Article updated 04/05/2017
Is your Samsung, HP, Brother, Canon, Ricoh or Epson printer not recognising your new ink or toner cartridge? This is something that we find our customers experience every now and again so you definitely aren’t alone!
A printer not recognising a new ink or toner cartridge is one of the most common issues that print owners experience when changing or replacing an empty one, irrespective of what brand printer you have, and one that our customers frequently ask us about.
Why does this happen?
Computer error message when printer cartridge not recognised.
There may be occasions when, after installing a new ink or toner cartridge in your printer, you might see a message like:
- Your printer says ‘toner is not compatible‘
- Your printer says ‘printer cartridge not detected‘ or your printer cannot detect ink.
- A low or empty level of ink and toner displayed on your computer
- A HP Printer displaying ‘HP Cartridges locked’ or ‘Cartridge Protection enabled’
- A message on your printer warning “no cartridge installed” (or words to that effect)
- Flashing warning lights displayed on your printer
Internal memory reset:
Your printer should automatically recognise when you install a new cartridge and reset its internal memory, ensuring that it’s displaying full ink and toner levels etc. However, sometimes the printer just doesn’t do that correctly and believes that the old one, or no cartridge, is currently inserted instead.
Protective strips:
If you haven’t removed protective covers or plastic strips that are attached to a new cartridge when you first take it out of its packaging, the printer will definitely fail to register the new cartridge and this will cause you problems.
Dirty / damaged contacts:
The new ink or toner cartridge has a number of metal contacts that connect to similar metal contacts in the printer allowing them to communicate. Dirt or damage can prevent this.
Firmware:
Modern printers automatically connect to the internet but pc software or internal printer software (firmware) will often need to be updated. These updates can often fix bugs.
HP Cartridge Protection enabled
Whilst updating firmware is often necessary, if you have a HP printer an update may be installed to ‘enable cartridge protection’ this then prevents these cartridges form working in any other printer and also any compatible cartridges from working in your printer. This can be switched off. See how to fix HP cartridges locked to another printer.
Incorrect consumable installed:
A rare occasion but this does happen! If a drum or fuser or other maintenance item was accidentally purchased instead of a toner or ink cartridge, the printer will not work and still needs a new ink or toner.
Ink cartridge has not been inserted correctly:
There is also the off chance that an ink cartridge wasn’t fully clicked in to it’s slot and so the printer can’t detect the new ink cartridge and displays the error message. All you’ll need to do is lift your cartridge cover again and double check all of the inserted cartridges to make sure that they have been clicked in, then close the cover again and try once more.
So, here’s what to do – 8 steps to try
The first thing to do is not to panic! Whether you’ve bought them from us or another supplier, there really shouldn’t be any reason why a good quality original or compatible cartridge wouldn’t work in your printer so with a little patience, we’ll get you through it. Try the following 8 steps to correct your issue.
How to reset the printer memory:
- Remove your new cartridge and replace it with the old one. Leave your printer and go and do something else for 10 minutes.
- Replace the old cartridge with the new one again.These two steps alone often resolve the issue, so see if your printer now recognises your new cartridges. However, if you’re still having trouble…
- Remove the new cartridge. Make sure you place it in a clean and safe place where the cartridge or the surface won’t be damaged.
- Turn the printer off button using its power button
- Unplug your printer at the wall. It’s important to do both steps 4 and 5 separately, as some printers can remain in sleep mode if you’ve only switched off the power button on the printer control panel. Leave your printer like this for about 10 minutes or so.
- Plug your printer back in at the wall (but don’t press the power button just yet)
- Insert your new cartridge
- Press the power button on your printer
Hopefully, you should be able to now print with your new compatible ink or toner cartridge!
If this doesn’t work…
Clean the metal contacts:
The metal contacts can usually be seen on one side, the back of a toner cartridge or back of an ink cartridge and look like a flat piece of copper, metal or even like circuit board (please note that some ink cartridges have no contacts at all). Here are the steps to follow:
- Power down and unplug your printer (for inkjet printers ignore this step as cartridges must be removed before powering off)
- Carefully remove your toner or ink cartridge and place to one side on a flat surface where it will be safe.
- Inspect the cartridge for the metal contacts
- Inspect the inside of the printer for the connection point
- With a lint free / dry cloth lightly wipe the contacts on both cartridges and printer to remove any dirt, or residue being careful not to cause any damage.
- Replace the cartridges in the printer
- Power the printer back on
- Try to print again.
This should now fix any issues you may have with dirty contacts or microchips.
Contact pins inside printer.
Contact chip/pins on toner cartridge
Still having trouble?
Oh dear, if you are still having trouble there are a few more things to check:
- Make sure all protective covers and strips were removed from your new cartridge when it was installed. You normally get instructions in the box that will indicate how to do this.
- Make sure that you purchased the correct consumable. Believe me this does happen to the best of us. Make sure you purchased an ink or toner and not a new drum unit or other maintenance item. If you need help, we can check this for you.
- Update your printer software by following the instructions manual on how to update the firmware. You can normally do this by visiting the manufacturer website and searching for your printer.
If you have exhausted all of these options, then there’s a possibility that you may have faulty cartridge or faulty microchip and providing you made your purchase with a reputable supplier, you should be covered.
If this is the case, simply get in touch with your supplier and they will check if you qualify for a refund or exchange it for a brand new cartridge.
If you did purchase your cartridge from us, you’ll be covered by our 3-year guarantee for our compatible ink and toner and a 6 month guarantee on any original cartridge and we’ll be more than happy to help you out. You can contact us on 0845 365 3605 or click live chat on TonerGiant.co.uk.
Did this work for you? Let us know in the comments below, or tweet us @TonerGiant.
About Stuart DeavallStu is the Digital Marketing Manager at TonerGiant.co.uk and is a big fan of gadgets, technology, and being creative!
Tried all above options with my Canon Pixma MG5650, no chance. Final option useless because cannot replace cartridge without power on!
Unfortunately none of you solutions worked and Samsung say without proof of purchase they will not be able to help.
Bought TWO toners whilst in the shop location and both genuine Samsung toners.
So my next solution is buy a new printer.
Hi there, if you purchased your compatible cartridges from us there may be more advice we can give you to get them to work or if this is indeed a fault we should be able to help you further or determine what is going on. Please contact our customer care team on 0845 365 3605. Thanks, Stu.
Worked for me 3rd time trying, just kept swapping old/new back and forth and got there , thanks v much!
I have done what you suggested about replacing the new with the old (which, incidentally, is the same make of compatible cartridge), gone away to do something else and found that the printer recognized the old one and printed the test page. When I replaced it with the new (identical) cartridge, the HP message “failed cartridge” came up. This is a Wilkinsons own brand cartridge. I have used them before, but they started to throw up this message and I reverted to HP originals. However, some shops charge over £20.00 each for HPs own brand. This is too expensive. I am printing 154 pages = 3 volumes in total of 462 pages plus covers, so I cannot really afford to pay much over £8 or £9 per cartridge. They don’t seem to print very many pages per cartridge before a new one is required. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Ps. I’ll try what Simon above said about try it for three or four times.
Hi Stanley, if you’ve tried what we suggested above, the only other options are to try and update your printer firmware on the HP website or try to wipe the printer metal contacts and the cartridge contacts in case they are dirty and not communicating properly. If that doesn’t work, I would suggest contacting where you purchased your cartridge and asking for an excahnge as the chip or contact may be damaged in some way. Thanks, Stu.
I bought set of 4 expensive HP122A from HP online shop…. I bought the black first but could not use it until some months after bought the complete set in June.. I hardly use the printer and the ink display level was showing full for all the four colours since June 2016. All of a sudden in October, on the 28th of October 2016 to be precise it started indicating as empty that i should replace the black cartridge. This is suppose to give me 7,000 prints and I seldom use it since June
I have tried all your suggestions above but it’s still saying I should replace black ink… I hardly use this printer since i
Hi Sarah, thanks for your comment. It sounds like an automatic software update may have triggered a fault with the chip in the toner cartridge, there should be a standard 6 months warranty from HP so that you can get a replacement. Here’s a number you can call to get in touch with HP about your order with them: 0345 270 4142
Absolutely sick to death of compatible cartridges they just dont cut the mustard, stop selling them.
Hi Dorothy, thanks for your comment. Have you actually purchased compatible cartridges from us before? I know the perception out there is that compatibles have lots of problems but in my experience it really does matter where you buy them from. For example our failure rate is below 2% and we only manufacture the best quality compatibles. Thanks, Stu.
Hello, i have a Samsung Xpress M2026 laser printer and I changed the toner with non-original toner. But it said that the toner is non compatible. I made all the steps that you mentioned but is still not working. I change also the toner with new non original but the same non compatible. What can I do?
Thanks in advance.
Hi there, thanks for your comment. The issue you described is normally caused when a printer update has been applied to the firmware. Whilst it’s against the law for printer manufacturers to stop customers from using compatible cartridges, they do often cause them to fail and get around it by saying that they are preventing the use of illegal copies. It’s likely that the chip in the compatible toner needs to be changed. The only way to fix is usually to contact the company you purchased from and get a replacement. If you purchased from us, please call us on 0845 365 3605 and we’ll be happy to help! Thanks, Stu.
I hate these ink sucking printers, I’m here to share what worked for me. I know several fixes now. It’s a Brother J285DW and I don’t print often, but when I do it invariably fails for one reason or another, usually low ink or paper jam. It’s because I don’t print often enough and have cartridges sitting in the machine longer than the company would like. Things I have done: unplugged machine, removed and replaced cartridges (not Brother cartridges) to reset memory countless times, took the chip off the old cartridge and stuck it on the new cartridge, put black electrical tape where the sensor detects ink level, and, of course, leave it unplugged when not in use so it can’t do it’s cleaning process which eats ink and wakes me up in the middle of the night sometimes.
All of these worked after receiving messages about low ink. Finally, I got stuck with the message “cannot detect ink” and the above steps weren’t working. It just wouldn’t print my document. I read somewhere about not letting the printer do automatic SW updates (because they obviously read about our “fixes” online and do things to render them useless with every update) so I was looking in the settings to see if it was setup for SW updates. Not that I thought there was anything I could do about it after the fact, but I know from experience that if I mess with my machine long enough, it will eventually do what I want, even if what I did made no obvious sense. Like in this case:
I came across “print user settings” and clicked on it immediately. The machine decided it was okay to print this (maybe because it was an internal document?) and it did, perfectly. No more “cannot detect ink”. Then I went back to my document and tried to print it from my computer and it printed it, no problem. So we’ll see how many pages it will give me yet again after another “fix”. Thank heavens for social media and people sharing fixes or I would be bald from this printer.
Hi Karen, printers can be a big pain at times can’t they! thanks for your comment, you touched on an issue not mentioned above, that we mentioned in a previous comment. Often updates to the printer cause cartridges to fail. Unfortunately it’s usually the printer manufacturer trying to prevent the use of compatibles.Thanks for the great tips, I’m sure they’ll help everyone to get around this issue! Thanks, Stu.
My problem is not that the cartridge is not recognized to print but now that it is empty the printer does not recognize it and will not automatically line it up to replace. I cannot find any instructions anywhere on how to manually align the cartridge so I can change it. I have a Canon MB2360. It is really annoying me as I do colour menus and can’t use the yellow. Anyone got a solution, would be greatly appreciated. Cheers
Hi Catherine, it could be a mechanical issue from the sounds of things. Have you had it for under a year? If so it should still be under warranty with Canon you can contact them here: Call Canon 13 13 83
From within Australia Monday to Friday – 8am to 5pm
I have a HP printer scanner, all my drivers and stuff and firmware are all up to date but it still wont accept my refilled black ink cartridge which came with my printer scanner even though its been refilled but my local computer store where I bought it from so I bought a new catridge and tried all kinds of ideas from the technical guys and what it says on the internet and instruction manuals plus the comment of keep swapping old for new and so on and still no joy this is the second time I have bought one of these models and its doing same as my last one so think I’ll just smash it and go to a different make and model instead of wasting money.
I had to create a tiny shim to stick under the cartridge so the contacts would fit snuggly together.
Great Information…
I am using Samsung LaserJet Printer. Thanks for your support and sharing Information about Samsung Printers.
Help, mine is aficio dsm520pf and after replacing the toner, it is still saying toner empty so I don’t know if its the sensor or the toner I replaced is not compatible. Does the sensor stop working or not.
Hi Kelvin,
have you tried some of the tips above and on the comments left by others here? If it’s a cartridge you only purchased recently it could be that the printer memory needs to be reset but if none of the tips help then its likely that it’s a faulty toner. Try and place your last cartridge that you removed back in to your printer (if you still have it) and if that also displays an error then you may have a printer fault. Let me know how you get on! Thanks, Stu.
I have two different Brother printers and both say the same thing, “Cannot detect the ink. Please replace the cartridge with genuine Brother part or cartridge” Is there a way around this?
Hi Scott, it’s generally caused by a similar issue explained above, if you’ve tried those options to no avail it could be an issue with the chips on the ink cartridges but here’s a page with some tips on what to try specifically for a brother printer: http://support.brother.com/g/b/faqend.aspx?c=as_ot&lang=en&prod=dcpj100_all&faqid=faq00002607_002
Thanks,
Stu
I wonder if you can help – I have a HP OFFICEJET PRO 8620 which comes up with the message
” PRINTER FAILURE, THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE PRINTER OR INK SYSTEM TURN THE PRINTER OFF AND TURN ON AGAIN” If problem persists ring HP.
Which I have done, they say because I have used non standard HP cartridges I have damaged the print head and my CARE PACK is invalid because of it. I have tried everything I can including removing the print head and cleaning everything but I suspect HP are up to their old tricks and shutting down remotely anyone who tries to not use their overpriced inks. I will now buy another Printer – can you either see a way round my problem or recommend a printer that is more able to accept non standard cartridges since HP’s cartridges are outrageously overpriced.
Hi there, thanks for your question. I’ll do my best to help! It does seem that the ‘Printer failure’ message does refer to a print head issue but in my experience it is very rare that a compatible or remanufactured cartridge would cause a fault like that and I’ve been working in the industry for 10 years now. Your printer warranty cannot be invalidated by the use of compatibles unless a printer technician checks your printer and confirms that. Unfortunately a HP technician will usually give that reason if you have been using non HP cartridges, even if they weren’t the cause so your options are to get a non HP technician to check your printer and confirm what the issue is (hopefully confirming that it isn’t your non HP cartridges fault) and then your warranty will not be invalidated and you can also get HP to foot the bill for the technician as they told you your warranty was void without even checking your printer.
First of all though, here are some instructions to try for your specific printer which also includes resetting the printer and updating the firmware as outdated firmware can also cause the issue. It’s possible that these could fix your issue (skip the print head clean if you’ve already tried it): https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/HP-Officejet-Pro-8610/8620/8630-e-All-in-One-Printer-series/5367611/model/5367613/document/c03253201
Lastly, if non of these work, let me know and I’ll definitely help you to find a better printer. Thanks, Stu.
my epson stylus refuses to accept any inks other than their own expensive ones – nothing l do will alter that
I have the same problem. From what I have read it is because of a recent printer firmware update. I cannot find a solution to it. Does anyone know how to fix this pls?
hi stuart I have a canon MG2570S printer and after refilling the cartridge printer doesn’t recognize the ink and even when the ink is full my printer doesn’t print anything…. it tries but even the printing process starts but a blank page comes out please help me out here thanks mate
Hi there, I had a quick search around to see if I could solve your problem and the suggestion is that the print head could be damaged or completely blocked up see here. Did you actually refill the cartridge yourself or purchase a compatible? Thanks, Stu
Pls help – I have a strange one using compatible on HP Officejet 8600. Inserted, seems okay, ink shows ‘full’. But when it prints, it says missing or damaged cartridge. All I have to do is open and close the front cover of the printer (as if accessing the cartridges), even just for 1 second, it prints fine. And it does that at every file, even if I send the second file straightaway before it sleep…missing cartridge…open and close cover, prints. Annoying as it loses the wifi function. Any suggestion?
Hi Andy, the damaged or missing cartridges issue seems to be a common problem with the HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 printers but there doesn’t seem to be a clear fix for the issue. One suggestion is to try a hard reset of the printer.
To do a hard reset, turn the printer on and wait until all sounds stop and it’s in idle mode, then unplug the printer at the wall. Wait for about 10 minutes, then plug it back in. Make sure it’s plugged directly into the wall and not into an extension cable. Allow the printer to warm up and then go back to an idle state and try and use it again.
Hopefully this will fix your issue! Let us know how you get on.
Stu
Thank you for your help, unfortunately I have tried 4 times of the suggested method, each time waited for more than 10 min and into idle before the trial, so far it has not been successful. Any other suggestion? The printer is getting quite annoying. Kindly regards.
Hi Andy, ahh I understand how frustrated you must feel! The best source of advice I can find is on the HP support website but it’s just suggesting similar things that you’ve already tried.
worst help page ever. “turn it off and on again” this is not helpful it is just ridiculous and a way for you to make a page to sell advertising.
waste of time
Hi and thanks for your input, we do appreciate any, even if it is negative! I think you’ll find if you follow the instructions that this solution is the correct way to fix the problem described. Also ‘turn it off and on again’ is the number 1 solution to most tech problems (by the way that was a light-hearted joke).
I have an Epson SX430 printer which, until recently, would accept non-Epson cartridges. This has now stopped and I can only think that is because of a recent printer update. Does anyone know of a fix for this pls?
Hi Angela, unfortunately it sounds like since the firmware update you mentioned the chips in the compatibles may now be out of date. The best thing you can do is send them back as faulty and try some newer ones from a reputable supplier.
it’s as simple as this…..it,s cheaper to buy a new printer than a new cartridge.i just replaced my ink and nothing works can’t print anything.