If your printer is printing in faded colors, use the solutions provided in this article to resolve the issue on your Windows 11/10 computer. Usually, this issue occurs due to low ink in ink cartridges. However, some users reported that this issue occurred even if their ink cartridges were full. Sometimes, this issue occurs due to incorrect settings in the printer software.
Printer printing in faded colors on Windows computer
Use the following suggestions if your printer is printing in faded colors. Before you proceed, I suggest you allow your printer to rest if it has been operating for a long time. Sometimes, print quality issues can be resolved after a period of inactivity. Consider waiting for about 30 minutes and then try to print again. If this fixes the issue, you need not perform further troubleshooting steps. If the issue persists, go through the suggestions provided below:
- What is the humidity level?
- Perform power cleaning
- Use another software to print the same page
- Check the paper or try a different paper
- Reinstall the printer and printer driver
- Perform a hard reset
- Contact support
Let’s start.
1] What is the humidity level?
High humidity levels affect the quality of printing. The moisture content is important in inkjet, laser, and offset printing. Hence, high moisture content can cause issues with printing quality. Therefore, if there is high humidity in your area, it will affect the print quality.
Read: Printer printing wrong colors on Windows PC
2] Perform power cleaning
You can perform Power Cleaning to see if it fixes the print issue. Before you do this, make sure that your ink cartridges are full of ink. Windows 10 users can open the Devices and Printers page directly from the Control Panel. Open the Control Panel and go to Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers.
If you are a Windows 11 user, open Windows 11 Settings and go to Bluetooth & devices > Devices. Scroll down and click on the More devices and printer settings tab under the Related settings section.
Now, right-click on your printer and select Printing preferences. Go to the Maintenance tab and click on the Power Cleaning option. Do not turn off your printer during this process. Once the Power Cleaning process is completed, print a test page and see the print quality.
3] Use another software to print the same page
Sometimes, printing issues are associated with a particular software. To check this, you can print the same page from another software. For example, if you are printing an image, open it in another software, like Microsoft Paint or Adobe Photoshop, and check the print quality. This step will also let you know whether the printhead is clogged or not and if there is a problem with the ink cartridge.
If another software resolves this problem, you can continue using that software for printing papers.
4] Check the paper or try a different paper
Make sure that the paper you have chosen is appropriate for the print job. Some papers have printing and non-printing sides. Photo paper and envelopes are some examples of cush papers. In these types of papers, the smooth side is the print side. If you are using such a paper, make sure that you are printing on the right side.
Also, the paper should be correct as per your print project. The plain paper with the ColorLok technology is suitable for everyday text documents. Some papers do not absorb ink as well as others. This can be the case with you. Changing the paper can confirm this.
4] Reinstall the printer and printer driver
If the issue still persists, reinstall the printer and printer driver. Open the Device Manager and expand the Print queues branch. Now, right-click on your printer driver and select Uninstall device.
After uninstalling the printer driver, remove the printer from your system. Open Windows 11 Settings and go to Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners. Select your printer and click Remove. Restart your computer and add your printer again.
5] Perform a hard reset
If the problem persists, you need to perform a hard reset. The process of hard resetting a printer is different for different printer models and brands. Therefore, refer to the user manual of your printer to learn the exact process.
7] Contact support
If despite trying all the fixes mentioned above, the issue persists, you need to contact support.
That’s it. I hope this helps.
Why is my printer printing faded color?
There can be many reasons why your printer is printing faded color. Sometimes, high humidity levels deteriorate the print quality. A clogged printhead and incorrect print software settings can also cause this issue.
How to clean a printer head?
To clean the printhead, open the Printing preferences of your printer, then select the Maintenance tab. You will see an option to perform a head cleaning there. Select that option to clean your printhead. If this does not work, you can clean your printhead manually by opening your printer.
Read next: Your margins are pretty small – Printing error in Windows.
