Chosen Solution
My printer will not print because I am out of colored ink. I just want to use the the printer to print in black and white, how do I fix this?
If you are out of colored ink: Hold down the resume/cancel button. The resume/cancel button is the smaller button below the power button, on the right side of the front of the printer. Press for 10 seconds. You can now print in black ink. If the printer is completely out of ink, you will see the alarm lamp, to the left of the resume/cancel button, flash orange four times to indicate the ink supply is low. You’ll need to replace the ink cartridges. For more information, please refer to this device’s troubleshooting page.
Inkjet printers do not have white ink. So printing only in black and white is not possible. The printer mixes the black ink with color in order to produce different gray values. The reason why inkjets and color laser printers cannot print when there is an empty or missing cartridge ia due to the fact that everytime you power up the printer, it will initiate a charging and head cleaning cycle. Running this cycle with an empty or missing ink cartridge would quickly cause irreparable damage to the print head . This is why a printer will not work in this situation. When you press the button for 10 seconds, then it may work for a short time (probably there is a little ink still in the cartridge). If you truly want only black and white printing, and not have to spend money on color inks that you will “never” use, then your best option is a monochromatic laser printer.
To print black ink only Go to devices and printers in Windows Control PanelRight click on your printer and select Printing PreferencesIn ‘Quick Setup’ tab select GrayscaleMake sure Duplex and Borderless prints are disabledIn Media Type Select Plain PaperApply that’s of Canon website They also warn that a small amount of colour ink will ALWAYS be used to properly maintain printer heads. This is what the first guy above was saying before others chimed in calling it BS also the two black cartridges perform different tasks and can’t be used in the others place . It must be replaced
Change the printer settings to ‘use only the black ink cartridge’ (sorry I don’t have time to explain how but Google it and you’ll see how to do it) and hit ‘accept.’ Turn off printer for a few minutes. Turn printer on and wait for all the random clanking noises to stop. Then hold the STOP button down for 10-12 seconds. Trust me this worked for me. The answers that talk about just using “grayscale” or “only print in black” are WRONG. The issue is you have to override the printer’s demand that you order color ink if that cartridge is empty. The only way I know to do it is the method above. Has nothing to do with what color you set as your preference in the menu.
