How to disable HP Dynamic Security and decline firmware updates safely keep control of the update that blocks your ink

The update that blocks cheaper ink almost always arrives on its own. Your HP printer checks in with HP overnight, installs new firmware, and one morning a cartridge that printed fine is refused. The feature doing the refusing is Dynamic Security, and on most HP models the only lever you actually control is when, and whether, firmware installs. This guide shows how to check what you are running, how to stop automatic updates on the printer, in HP Smart, and in the web interface, the one setup choice that locks you in for good, and the short list of HP models HP itself published a removal update for.

The short version: Turning off automatic updates and disabling Dynamic Security are two different things. Most consumer HP printers have no switch to turn Dynamic Security off, so your real protection is to stop the printer updating itself and to skip HP+ at setup. If you enrol in HP+, you agree to use original HP cartridges for the life of the printer and there is no going back. Brother does not do any of this, and neither does Epson EcoTank. Epson's cartridge models are a separate case with their own answer, covered below.

First, get one thing straight

People search for a button that says 'disable Dynamic Security'. On the large majority of HP consumer printers, that button does not exist. So it helps to separate the two things you can and cannot control.

Dynamic Security itself is the cartridge-checking rule baked into the firmware. On most home and small-office HP models there is no user setting to switch it off. A small number of older business models got an optional HP update that removes it, covered lower down, and a group of LaserJet models can be rolled back under a 2025 settlement. Everything else, you cannot toggle.

Firmware updates are the delivery van. Dynamic Security gets switched on or reinforced through periodic firmware, which HP often installs automatically. This part you can control. If the printer never installs the update that tightens cartridge checking, the ink you already use keeps working. That is why the practical goal for most people is not 'disable Dynamic Security', it is 'stop the printer updating itself behind my back'.

So the plan below is: find out what firmware you are on now, stop automatic updates in every place they hide, and avoid the one setup choice that removes your say entirely.

Step 1: check your firmware version

Write down your current firmware version before you change anything. That single number lets you tell later whether an update slipped through.

On the printer: open Setup or the gear icon, then look under Printer Maintenance, Tools, or Reports for Printer Information or a Printer Status Report. The report prints the firmware version and the model.
In HP Smart: select your printer, open Printer Settings or Advanced Settings, and look under a Firmware or Product Information entry.
In the web interface (EWS): print a network configuration page to get the printer's IP address, type that address into a browser on the same network, then open Tools or Product Information.

Note whether the printer is set up as HP+ while you are here. That status decides a lot, and it is covered below.

Step 2: turn off automatic firmware updates

HP hides this control in more than one place, and the printer, the app, and the web interface can each re-enable it. Set it in all three that your model offers. On many HP printers with a touchscreen the documented path is:

Setup › Printer Maintenance › Update the Printer › Printer Update Options › Do Not Check

The exact wording changes by model and firmware. You may see Do Not Check, Notify, Off, or Manual. Pick the most hands-off option offered.

In HP Smart: open your printer, go to Printer Settings or Advanced Settings, find Firmware Updates or Update Settings, and set automatic updates to Off. Reopen the app once afterwards so the change sticks.

In the web interface: browse to the printer's IP address, open Settings or Tools, then Printer Updates or Firmware Update, and choose the setting that stops automatic checking or installing. Save, then restart the printer and reopen the page to confirm it held.

One catch worth knowing: checking, downloading, and installing can be separate settings. A printer set only to 'notify' can still download an update and wait to install it. If your model splits these, set every stage to manual, not just the first.

If an update is already partway through installing, let it finish. Cutting power mid-update is the one thing that can genuinely brick the printer.

The HP+ trap at setup

This is the choice that catches most people, and it happens once, at setup, before any of the settings above matter.

When you first configure a newer HP printer, HP offers to enrol it in HP+ in exchange for extra free Instant Ink months and a longer warranty. Accepting it comes with a permanent condition: the printer will only ever accept original HP cartridges, and that agreement does not expire. There is no menu that reverses it later.

If keeping the option to use compatible ink matters to you, decline HP+ during setup and set the printer up as a standard printer. On a printer already enrolled, no menu reverses it, so the only real fix is a different printer. That makes setup the moment that counts. Decline HP+ when you first unbox the printer, well before any block could appear.

The HP models you can actually unlock

Two groups of HP printers have an official way to remove or roll back the cartridge block. If yours is not on either list, the update controls above are your only lever.

Older OfficeJet models with the 2016 removal firmware. After the backlash that followed the first wave of blocking, HP published an optional firmware update that removes Dynamic Security on a defined set of business inkjets (HP document c05308850). The series HP listed were the OfficeJet Pro 6230, OfficeJet 6810 and 6820, OfficeJet Pro 6830, the OfficeJet Pro 8610, 8615, 8616, 8620, 8625, 8630, 8640 and 8660, and the OfficeJet Pro X451, X476, X551 and X576. These printers are old now, and some owners report the removal update is no longer offered on their model's download page, so treat it as worth checking rather than guaranteed.

The 21 LaserJet models in the 2025 US settlement. A separate group of LaserJet printers can decline or roll back the blocking firmware under a class-action settlement. The exact model list and the how-to sit in our tracker, linked below.

For every other HP model, there is no HP-blessed off switch, because HP never built one into those printers.

If the update setting is missing, greyed out, or ignored

Sometimes the toggle is locked, or the printer keeps updating anyway. A few fallbacks, roughly in order of how sensible they are.

Turn off Web Services. In the printer's settings, disabling Web Services (HP ePrint and similar cloud features) cuts one of the channels the printer uses to reach HP. You lose those cloud features, which most people never use.
Keep it off the internet. A printer with no path to HP cannot fetch firmware. Connecting over USB only, or leaving it off Wi-Fi, is the bluntest version of this. The cost is no wireless printing.
Block HP's update servers at the router. Some people block the printer's access to HP update hostnames in their router so the rest of the network stays online. This is fiddly, depends on your router, and HP can change hostnames, so it is a power-user move rather than a reliable fix.

None of these disables Dynamic Security. They only stop the printer receiving the firmware that enforces it. If a block is already in place on your printer, see the recovery guide linked below, because these steps prevent the next block rather than undo the current one.

What this does, and what it does not

What you gain: the printer stops changing its own behaviour overnight, and a compatible cartridge that works today keeps working, because the firmware that would tighten the check never installs.

What you give up: firmware updates also carry real bug fixes and security patches, so blocking them is not free. The sensible middle ground is to hold automatic updates and then update deliberately, only when you can see what a specific release changes and you have a moment to watch it install, rather than letting the printer decide at 3am.

What it will not do: it will not remove Dynamic Security from a model that has no removal option, and it will not rescue a cartridge that is already blocked. For that, roll back if you are on one of the settlement LaserJets, or fit a cartridge with an updated chip.

The brands where none of this applies

Worth repeating, because it is the cleanest fix of all. Brother does not firmware-lock compatible cartridges on any model we track, and neither does Epson EcoTank, which Epson describes as an open system that does not prevent the use of non-OEM inkjet bottles. On those printers you can install updates normally and your compatibles keep working, so none of the steps above are needed. Epson's cartridge models do not belong on that list, whatever you may have read, including on this site before September 2026. Epson says its cartridge printers are designed for Epson cartridges only and that some updates may affect third-party ink, so an Epson XP or WF model needs the same update discipline as an HP. It does hand you the switch: Epson's Windows Auto Update Settings has a Never option and the printer panel has a firmware update setting. If you are shopping for a printer specifically to avoid this fight, a Brother or an EcoTank is the shortest route to it. Our firmware-DRM tracker lists where each model stands.

Common questions

Does turning off automatic updates disable Dynamic Security?

No. They are separate. Turning off automatic firmware updates stops the printer installing the firmware that switches on or tightens cartridge blocking, but it does not remove Dynamic Security that is already active. On most HP consumer models there is no setting to disable Dynamic Security itself, which is why controlling updates is the practical approach.

Can I re-enable HP+ later, or turn it off?

HP+ enrolment is permanent. When you accept it at setup you agree to use original HP cartridges for the life of the printer, and there is no menu to reverse it afterwards. If you want to keep the option of compatible ink, decline HP+ during the initial setup and configure the printer as a standard printer.

Is there a firmware update that removes the ink block?

Only for a specific set of older HP business inkjets. After the 2016 backlash HP published an optional update that removes Dynamic Security on certain OfficeJet, OfficeJet Pro and OfficeJet Pro X series (HP document c05308850). Some of those downloads are no longer offered, so check your exact model's support page. Newer models have no removal update.

Will skipping updates make my printer insecure?

Firmware updates do include genuine bug fixes and security patches, so skipping them all is a real trade-off. The balanced approach is to hold automatic updates so nothing installs on its own, then apply a specific update by hand when you know what it changes and you can watch it complete.

I already got blocked. Do these steps fix it?

Not directly. These steps stop the next block from arriving. If a cartridge is already refused, roll the firmware back if you own one of the 21 LaserJet models covered by the 2025 settlement, or fit a compatible cartridge with an updated chip. Our guide on printers rejecting compatible ink walks through recovery.

Keep reading

Printer stopped accepting compatible ink after an update the recovery guide for when the block is already in place.
Printer firmware-DRM tracker which models lock, plus the 21-model LaserJet roll-back list.
How to tell if a cheap third-party cartridge is safe to use the real risks and a seller-vetting checklist before you switch.
OEM vs compatible vs remanufactured cartridges the cost-per-page and quality reality of what you are switching to.
Find the exact cartridge your printer uses and compare its cost per page against compatibles.
HP ink cartridge compatibility chart the cartridge number for every HP model we track, with its lock status.
HP LaserJet toner compatibility chart the toner number for every HP laser we track, with its lock status.
What the cartridge chip actually does what the authentication step is actually checking.

Sources

HP Support, HP Inkjet Printers, Dynamic Security Feature Affecting Cartridges Using a Non-HP Security Chip (optional removal firmware and affected OfficeJet, OfficeJet Pro and OfficeJet Pro X series). support.hp.com
HP Support, Update the firmware on an HP printer (firmware update options, including Do Not Check, and note that periodic updates maintain Dynamic Security). support.hp.com
HP, Cartridge and supplies security (HP's own description of Dynamic Security and cartridge authentication). hp.com
HP Support, HP+ printers overview and terms (HP+ requires original HP cartridges for the life of the printer). support.hp.com
HP Support, Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement, Dynamic Security on certain LaserJet printers (the 21-model roll-back list). support.hp.com

Last updated 13 September 2026. This guide is general information, not a repair warranty. Printer menus and HP's model lists change, so confirm the exact steps for your model on the manufacturer's support site before you make changes.