Canon Support Code 1300: How to Clear the Jam (Even When You Can't See Any Paper)

Canon support code 1300 is a paper jam in the output or feed path of a PIXMA. The printer's sensors expected a sheet to pass at a certain moment and it did not, so it stopped. Clearing it correctly matters more than clearing it quickly: pulling a sheet the wrong way tears it, and a fragment left inside guarantees the next jam within a page or two.

Quick fixes first

1. Switch the printer off at its own power button.
2. Remove the paper stack from the tray or cassette so nothing is pressing against the feed.
3. Grip the jammed sheet with both hands and pull slowly in the direction it was travelling - usually out the front.
4. Open the rear cover and, if fitted, remove the transport unit to check for fragments.
5. Close everything, power on, and print a single test page.

Why this happens

A PIXMA knows where paper is only through a handful of small plastic sensor flags along the path. Each sheet flicks a flag as it passes. If the timing is wrong - a sheet arrives late, does not arrive, or two sheets go through as one - the printer declares a jam.

That gives three broad causes:

• Feed problems. Pickup rollers harden and glaze with age, so they grip less. Sheets skew, arrive late, or feed in pairs. This is by far the most common cause on a printer more than a couple of years old.
• Paper problems. Curled, damp, overloaded or mismatched paper misfeeds. Paper that has absorbed humidity is a real and frequently overlooked cause.
• Obstruction and sensor problems. A torn scrap, a staple, label backing, or a dust-covered sensor flag makes the printer report a jam that no longer exists.

Reading the code family

Note the code before you start; it tells you which cover to open first and saves working through the whole path.

Fix 1: Clear the jam without tearing it

Power off first

While a PIXMA is powered, the rollers clamp the sheet. Switching off releases that pressure and stops the printer trying to recover while your hands are inside. Use the printer's own power button.

Work the path in order

1. Front output slot. If most of the sheet is already out the front, pull it out the front. Do not drag it back through the rollers.
2. Rear tray and rear cover. Open the rear cover at the back of the printer. On many models this is where the sheet actually is, even when the message suggests otherwise.
3. Transport unit. On models that have one, this lifts or slides out from the rear. Take it right out and inspect both openings with a torch.
4. Cassette. Pull the paper cassette fully out and check underneath and behind it for a sheet that was pulled in askew.
5. Inside the top cover. Open the top cover, move the carriage aside gently, and check the platen area.

Pull correctly

Use both hands, one at each corner where possible, with steady even pressure along the paper path. If the sheet does not move, stop and open another cover - resistance means it is still clamped somewhere you have not opened.

Fix 2: The 1300 with no paper in sight

This variant is the one that sends people looking for help, and it has two causes.

A fragment you cannot see

Torn corners hide extremely well. On a PIXMA the favourite spots are behind the transport unit, wrapped around a roller in the rear path, and just inside the output rollers. Take the transport unit right out, shine a torch through from both directions, and rotate any accessible roller by hand to check nothing is wrapped around it.

A stuck or dusty sensor

Paper sensors are small plastic flags that pivot as paper passes. Paper dust builds up around the pivot until a flag no longer springs back, so the printer believes paper is permanently present. Find the flags along the path - small light-coloured levers - and flick each gently with a fingertip to confirm it moves and returns. A short burst of compressed air around each one clears most cases.

The same phenomenon on other brands is covered in Epson false paper jam and the general paper jam guide.

Fix 3: Stop it happening again

Load paper correctly

• Fan the stack along both edges before loading to break static and separate sheets.
• Never load above the fill line marked inside the tray.
• Set the guides snug against the stack - firm enough that paper cannot skew, not so tight that it bows.
• Match the tray's paper size setting, the printer's media setting and the driver setting to what is actually loaded. A PIXMA that thinks it has A4 and is fed Letter will misfeed.
• Do not mix sizes, weights or partly used sheets.
• Use the rear tray for heavy stock, card and envelopes - the cassette path is too curved for them.

Store paper properly

Paper absorbs moisture from the air and curls at the edges, which is enough to make it misfeed. Keep it in its wrapper, flat, away from windows, radiators and damp floors. If your printer jams reliably in one season, humidity is the answer.

Clean the pickup rollers

This is the highest-value maintenance task on any PIXMA. Locate the rubber pickup roller above the cassette or in the rear feed, and wipe it with a lint-free cloth lightly dampened with water - not alcohol, which hardens rubber over time. Rotate the roller as you clean. Let it dry before printing.

Canon also provides a roller cleaning routine in the printer's maintenance menu: Setup › Maintenance › Roller cleaning. Run it with plain paper loaded as instructed. Doing this every few thousand pages substantially extends roller life - see printer maintenance tips.

Replace worn rollers

When cleaning stops helping, the rubber has glazed. Roller and separation pad kits for common PIXMA models are inexpensive and generally clip in without tools. Search your exact model number plus "pickup roller kit" - if one exists, it is far better value than a service call.

Fix 4: When nothing feeds at all

A printer that grinds and pulls no paper has a feed failure rather than a jam, and it usually reports support code 6000 rather than 1300. Check three things in order: the stack is sitting flat on the tray plate, the cassette clicks fully home, and the pickup roller rotates when you send a job. A roller that turns while the paper stays put is glazed; a roller that does not turn at all means a gear or clutch fault. Noises can be diagnostic - see printer grinding noise.

Other Canon codes worth distinguishing

It is easy to treat every PIXMA number the same way, but they are quite different problems:

• 5100: carriage obstruction. The carriage cannot move freely - often packing material or a dirty encoder strip.
• B200: printhead protection shutdown. A serious fault, unrelated to paper.
• 5B00: waste ink absorber counter at its limit. A maintenance threshold.

Canon's own manual pages list codes tersely; more context for your model is on the Canon hub, with a broader index at common printer error codes and brand help at Canon printer support.

If nothing worked

Persistent 1300 errors after clearing the path, cleaning the sensors and cleaning or replacing the rollers point at worn transport gearing, a failed clutch or a damaged sensor. All of those need the machine opened properly.

Be realistic about the economics. A workshop diagnostic plus parts on an entry-level PIXMA typically starts near the price of a replacement all-in-one, so repair only makes sense on business-class Canon machines, printers still under warranty, or MegaTank models with a substantial amount of ink already in the tanks.

One cheap intermediate step worth trying first: if your model has a rear tray with a straighter paper path, use it in preference to the cassette. Bypassing the curved cassette route avoids the section that most often causes trouble, and it handles heavier stock far better - on many PIXMA models this alone eliminates recurring jams without touching the hardware.

If you are not sure whether what you are hearing is a glazed roller or a failed gear, you can get help from a printer specialist who can work through the paper path with you before you spend anything.