Printer Error Codes Explained

When your printer experiences some kind of disruption, it will often indicate that something is awry by displaying an error code on the LCD panel. Fancier printer models with larger displays may give a clear indication of what is going wrong, for example telling you outright that the “Paper Tray is Empty”. However older printer models with smaller display screens may only spit back a numeric error code for example “Error 20”. Well, what does that mean?

While your printer’s manual is the best resource for figuring out what the error code number signifies, the following list provides some of the most common printer error codes and solutions to said problems.

These codes apply generally to older HP laser models but other printer manufacturers may use these standardized numerical codes also.

Error 11 - No more paper. The paper tray is either empty or not sitting correctly in its place. If there is paper in the tray, ensure the tray itself is in the right position.

Error 12 - The paper path door or the top cover is open. Ensure the compartment lid is closed to resume printing and if this doesn’t work there may be a door open within.

Error 13 - Paper jam. Clear the paper jam to get things moving again – remember that the jam can be in a lot of places. So check the pickup tray, inside the printer, etc.

Error 14 - A toner cartridge cannot be detected. This might be because there isn’t one in there or if there is, then your printer probably cannot sense it because it’s not sitting properly. If that’s the case, simply pull it out and reinstall it.

Error 16 - Toner is getting low. In this case your printer is just giving you the head’s up that you’ll need a replacement cartridge soon. Generally you can continue printing when you see this error but if the last few pages of your document are missing things, you know why.

Error 20 - Memory overload. Larger documents can exceed the memory capacity of your printer and hence the print job may be too large to handle all at once. What you can try doing with larger documents is breaking up the print work by printing a few pages at a time.

Error 22 - Configuration error. Stop whatever your printing and restart your printer altogether. Then try printing the document again.

Error 24 - Printer job memory is full. Basically the memory that processes multi page tasks is full and can’t handle anymore requests. In this case, consider adding more memory.

Error 40 - Something has gone wrong with the data transfer. Stop your print jobs and restart the printer.

Error 41 - Unexpected paper size – the printer is confused. Reload the paper tray with the proper sized media and double check that the pages are not stuck together.

Error 50-53 - These error codes often indicate that a repair technician is required. You can try restarting both the printer and your computer to see if this resolves the issue, however if the problem does not get fixed – your best bet is to call the manufacturer for support or call for a service technician to look at the machine.

While this list is not exhaustive by any means, hopefully it does help you figure out what’s going on when your printer is telling you something is wrong. Most of these problems are easily solved so long as you can decode what the numerical error number is. If you encounter a situation that hasn’t made our list, or if the problem your trying to solve isn’t getting fixed via our suggestions, then contact your printer’s manufacturer for support or give a techie friend a call and ask for help.