Printer ink and toner guides

Straight answers to the questions that cost people money: why a printer suddenly rejects cheaper ink, which brands lock you in, and how to cut your cost per page without bricking the machine.

• Why did my printer stop accepting compatible ink after a firmware update?
  Your compatible cartridge worked, then a firmware update rejected it. Here is exactly what happened (HP Dynamic Security), how to check your firmware, how to roll it back on the 21 settlement models, and how to stop it happening again.
• How to reset a Canon printer after a firmware or ink error
  A Canon PIXMA or MAXIFY showing a cartridge or print head error is almost always fixable at home. Here is the correct power cycle, what each Canon support code (1401, 1403, 1430, 1682, 1684, 1686, 1688) really means, how to override an ink-level error and keep printing, and when a reset will not save it.
• OEM vs compatible vs remanufactured cartridges
  OEM, compatible and remanufactured cartridges explained without the sales pitch: what each one actually is, how to compare them on cost per page instead of sticker price, where the quality gap is real, the firmware risk that only affects one brand, and why using non-OEM ink does not void your warranty.
• How to tell if a cheap third-party cartridge is safe to use
  Worried a cheap compatible or remanufactured cartridge will leak, wreck your printhead, throw a chip error or void your warranty? Here is what the evidence actually shows, the one risk that is real, and how to vet a seller before you spend a penny.
• How to disable HP Dynamic Security and decline firmware updates safely
  HP firmware updates can switch on Dynamic Security and block third-party ink. Here is how to check your firmware, turn off automatic updates, avoid the HP+ trap, and which HP models HP itself let you unlock, with the risks spelled out.
• Printer ink drying out and how to prevent a clogged printhead
  Ink dries in the printhead nozzles when a printer sits idle, causing faint or missing prints. Here is why it happens, how to tell a clog from an empty cartridge, the safe way to clean without wasting ink, and the one habit that prevents it.
• Which printers are cheapest to run?
  We worked out the real cost per page for every printer we track using the maker's own cartridge prices and page yields. Ink-tank printers run a black page for about a third of a cent. Budget cartridge inkjets can cost fifteen cents for the same page. Here is the full ranking.
• Ink tank vs cartridge: is a refillable printer worth it?
  Refillable ink-tank printers cost more to buy but far less to run. Here is the break-even maths using our own catalogue cost-per-page data, plus the catches (waste pads, first-fill, drying) that decide whether a tank is worth it for you.
• Does HP block third-party ink?
  HP is the only major brand that firmware-blocks third-party ink and toner. Which HP printers do it, whether you can undo it, the 21-model settlement roll-back, and the warranty myth, all sourced.
• Does Brother block third-party ink?
  Brother does not firmware-lock compatible ink or toner. Read Brother's own March 2025 statement, what its non-genuine warning really means, and the warranty catch, all sourced.
• Does Canon block third-party ink?
  Canon PIXMA and MAXIFY printers do not firmware-lock compatibles. Here is what the ink-level warning means and Canon's own 5-second fix to keep printing, all sourced.
• Does Epson block third-party ink?
  Epson has no name for it and no headlines, but it states that its cartridge printers are designed for Epson cartridges only and that firmware updates may stop third-party ink working. EcoTank is the exception Epson names itself. We checked all 46 Epson models against their own Epson user guides.
• HP says the cartridge is missing, damaged, or incompatible
  An HP printer refusing a cartridge is usually a seating or contact fault you can clear in a few minutes. Sometimes it is HP Dynamic Security blocking third-party ink instead. Here is how to fix the first and recognise the second.
• Reset a Brother toner counter after replacing or refilling toner
  Brother mono lasers count pages, so a new or refilled toner can still show Replace Toner until you reset the counter. Here are the panel resets by model type, the separate drum reset, and why this is not a firmware lock.
• How to reset an Epson printer and clear an ink or non-genuine cartridge error
  Most Epson ink errors are recoverable at home. Here is the correct power cycle, how to keep printing past a non-genuine cartridge warning, how to fix a cartridge that will not be recognised, what the ink pad end of service life message (E-11 and E-12) really means, and when an error like 0x97 needs a repair instead of a reset.
• HP Instant Ink: how it works, and what happens when you cancel
  HP Instant Ink explained without the sales gloss: how the page-based plans and rollover work, why the cartridges stop printing the moment you cancel, the HP+ Original-HP-for-life trap, how to cancel, and when the subscription is actually worth it.
• Why is my printer printing blank pages? Find the cause and fix it
  A printer that spits out blank pages is almost always fixable at home. Here is the one self-test that splits the problem in two, then the exact fix for a blank inkjet, a blank laser page, and a driver that sends nothing to print.
• Do ink and toner cartridges expire?
  The date printed on an ink cartridge is usually the end of the warranty, not the day the ink stops working. Here is what each brand's date actually means, how long sealed ink and toner really keep, and how to store spares so they are still good when you need them.
• HP ink cartridge compatibility chart
  A cross-reference of 15 HP cartridge families against the 73 HP printers in our catalogue. Look up your printer or your cartridge number, see the standard and XL yields, the real cost per page, and whether that model is on the firmware lockout list.
• Printer says ink low but the cartridge is not empty
  Your printer says low or empty and the cartridge still has ink in it. Here is how printers estimate ink levels, how much is usually left when the gauge gives up, and the exact override on HP, Canon, Epson and Brother machines.
• Canon ink cartridge compatibility chart
  A cross-reference of Canon's PG, CL, PGI, CLI and GI supplies against the 45 PIXMA printers in our catalogue. Find your model or your cartridge number, see every tier with its rated yield and real cost per page, and learn why a PG-245 and a PGI-280 are not the same thing.
• Brother toner, drum and ink compatibility chart
  A cross-reference of Brother's TN toners, DR drums and LC ink cartridges against the 61 Brother printers in our catalogue. Find your model or your number, see every tier with its rated yield and real cost per page, and see how many toners each drum is rated to outlive.
• Ink or toner? How to tell which your printer uses
  Ink and toner are not interchangeable, and the wrong one will not fit. Here is how to tell which your printer takes from its model name in seconds, how to confirm it by looking at the supply bay, what the part number gives away, and what the answer costs you per page on our own catalogue figures.
• Epson ink cartridge and EcoTank bottle chart
  A cross reference of 129 Epson supplies against the 46 Epson printers in our catalogue. Find your model or your number, see every tier with its rated yield and cost per page, and find out where the XL is worth buying and where it saves you nothing.
• Faded, streaky or missing colours: read the nozzle check first
  Prints coming out pale, banded, or missing a colour? The nozzle check or print quality report tells you whether it is a clogged nozzle, a misaligned head, a print setting, or a cartridge on its way out. Here is how to read the pattern, and how many cleaning cycles are worth running before the cartridge becomes the answer.
• What a page yield number actually measures
  Every cartridge quotes a page yield. It comes from a lab test, ISO/IEC 24711, printing a fixed five page document at about 5 percent coverage per colour. Here is what the test does and does not count, why real yields land lower, and how to turn the number on the box into a budget you can trust.
• The drum unit, and the running cost nobody quotes
  A laser printer has two consumables, and only one of them gets talked about. Here is what a drum unit does, what the Replace Drum message means on Brother and HP machines, how to tell a worn drum from a spent toner, and what the drum adds to the cost of a page across the 45 lasers we track that take one.
• The empty cartridge in your drawer
  Every manufacturer will take an empty cartridge back for nothing, but they do not all work the same way and one of the four makes you pay the postage. Here is who accepts what, which shops pay you for empties, why the kerbside bin is the wrong answer, and what refilling actually does to a cartridge.
• HP LaserJet toner compatibility chart
  A cross-reference of 22 HP toner families and 74 cartridges against the 38 HP laser printers in our catalogue. Look up your model or your number, see the standard and high yield cost per page, whether it takes a separate drum, and whether the firmware can refuse third-party toner.
• The chip on your cartridge
  The small contact plate on an ink or toner cartridge does three separate jobs, and only one of them can stop your printer. Here is what the chip holds, why your ink level is a counter rather than a measurement, why a remanufactured cartridge survives a firmware update that kills a new compatible one, and what chip resetters and chipless firmware really change.
• Where your print head lives
  Some inkjets put the print head on the cartridge, so you buy a new one every time. Others keep a permanent head in the machine. How to tell which you own in under a minute, what each design does to your cost per page, and why the same cheap cartridge is a small risk on one and a large one on the other.
• Your printer says it cannot print black, and the only empty cartridge is a colour
  Your black cartridge is full, a colour is empty, and the printer refuses to print a plain black document. Why makers build it that way, which HP models can carry on and which cannot, and the exact steps on Brother, Epson and Canon.
• The cartridges that came in the box are not the ones you will keep buying
  Your new printer is already asking for ink. Setup and starter cartridges explained in each manufacturer's own words, why the rated yield on the box does not describe the one in the machine, and the first refill priced for every printer in our catalogue.
• The consumable nobody sold you, and the counter that ends the machine
  Ink pad at the end of its service life, support code 5B00, Machine Error 46. What the waste ink pad and the maintenance box actually are, what Epson, Canon, Brother and HP each publish about them, how to read the counter before it stops you, and when a reset is the wrong answer.
• Your printer is fine. The question is whether the ink has a future
  How to tell whether your ink or toner number is heading for discontinuation, using the one thing that predicts it: how recently the maker fitted that number to a new printer. We checked all 248 cartridge families in our catalogue and 43 have no host printer newer than 2014. What that does and does not mean, and why stockpiling has a limit HP built into the cartridge.
• Your cartridge number is on the way out. Now what?
  Your cartridge number has stopped appearing in new printers. Here is the decision costed out: how much ink is worth buying ahead before the printed date beats you to it, when a replacement actually pays for itself, and why the 20 orphaned lasers in our catalogue and the 26 orphaned inkjets need opposite answers. Every figure computed from the catalogue, with the arithmetic shown.
• Is the XL cartridge actually cheaper?
  We read the list price and ISO page yield of 9 Epson and HP cartridge families off the makers' own store pages and worked out the cost per page of the standard against the XL. The high capacity cartridge is cheaper every time, by anything from 7.1% to 54.4%.

See also the printer firmware-DRM tracker, our sourced list of which printers can block third-party ink.