How to fix white lines when printing

White lines on printouts are usually caused by a clogged printer head or ink cartridge blockage. 

You can use our easy-to-follow troubleshooting guide to get your printed documents looking flawless again.

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Run the cleaning program on your printer

Your first port of call is to run the cleaning program on your printer, which should be accessible through your computer's settings menu or via the printer's LCD screen (if it has one). 

• Click Start on your computer and begin typing printers 
• Click Printers & scanners when it appears, select your printer, and look for its settings menu.

After running the cleaning cycle, test whether it has worked by printing a couple of pages.

Don't run repeat cleaning cycles one after the other, as this will only further clog your printer head with ink.

Remove the ink cartridge and clean it yourself

If the cleaning program was unsuccessful, check your printer cartridges for any damage.

Open the print cartridge door on your printer and carefully remove the cartridges, one by one, looking for cracks or leaks.

With any luck, your cartridge will only be suffering from a dried-ink blockage. In this case, gently clean the head of the cartridge with a cloth to get rid of any stray globules of ink; a cotton bud will also do the job.

Also check the inside of your printer for ink spillages, and clean those too. This will help to avoid any smudges when printing in future.

Finally, run a cleaning cycle on your printer and check the results with a few test pages.

What to do if you have a faulty cartridge

If you spotted any serious cracks or faults with a cartridge, you'll have to buy a new one. 

Use our guide to the best cheap printer ink to discover which brands and retailers we recommend, based on surveying thousands of printer users.

Hopefully this spells salvation for your formerly clogged-up printer. If not, contact its manufacturer for help.

The priciest printers can set you back hundreds of pounds, and aren't always worth the money. Our expert tests reveal the best cheap printers to buy and run, so you're not hit with surprisingly high running costs.

Extra tips for fixing your printer

If your prints are looking faded, rather than suffering from white lines, it could be time to replace your ink cartridges. The less ink there is to print with, the more likely your prints are to be lacking in colour.

To remove blur from your photos or recalibrate the exposure and contrast of your prints, check your computer’s printer settings where you’ll be able to make the adjustment.

It's worth going to your manufacturer's website, too, to check you have the latest drivers installed.

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