# Why Does My Printer Print Blank Pages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 12, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-printer-print-blank-pages/174616 "2003-05-12T03:40:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-printer-print-blank-pages/174616/1 "2003-05-12T03:40:18Z")
All of a sudden my printer has started to print blank pages when I send a print job to it. I’m on Mac OS 9, with a Brother printer, using Word. It spits out the right number of pages for the job - just blank. Anyone have any bright ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-printer-print-blank-pages/174616/2 "2003-05-12T03:44:50Z")
I’d guess you’re either out of ink, or the print head nozzles are clogged. Change the ink carts and/or run the head cleaning routine a couple times. ---
**Author:** ![Araby76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Araby76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Araby76)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-printer-print-blank-pages/174616/3 "2003-05-12T04:02:57Z")
Or as my friend would say…your printer is bulemic. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-printer-print-blank-pages/174616/4 "2003-05-12T09:50:05Z")
No, that’s not it. I tried a simple test page (a short one-page Word document) and it printed that one. It won’t print a document that’s several pages long and with a lot of formatting on it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-printer-print-blank-pages/174616/5 "2003-05-12T11:58:55Z")
Try upgrading your printer driver, then. Go to the manufacturer’s website and download the latest version for your OS. You may need (and this is probably a good thing to do anyway) to uninstall the printer first, then reinstall it using the new driver. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-printer-print-blank-pages/174616/6 "2003-05-12T12:10:18Z")
I had this problem a while back with my Canon BJC. I tried replacing the cartriges, reinstalling the drivers and cleaned the printing head numerous times, but nothing worked. So I took it to Canon to have it fixed. I’m not quite sure of the specifics. They said that there was a problem with the \*\* absorber \*\* and that it needed to be replaced. They also pointed out that the ink was leaking from the bottom of the printer (I didn’t realise this though :smack:). It didn’t cost much to fix and it’s working fine now. I suggest you take it your local customer service center to see what the problem is. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-printer-print-blank-pages/174616/7 "2003-05-12T14:05:17Z")
What kind of printer is this? Did you try another cable or reinstall Word? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-printer-print-blank-pages/174616/8 "2003-05-13T05:01:28Z")
It’s printing again! I can make copies of my magnum opus (in progress)! As suggested by **Q.E.D.** I downloaded the printer driver and reinstalled, and also downloaded a patch for Word that specifically is aimed at file corruption caused by large use of tables in documents. Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions.