Printing guide
How to run a nozzle check and clean the print head
White lines through a photo, a color that has gone missing, text that looks combed: on an inkjet these are usually nozzles in the print head that have stopped firing. The printer can find them and clean them itself. The nozzle check shows which ink is affected, a cleaning pushes ink through to clear them, and a second check shows whether it worked. The skill is in stopping: every cleaning uses ink, and each maker says how far to go.
What a nozzle check shows
A print head has hundreds of nozzles for each ink, each a fraction of a millimeter across. A nozzle check fires every one of them in a pattern of short lines, so a nozzle that does not fire leaves a step missing, and in a solid area the same nozzle leaves a thin white line across the page. Gaps in one ink point to that ink; gaps in every ink, to the head as a whole. A pattern that prints complete but faint points instead to low ink or a draft setting, which no cleaning changes.
The pattern differs from printer to printer; what to look for is the same: a step or line that is not there.
Print the nozzle check
Load plain A4 or Letter paper and check the ink levels first. The menus below are the usual ones; a printer without a screen has a button sequence instead, which its manual gives.
Epson
On the control panel, Maintenance → Print Head Nozzle Check, then Print. On Windows, open the printer’s Printing Preferences and the Maintenance tab; on a Mac, Epson Printer Utility. If any line is broken or faint, choose the option for gaps when the printer asks, and it moves on to a head cleaning.
Canon
On Windows, the Maintenance tab of the printer driver, Nozzle Check, then Print Check Pattern; on a Mac, Canon IJ Printer Utility2, Test Print. Printers with a screen have it in their Maintenance menu. Missing lines in the black part of the pattern mean cleaning the black ink; white streaks in the color part, the color inks; the Cleaning button opens straight from the pattern dialog.
HP
HP prints a print quality report: on most control panels under Setup, then Reports or Tools, and in the HP Smart app under the printer’s settings and Print Quality Tools. Look for streaks, white lines or faded bars in the colored blocks.
Brother
On the control panel, Ink → Improve Print Quality → Check Print Quality. The machine prints a check sheet with four color blocks and asks whether they look right; if you say no, it shows sample patterns for each color, you pick the one that matches, and it cleans the inks that need it.
Clean the print head, and when to stop
Run the cleaning from the same menu as the check — Print Head Cleaning on Epson, Cleaning on Canon, Clean Printhead on HP, Print Head Cleaning under Ink on Brother — choosing only the inks with gaps where the printer lets you. Do not turn the printer off or open it while it cleans. Then print the check again. How far each maker says to go:
| Maker | Cleanings | How many | If it still fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epson | Print Head Cleaning; Power Cleaning on EcoTank and some other models | Up to three cleanings, then at least 12 hours without printing | Power Cleaning, with every tank at least a third full; 12 hours between power cleanings; then Epson support |
| Canon | Cleaning; Deep Cleaning, which uses more ink | Clean once more if the first did not help, then one Deep Cleaning | Printer off for 24 hours, then Deep Cleaning again; if that fails, the ink is out or the head is worn |
| HP | Up to three cleaning stages, each about two minutes and using more ink than the last | No more than two or three in a row | A new cartridge where the printhead is built into it; otherwise HP support |
| Brother | Normal, Strong or Strongest on some models; a Special cleaning on others, which uses the most ink | Repeat while the print is still poor | Brother support, if several cleanings do not help |
The pause is the part people skip. Epson and Canon both ask for it before the next cleaning, rather than one cleaning after another, and Epson’s word for cleaning too often is simple: it uses ink unnecessarily.
Align the print head
When text is blurred or vertical lines come out doubled or stepped, and the nozzle check is complete, the head is out of line rather than blocked: it prints in passes, one way and back, and the passes no longer meet. Brother suggests it after the machine has been moved. Run the alignment: Print Head Alignment in the Maintenance menus of Epson and Canon, Align Printheads under Print Quality Tools in HP Smart, and Ink → Improve Print Quality → Alignment on Brother. Some printers scan the sheet they print and adjust themselves; others ask which pattern looks best.
If cleaning does not help
- Check the ink first. Cleaning cannot print ink that is not there, and Epson warns that a power cleaning with low tanks can damage the printer.
- A new cartridge that prints nothing may still have its protective tape on, or may not have clicked into place.
- Where the head is part of the cartridge — HP cartridges with a built-in printhead, Canon’s FINE cartridges, which combine the print head and the ink tank — a new cartridge brings a new head.
- Where the head is part of the printer, as in most Epson and Brother printers and many tank printers, a worn head is a job for the maker’s support or a repairer.
Keep the nozzles from drying
Turn the printer off with its own power button, not at the wall or the power strip: switching off parks the head in its cap, which keeps the ink in the nozzles from drying. Epson asks you to wait until the power light is off before unplugging, and after a power cut to turn the printer on and off again so that the head is capped. Many printers also run a short cleaning by themselves when they have stood unused, which uses a little ink.
Laser printers
A laser printer has no nozzles and no head cleaning. Streaks, smudges and faded areas there come from the toner cartridge, the drum or the fuser, and the cure is in the printer’s manual: often shaking or replacing the toner cartridge, or cleaning the drum unit. The printer test page shows the grays and solid black that make such faults easy to see.
Frequently asked questions
What is a nozzle check?
A pattern the printer prints from its own memory, firing every nozzle of every ink in turn, so that a blocked nozzle shows as a missing or broken line. It is the first thing to print when a page comes out streaked, faded or with a color missing, because it tells a blocked nozzle from an empty cartridge or a wrong setting. Epson and Canon call it the nozzle check, HP the print quality report, Brother the print quality check sheet.
How many times should I clean the print head?
Only as often as the nozzle check shows gaps. Epson says up to three cleanings, then at least 12 hours without printing before the next. Canon says to clean once more if the first did not work, then run one Deep Cleaning, and if that fails to leave the printer off for 24 hours before another. HP printers clean in up to three stages; run the next only if the print is still poor. Cleaning more often than that, in Epson’s words, uses ink unnecessarily.
Does cleaning the print head use a lot of ink?
Each cleaning pushes ink through the nozzles, and the stronger cleanings use more: Canon’s Deep Cleaning uses more than its ordinary Cleaning, each of HP’s three stages more than the one before, and Brother’s Special cleaning the most of all. Epson notes that Power Cleaning also shortens the life of the ink pads that soak up the ink. That is why makers say to run a nozzle check first and clean only when it shows gaps.
Why does one color still not print after cleaning?
Cleaning cannot print ink that is not there: check the level first, and on a new cartridge make sure its protective tape is off and the cartridge has clicked into place. Epson and Canon both ask for a pause of 12 or 24 hours before cleaning again. If it still fails, the print head may be worn; on HP cartridges with a built-in printhead and Canon FINE cartridges, a new cartridge brings a new head.
Is printer head cleaning bad for the printer?
Not when the printer does it: it is the maintenance the maker built in. What it costs is ink. The ink it pushes through the nozzles collects in absorbent pads inside the printer, and Epson notes that its stronger Power Cleaning shortens their life; worn-out pads are replaced by the maker’s support. So clean when the nozzle check shows gaps, not as a routine.
Can I clean the print head by hand?
Brother warns not to touch the print head at all: it can be damaged for good, and the warranty may be void. The safe cleaning is the printer’s own, run from its menu or its software. Where the head is part of the cartridge, as on HP cartridges with a built-in printhead and Canon FINE cartridges, replacing the cartridge replaces the head.
How do I stop the nozzles drying out?
Turn the printer off with its own power button, never at the wall: switching off moves the head into its cap, which keeps the ink in the nozzles from drying. Epson says to wait until the power light is off before unplugging, and after a power cut to switch the printer on and off again so the head is capped. Many printers also clean themselves when they need to, which uses a little ink.