How to Troubleshoot Canon Printer Problems

Canon is a brand of computer printers that makes commercial products that are available around the world. If you enjoy one of their printers at your home or office you may at some time experience some slight performance errors. These problems are usually easily fixed by following a simple troubleshooting process, which will take you just a few minutes. If you continue to experience printer failure or the problems become more severe, contact your Canon supplier for technical support.

1.     Connectivity Problems

Make sure that the printer is connected to a power outlet. The power cable should be connected in the back of the printer and to a working electrical socket.

Check that the wire from the printer is running to the correct port on the computer tower. The wire runs from the small, square port on the printer to one of the USB ports on your tower or laptop computer.

Turn the printer on. Much of your printing failures can be avoided by making sure that the power is turned on before selecting the print command.

Install any updates or replacement software needed to run your printer on your computer. You can get this software from the manufacturer's website and will be notified through your printer drive if there is something new to download.

2.     Feeder Problems

Pull out all of the paper supply in the printer and make sure that all pieces of paper are flat and whole. Any folded corners, crumpled sheets or torn pieces should be thrown away.

Check the size of the paper you are using and check the paper guide on the supply to make sure the paper is the correct size. The paper guide is the small plastic clip that holds the paper steady in the feeder.

Open the cover of the printer and make sure there is no paper stuck within the feed rollers. You should pull out the jammed paper if there is any, including any little torn pieces that may be stuck inside.

Clean out the feed rollers with compressed air to remove any dirt inside the printer and refill the paper supply.

3.     Ink Problems

Check the ink levels in your cartridges to see if you have to replace the ink. You can do this through the control panel of your printer software. If you don't know where to find these controls, just search your computer for 'printer drive'.

Open the cover of the printer and wait for the ink cartridges to stop in front of you within the printer. This will allow you to take them out and replace them with full ones.

Pull the cartridges out of the printer. The number of cartridges and how to remove them will vary with your model of printer, but usually there is a small clip holding the top edge of the cartridge in place. Just push this clip back and pull the ink out.

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