Epson 'paper out or not loaded correctly': feed troubleshooting

What causes it

• Pickup rollers glazed with paper dust so they slip on the top sheet
• Paper loaded in the wrong source for the job, for example the cassette when the driver asked for the rear feeder
• The stack not squared, or sitting above the fill line
• Damp or curled paper that will not lift cleanly off the stack
• Edge guides set too tightly, pinching the stack

How to fix it, in order

Work down the list and stop when the printer recovers. The steps are ordered from most likely and least invasive to last resort.

1. Reload the paper from scratch

   Take every sheet out of the tray. Tap the stack square on a flat surface, fan one edge with your thumb to separate sheets that have stuck together, and put back no more than half the tray's depth. Set the edge guides so they just touch the paper without compressing it, then push the tray fully home.

2. Confirm the paper source in the print job

   Open the print dialog on your computer and check the paper source setting. Models with both a cassette and a rear feeder will sit and wait for paper in the source the job specified while ignoring a full tray elsewhere. Set the source explicitly rather than leaving it on automatic if you keep hitting this.

3. Clean the pickup rollers

   This is the fix that works most often. Dampen a lint-free cloth with plain water, reach into the tray bay, hold the cloth against each grey rubber roller and rotate the roller with your finger so its whole face is wiped. The cloth will come away grey. Let the rollers dry for ten minutes before loading paper.

4. Try paper from a fresh ream

   Take twenty sheets from the middle of a newly opened pack and use only those. Paper left out in a kitchen or a damp room absorbs moisture, curls and feeds badly, and this single test separates a paper problem from a printer problem in two minutes.

5. Confirm the paper size and type on the panel

   After reloading, the printer prompts for the size and type. Set them to match what you actually loaded and press OK, because the printer uses those settings to decide the feed timing. Dismissing the prompt without confirming leaves the old settings in place.

6. Check for an obstruction at the sensor

   Pull the tray out and shine a torch into the bay, looking for a small plastic lever in the paper path. Make sure it moves freely and springs back, and remove any fragment of paper sitting on or near it. A held lever tells the printer paper is already in transit.

7. Test with a single sheet through the rear slot

   If your model has a rear feed slot, feed one sheet there. If that prints and the cassette does not, the problem is specifically the cassette pickup assembly, which tells you whether a roller kit is worth buying or whether the printer is simply worn out.

Frequently asked questions