Printer Says Out of Paper When It Isn't? How to Fix the Paper Feed and Sensor

When a printer says it is out of paper with a full tray, it usually means the pickup roller slipped and never moved a sheet, or the printer is trying to pull from a different tray than the one you loaded. Check that the tray is seated, the guides touch the stack, and the paper source and size in the print settings match what is actually loaded.

Quick fixes first

1. Take the paper out, fan it, tap it square, and reload a smaller stack that sits below the max fill mark.
2. Slide the paper guides in until they just touch the edges of the stack, then push the tray or cassette in until it stops.
3. Check which source the job is using. On printers with a rear tray and a front cassette, load the one the printer asks for, or change Paper Source in the print settings.
4. Confirm the paper size and type on the printer's panel match the print settings, for example Letter and Plain Paper in both places.
5. Turn the printer off with its power button, unplug it for 60 seconds, then try a single page.
6. If it still refuses, clean the pickup rollers with a barely damp lint-free cloth, as described below.

Why does my printer say it's out of paper when it isn't?

A printer cannot see the paper in the tray. It relies on two checks: a small sensor or plastic flag that detects whether paper is present, and a timing check that expects the leading edge of a sheet to reach the next sensor a fraction of a second after the pickup roller turns. If either check fails, the firmware reports the tray as empty.

That gives two families of cause, and it helps to know which one you have:

• The printer does not detect paper at all. The message appears as soon as you send a job, with no sound of the rollers turning. Think tray not fully seated, guides set too wide, wrong source selected, a size or type mismatch, or a stuck sensor flag.
• The printer tries and fails to pick a sheet. You hear the motor and rollers turn, then the message appears. Think worn or dusty pickup rollers, curled or damp paper, an overfilled tray, or stock that is too heavy or slippery for that tray.

If a sheet starts to feed and stops partway, that is a jam rather than an out-of-paper fault. Our paper jam guide covers clearing it without tearing the sheet.

Check the paper: stack height, curl, damp and weight

Paper causes more of these messages than the printer does. Work through this list before touching anything mechanical.

• Overfilled tray. A stack above the fill line presses too hard against the roller, which then cannot slide the top sheet off. Take out a third of the stack and try again.
• Too little paper. On some rear-feed inkjets, the last one or two sheets sit below the point the roller reaches cleanly. Load at least ten sheets.
• Curled or damp paper. Paper absorbs moisture from the air. A ream left open in a humid room or a basement curls at the edges, and a curled edge lifts away from the roller. Try sheets from a freshly opened ream, and store paper flat in its wrapper.
• Heavy or slippery stock. Cardstock, thick photo paper and glossy brochure paper often exceed what the main tray can pick up. Many home inkjets handle standard 20 lb plain paper in the cassette but want cardstock or photo paper in the rear tray or a single-sheet slot. Check the paper weight limits for each tray in your user guide.
• Photo paper the wrong way up. Loading glossy paper with the slippery side against the roller can stop the pick. Follow the loading diagram printed inside the tray.
• Mixed stock. Do not top up a tray by adding different paper on top of what is already there. Remove the old stack and reload one type.

Set the paper guides and seat the tray

The side and front guides keep the stack square, and on many models the front guide also tells the printer what length of paper is loaded. A guide pushed out wide for a narrow stack lets the paper skew away from the roller, and a guide squeezed too tight bows the stack so it binds.

1. Pull the tray or cassette fully out.
2. Slide the side guides until they touch the stack without bending it.
3. Set the front or length guide to the paper size you are using, such as Letter or 4 x 6 inch photo.
4. Check that the stack lies flat under the small tabs at the front corners. Paper pushed over the tabs will not feed.
5. Push the tray in firmly until it stops. On printers with an extendable tray, make sure it is locked at the correct length.

Close any paper cover or feed slot cover over a rear tray after loading. Canon, for example, notes that paper cannot feed from the rear tray while its feed slot cover is open.

Is the printer feeding from the wrong tray?

This is the cause people rarely suspect. Printers with two paper sources, such as a rear tray and a front cassette on many Canon PIXMA and Epson models, or Tray 1 and Tray 2 on office lasers, report "out of paper" for the source the job asked for, even when the other tray is full.

Check the print settings on Windows 11

1. Go to Settings › Bluetooth & devices › Printers & scanners and select your printer.
2. Choose Printing preferences.
3. Find Paper Source (some drivers say Paper Feed or Source) and set it to the tray you loaded, or to Auto Select if offered.
4. Set Paper Size and Media Type to what is in the tray, then click Apply.

Individual apps can override these defaults, so check the same options in the app's print dialog, usually under Printer Properties or More settings.

Check the print settings on a Mac

In the print dialog, look in the Media & Quality section, or a brand-specific section depending on the driver, for a Feed from or paper source option. Match the paper size there too.

Size and type mismatches

Many newer printers ask you to confirm the paper size and type on the panel each time you close a tray. If the panel says the cassette holds Letter plain paper and the job asks for 4 x 6 photo paper, the printer may report the source as empty or ask you to load paper rather than print on the wrong stock. Update the panel setting or the job so both agree. Canon reports this with its own code; see Canon support code 2110.

Brand notes: HP, Canon, Epson and Brother

HP

On many HP inkjets, closing the input tray triggers a prompt to confirm paper size and type. If you dismiss it, the stored setting may not match what you loaded. On many LaserJets, a message asking you to load a particular tray with a named size and type means the job requested paper the printer does not think is loaded; change the tray's configured size in the panel's tray settings or change the job. The HP Smart app shows tray and paper status on supported models.

Canon

On many PIXMA models, support code 1000 refers to the rear tray and 1003 to the cassette, so the code tells you which source the printer tried. On several models the cassette takes plain paper only, so photo jobs are sent to the rear tray. If you see 6000 instead, the feed mechanism itself is struggling; see Canon support code 6000.

Epson

Epson models with both a rear paper feed and a cassette choose the source in the driver, usually labeled Paper Source, with options along the lines of Rear Paper Feed and Paper Cassette. Many entry-level EcoTank models have only a rear feed. If your Epson reports a jam instead, with nothing stuck, see Epson false paper jam.

Brother

Brother's guidance for No Paper and No Paper Fed covers reloading, reseating the tray until it locks, cleaning the pickup rollers, and checking that the jam clear cover at the back is closed evenly at both ends. Lasers may name the tray in the message, for example Tray 1 or the MP tray.

How to clean the pickup rollers safely

Pickup rollers are the rubber wheels that grab the top sheet. Paper dust glazes them over time, so they spin without gripping. Cleaning takes about ten minutes and fixes a large share of these messages on printers more than a year or two old.

1. Turn the printer off with its power button, then unplug it. On a laser, wait at least 15 minutes for the fuser to cool before reaching inside.
2. Remove the paper and pull the tray or cassette out completely.
3. Find the rollers with a flashlight. In cassette printers they sit above the tray opening; in rear-feed inkjets they are just inside the rear slot.
4. Dampen a lint-free cloth with plain water and wring it out until it is barely wet. Do not spray anything into the printer, and avoid alcohol, which can dry out the rubber.
5. Wipe each roller while turning it with a finger so you clean the whole surface. Gray or black residue on the cloth means you have found the problem.
6. Let everything dry for at least 10 minutes, then reload paper and test.

Do not tip an EcoTank or other ink tank printer on its side to reach the rollers, because the tanks can leak. Many Canon PIXMA models also have a Roller cleaning routine in the panel's maintenance menu that spins the rollers against plain paper, and some other brands offer similar routines. For a schedule that keeps rollers gripping, see printer maintenance tips.

A stuck paper sensor flag

If the message appears instantly with a full, correctly seated tray and no roller movement, the paper-present sensor may be stuck. In many printers it is a thin plastic lever that the stack pushes aside; in others it is an optical sensor interrupted by a small arm.

• With the tray out and the printer unplugged, look into the tray bay with a flashlight for a small lever near the roller. Flick it gently with a fingertip. It should move freely and spring back.
• A torn scrap of paper, a stray label or a staple can hold the lever in the wrong position. Remove it with tweezers.
• A short burst of compressed air clears dust around the lever. Keep the can upright.

If the printer insists paper is jammed where there is none, the same sensors are usually involved, and the Canon support code 1300 guide and the Epson guide above show where hidden scraps collect.

When worn rollers or a broken part is the real problem

If cleaned rollers still spin without moving the paper, the rubber has hardened. Replacement pickup roller kits exist for many lasers and some inkjets, and they usually clip in without tools; search your exact model number plus "pickup roller kit" on the manufacturer's site. A cracked lift plate in the cassette, a broken spring or a feed motor that no longer turns is a job for a technician.

On an inexpensive inkjet, a mechanical feed repair often costs more than the printer is worth. Our guide on whether a printer is worth repairing helps with that decision. If you would rather not work through this yourself, our independent remote printer support plan covers every printer in your home or office, and we will tell you plainly if a fault is mechanical and not worth fixing.