If your printer is not printing in black color, start troubleshooting bychecking the ink levels. Refill the black ink/replace the cartridge—if necessary.

In case the ink levels are fine, the problem is more likely on the printhead. A few cycles ofprinthead cleaningwill again bring your printer back to its normal state.

If these options are not feasible for you, your printer can stillprint without black ink. Let’s begin with the same.

Yes, you read that right! It’s actually possible toprint without black inkand still get the black color in your printout.

What you need to do is,

The mechanism is fairly simple. When you set the paper type to Glossy, theprinter combines the Magenta, Yellow, and Cyan colors to create Black.

Additionally, try changing the paper type to what you haveinserted in the paper trayand print again. Should that work, you’re good to go.

Verify the Ink Levels and Refill It

While printing without black ink is extremely helpful when in a rush, I don’t recommend you rely on this permanently. As discussed already, it isneither a cost-effective nor a productive option.

So what’s better is youinspect the black ink levelon your printer’s ink tanks and refill it if required.

In case your printer has a cartridge system, consider replacing the cartridge.

Tocheck the ink levels on your printer, go to thePrinting Preferencesandview the status monitor.

you may alsoprint a Printer Status Report/Diagnostic Reportto do it. Here’s what the report looks like on my HP Ink Tank Wireless 410 series printer.

You can easily verify the ink levels from here.

Since the steps to print this status page differ depending upon the printer model,consult your user manualfor exact steps.

Unclog the Printhead

The printhead is a major component of your printer that sprinkles ink onto the paper. It has tiny holes-like structures (nozzles) to do this stuff.

If the printhead that sprays black ink gets clogged, you won’t get the black color in your printout. In fact, a clogged printhead is a major culprit when your printer is not printing black.

Additionally, a blocked printhead also causes your printer toprint blank pages,print lines,print faded texts, and much more. So, what’s the fix?

Simplyunclog the printhead using the unclog utilityfrom thePrinting Preferences,and you are good to go.

Please be mindful that running a single cycle of cleaning may not always do the job. I see many users running over 10 cleaning rounds before they can start printing again.

But honestly speaking, you don’t need to invest that much time in cleaning either.Run about 3-5 cyclesand see if that works.

If it doesn’t, proceed withmanual unclogging. Remove the printhead from your printer anduse paper towels/lint-free clothto clean it.

Here’s a detailed guide to help youunclog the printhead.

If nothing seems to fix the problem, it’s very likely that you have a defective printhead. Get in touch with your manufacturer and seek assistance.