My printer is not recognising ink cartridges
Installing a new ink cartridge in your printer should be a simple process. Still, that doesn’t mean everything will go according to plan every time – sometimes you might find your printer struggles to recognise a new ink cartridge right away, putting a stop to your printing.
Take a step back
The first step is to relax. It’s not uncommon for a printer to struggle to detect a new ink cartridge at first. Taking a few simple troubleshooting steps to recognise and fix the problem will get your printer up and running again in no time.
Changing ink cartridges
Before you get started with changing the ink cartridge in your printer, you’ll want to make sure your printer is turned on. Many believe the safest option is to power off your printer first, however it’s perfectly safe to change the ink cartridge whilst your printer is turned on. In fact, turning off your printer before changing cartridges may actually result in your printer struggling to detect the new cartridge and will only slow down your print jobs.
If your printer has a built-in display, you should have some on-screen guidance when changing your cartridge and an indication of whether the printer has detected a new cartridge. When you change your printer’s ink cartridge you should see a message on the display screen, asking if you have changed the ink cartridge. If you see this message, then you should have successfully changed your printer’s ink cartridge, all you have to do is select ‘yes’ in response to this question.
If at first your printer doesn’t recognise a new cartridge, you should:
• try removing the cartridge and power down your printer
• allow approximately 10 minutes before attempting to re-install the cartridge
• power on your printer again, giving it time to fully start up
• replace the new cartridge and try again.
If you still don’t have any luck, it will be worth checking if you’ve purchased a compatible cartridge, or whether it’s a genuine product. If not, this may well be the reason it isn’t being recognised by the printer. Furthermore, another reason the ink might not be registering is because you have bought the wrong set of inks for your machine. Please visit our supplies area and use the supply selector to find the most compatible inks for your printer mode.
Ensure you have the right ink cartridge
Before you purchase any new ink cartridge, you should check that the cartridge is compatible with your printer. The best way to ensure this is to purchase a genuine ink cartridge from a reputable retailer or through our website. Cartridges are much more likely to have problems being recognised if they’re non-brand supplies from someone other than your printer’s manufacturer. That’s why it’s always best to go with genuine printing supplies.
With a Brother printer, you can ensure compatibility by purchasing Brother Genuine ink cartridges. Not only will this prevent any issues with compatibility, but if there are any issues a genuine Brother ink cartridge will ensure your printer’s warranty is protected. You’ll also, of course, benefit from high quality prints every time and long-lasting inks with Brother’s high yield ink cartridges.
For ultimate simplicity, get all the genuine ink cartridges you need for three years of printing when you buy your printer with our all in box bundle.
To automate your business or organisation’s supplies delivery as and when you need them, as well as other additional benefits, switch your business to a managed print service.