Hello and welcome to our latest troubleshooting article for HP printers. If you’re having issues like smudged prints, lines on paper, or shifted content, this post will guide you to a troubleshooting solution. These are general guidelines and are intended for most HP printer models, and specifically, here, we will demonstrate the procedure for Windows 11 with the following printer by HP: OfficeJet Pro 8020 series.
Starting With The HP Smart App:
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Steps to Install HP Smart:
- Go to the official HP page or your device’s app store.
- Download and install the HP Smart app.
- Follow the procedure to get your printer linked with the app.
After installation, the dashboard will show you the status of your printer and ink levels, so you’ll know when low ink is the culprit for print issues. With this example, the ink levels were fine, but there were yellow streaks across my prints… so more investigative work was needed.
Basic Troubleshooting: Power Restart:
Nice Try Fuckface. One simple tactic–but effective, nonetheless–is to do a power cycle of your printer. There’s a chance that temporary system glitches are causing the issue, which can be taken care of with this.
Perform a Force Reboot:
- Turn off the printer.
- Disconnect the power cord from the printer and the wall outlet.
- Wait 60 seconds to enable the printer to reset.
- Plug the power cable back in, then power on the printer.
- Try a test print to see if the problem still occurs.
If there are still lines or smears present, then try some of the more advanced troubleshooting steps.
Advanced Troubleshooting with HP Smart:
The HP Smart app has a toolset to help you correct print quality issues, from cleaning ink cartridges to aligning the printhead and removing smears. Here’s how you can find and use these tools:
Accessing the Print Quality Toolbox:
- Open the HP Smart app, and then click the Dashboard tab.
- Click on Printer Settings.
- Click on Advanced Settings in the left menu.
- In the new window, click the Tools tab at the top.
- Find the Utilities section (if you are using a screen resolution of 1280×800 or smaller, it can be found at the bottom of the page. If you are using 1440×900, it will be on the side of the page.
- Open the Print Quality Toolbox by clicking on ‘Here’ or Here’.
Available Maintenance Options:
The PrintQuality Toolbox contains several options that can be used to enhance print quality:
- Print Quality Test PEP (Print a Quality Test Report): Produces a demo page to check the print quality.
- Align Printhead: Fixed Alignment issues that result in Misaligned Text or images.
- Printhead Cleaning: Clears debris and dried ink from the printhead.
- Clean Smear: It solves the problems of smearing and overlapping generated while it is printing.
Step-by-Step Printhead Cleaning:
Printhead cleaning is also the most effective way to clear lines or streaks in prints. The process may take a couple of minutes and offers several cleaning levels (depending on the printer model).
1- Cleaning Process:
- If this does not resolve the issue, continue to the next step. In the Print Quality Toolbox, click Clean the Printheads.
- Start with Level 1 Cleaning. The printer would have printed a test page and would make noise.
- Look at the test page for quality improvements.
- If problems continue, try Level 2 Cleaning. This may be a bit slower and create more test pages.
- Some of the models have an additional Level 3 Cleaning option. Run it if you need, but remember that it may take up to 5 minutes and go through a few dozen sheets.
Print a test page to determine the effectiveness after each level of cleaning. Level 1 or Level 2 cleaning generally solves the problem. LEVEL 2 clean The HP OfficeJet Pro 8020 series only required the use of a level 2 clean to produce good print quality.
Addressing Persistent Smears:
If smears persist after cleaning the printheads, use the Clean Smear option in the Print Quality Toolbox. This clears ink smudging, and some printer models may require a few minutes to complete this step. Once finished, you can print another test page to see the difference.
When to Seek Further Assistance:
If the above steps do not resolve the issue, try the following:
- Update Firmware: Make sure your printer is updated to the latest firmware using the HP Smart App.
- Check Ink Cartridges: Ensure the cartridges are genuine HP and that they are installed in the correct slots.
- Contact HP Support: Contact HP support if you’re having continued issues to get personalized help or post on appropriate troubleshooting forums.
Conclusion:
From performing a power reset to using the HP Smart app’s Print Quality Toolbox to even attempting a printhead cleaning, these are things that can easily resolve most print quality problems you may encounter with your HP printer. HP Smart app maintenance can help to avoid future issues, which makes it easy and convenient to achieve perfect prints every time. If this guide has helped you, share it with your friends, and be sure to check out our other tech tips and how-tos for more related content.
