to penetrate with its inks.
Expired Ink Cartridges
Yes. You read that right. Ink cartridges much like edible items have an expiration date. The typical expiration of an ink cartridge is 2 years after it was manufactured.
Once your ink cartridge expires, your printer may not be able to read it properly causing you to experience print quality issues.
It’s better if you check the box before purchasing to make sure you won’t be buying expired ink cartridges. This is for you not to waste your money and time.
Printer Driver Problem
Your printer not printing in black ink is not only caused by your printer hardware but also your printer software. The printer driver you’ve installed on your computer may have been corrupted making your printer unable to print certain colors properly.
Your printer driver should always be up-to-date and running so your computer can send the proper information to your printer.
The printer driver acts as a bridge between your printer and computer. If this bridge is broken, then you may encounter some printing problems like printer offline, not being able to print in color, or black ink.
Basic Printer Checkup
If you have a multi-function printer, then you should do these steps first before performing any troubleshooting steps.
To get started with our basic printer checkup, you should turn on your printer. Make sure your printer screen is working fine, with no display issue or button problem.
Put a document on your scanner glass. Any type of document will do. Now, on your printer screen select the copy button.
If you were able to copy a document successfully, then you can proceed to the basic troubleshooting steps below.
If you were unable to copy, then you have a much bigger problem than just your printer not printing in black ink.
Basic Troubleshooting For Printer Won’t Print Black
Step 1: Check your ink levels
The first step in fixing your printer not printing in black problem is to check your ink levels. You can do this step in two different ways.
Go in front of your printer screen and click on the icon that looks like a teardrop. Most printers available today have this icon on top or at the bottom of their printer display screen.
Check Ink Levels Icon or the Teardrop Icon
Another way is by opening your printer software on your desktop screen, it usually has your printer icon and name. Once that program’s open, select the option that says “Check ink levels“.
The ink levels that you’re going to see here might not be that accurate to the actual ink levels inside your ink cartridges, but it still provides you with a good estimate of how much ink you have.
If it’s more than a quarter full, then you should be fine.
If it’s less than a quarter full, then you should change your ink cartridge to see if it can help fix your printer issue.
Step 2: Change your ink cartridges
Once you’ve identified the amount of ink on each of your cartridges, it’s now time to change those with low ink levels.
For those who haven’t change their printer inks before, follow these instructions.
You may also check your printer manual online on your printer’s manufacturer’s website if you don’t have it with you.
Open your cartridge access door. Printers have different types of cartridge access doors. Have your printer manual ready so you’ll know where it is located. Some printers have it in front of the printer so you just have to pull the door to open it or lift the handle up.
Epson Connect Printer Setup Utility Step by Step Process
Well, if you do not have any idea about the Epson Connect Printer Setup Utility, and are searching for the answer, then you are on the right page. If you want to know how it works, then we are going to tell you.
An Epson printer setup utility is a setup file that is going to allow you to configure the Epson printer with the computer, phone, or laptop. This is going to print all kinds of documents, files, and pictures.
When you have installed Epson Connect Printer Setup Utility Mac, you will be able to give the print commands to the printer from any device that is capable of sending the email. It is very important for you to install this software of utility as it will enable your Epson printer to carry out the printing tasks.
These tasks are such as scan to cloud, remote print, Epson Email print, etc. When you have the email enabled, then you only have to download the Epson remote printer driver on the computer with Epson Connect Printer Setup Utility. This will help you in setting up the printer so that you can start printing.
Epson Connect Printer Setup Utility is available to download both on Mac, laptops, Windows PCs, etc. you can easily download this software and then start it on your computer for performing the Epson connect printer setup.
After you have downloaded the setup utility on your PC, you need to set up your Epson printer with the Wi-Fi Network. After that, you can register it with the Epson connect account. This will help you start the Epson connect printer setup and print from an Epson printer.
Epson Connect Printer Setup Utility Download – Key Features
- For Epson connect the Internet-connected with your device should be strong and stable.
- It is quite easy and simple to use.
- You have also an option to set up your device via USB wire.
- Wireless opportunity is also there available for the users.
- It is applicable to all those devices that have mailing options.
How to Setup Epson Connect Printer Setup Utility windows 10:
- Well, what you need to make sure of is that you connect your computer and the printer with the wireless system.
- You also need to access the main page of the Epson support in order to see the start here sheet. After that select the product, and then choose the manuals. Then you have to click on the start button.
- Then download the Epson connect printer setup utility windows 10 and install it.
- There will be an agreement for the end-user license. Click next on that
- After that click installs and does not forget to click finish.
- Then choose the printer and press next.
- Select the printer registration option and then press next.
- Then there will be a notification or a message that will tell you to register a printer to the Epson connect. Then you need to press Ok.
This is how you will be able to set up the Epson connect printer setup utility windows 10.
How to Setup Epson Connect Printer Setup Utility Mac:
- First, you need to download the Epson Connect Printer Setup Utility Mac and then run it. There will be an option to continue. You need to be sure to click it.
- After that, you will see an apt option where you will see the software license agreement. Then click on the continue option with the terms. Finalize it by clicking on the agree button.
- Then click on the option of Install and then close it down.
- You need to choose the type of printer that you have been using and then press next.
- Then from the window which will appear, you need to choose the printer registration and select next.
- Now you will be seeing the message which will state to register the printer to Epson connect. If you do, then select Ok. Then you need to scroll down until you see the option
This is the process for setting up the Epson Connect Printer Setup Utility Mac.