Cleaning the Print Head Using a Computer Utility

You can clean the print head using a utility on your Windows computer or Mac.
  1. Load a few sheets of plain paper in the cassette (or in cassette 1 if your product has two cassettes).
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Windows: Right-click the product icon in the Windows taskbar.
    • Mac OS X 10.6/10.7/10.8: In the Apple menu or the Dock, select System Preferences. Select Print & Fax or Print & Scan, select your product, and select Options & Supplies. Select Utility and select Open Printer Utility.
    • Mac OS X 10.5: In the Apple menu or the Dock, select System Preferences. Select Print & Fax, select your product, and select Open Print Queue or Print Queue. Select Utility.
  3. Select Head Cleaning. You see a window like this:


  4. Select the cleaning cycle you want to run, based on the nozzle check pattern.
  5. Click Start to begin the cleaning cycle. The  power light flashes throughout the cleaning cycle and stays on when the cleaning cycle is finished.
    Caution:
    Never turn off the product during a cleaning cycle or you may damage it.
  6. When the cleaning cycle is finished, you can check to see if the nozzles are clean; click Print Nozzle Check Pattern and click Print.
  7. Check the printed pattern to see if there are gaps in the lines.

    Print head is clean



    Print head needs cleaning



    • If there are no gaps, click Finish.
    • If there are gaps or the pattern is faint, click Clean to clean the print head again.
If you don’t see any improvement after cleaning the print head up to 4 times, wait at least 6 hours. Then try cleaning the print head again. If quality still does not improve, one of the ink cartridges may be old or damaged and needs to be replaced.
Related tasks
Cleaning the Print Head Using the Product Touch Panel
Checking the Nozzles Using the Product Touch Panel
Related information
Replacing Ink Cartridges and Maintenance Boxes