HP LaserJet toner compatibility chart which LaserJet takes which number, what a page costs on each, and which models lock out third-party toner

Two numbers, one cartridge

HP writes every toner cartridge twice. The short number is the marketing name, the one printed large on the box and used on shelf labels: 58A, 30X, 206A. The long number is the part number on the cartridge label and in HP's own support tables: CF258A, CF230X, W2110A. HP's replacement documentation lists both side by side in the same row, under the headings cartridge number and part number.

Reading the long number is worth two minutes because it carries the generation. The prefix changed as HP moved through its cartridge lines, and in our own catalogue the prefixes track model years closely: Q on a 2005 machine, CE from 2008 to 2011, CF from 2012 to 2018, and W from 2019 onward. A W number on a listing for a printer you bought a decade ago is a sign the listing is wrong.

Where to find yours, in order of how quickly it works:

• Open the front door and pull the cartridge that is fitted. Both numbers are on the label, usually with the short one first and the part number in smaller type.
• Look for the supplies label inside the door itself. On most LaserJets it names the cartridge the machine expects.
• On a model with a screen, print the supplies status page from the Reports or Information menu. It lists the cartridge number and how much is left.
• HP's own SureSupply lookup takes the printer model and returns the cartridges for your country, which matters more on toner than on ink.

Mono LaserJets and the number each one takes

These are the 26 black and white LaserJets in our catalogue. Cost per page is the cartridge price divided by its rated yield, using the same price data as the rest of the site. The drum column matters: most HP toner has the imaging drum built into the cartridge, but a few families sell it separately, and on those machines the toner alone is not the whole running cost.

The spread inside one brand is wide. HP 58X prints a black page for 1.8c and HP 79A costs 6.5c for the same page, about 3.6 times as much, and both are original HP toner. Sort the table by that column and the dearest pages all belong to the small entry level machines while the cheapest belong to the bigger office models.

Colour LaserJets and what a four colour page costs

The 12 colour models each take four cartridges, so the number that decides your running cost is not the black one. The four colour page column adds the cost per page of black, cyan, magenta and yellow at the cheapest tier we list for that family, which is roughly what a page of dense colour costs you in supplies.

A four colour page runs 12.1c on HP 414 and 20.9c on HP 202, and both families belong to the same Color LaserJet Pro line. If you print colour in any volume, the family a machine uses is worth more attention than its sticker price.

Reverse lookup: you have a number, what fits it

Find the number you are holding, confirm the part code matches the label, and check your printer is on the list. This covers 22 families across 74 cartridges.

Numbers do not cross between families. A 30A will not stand in for a 26A even though both are black toner for a similar sized LaserJet, because the shells and the chips differ. The one case worth checking rather than assuming is a model listed with two families, which is the regional split covered further down.

What the X actually buys you

The suffix is the yield tier. A is the standard cartridge and X is the high yield version of the same part, more toner in the same shell, sold on the promise of a lower cost per page. HP's own supply documentation puts it plainly: high yield cartridges contain more toner for an increased page yield. What that saves you varies far more than the pitch suggests.

On black toner the upgrade is usually worth it, with a median saving of 34% per page and HP 134 taking 6.4c down to 2.4c, a 62% cut. On colour it mostly is not: the median colour step saves 15%, so you are paying a much larger price up front to shift the cost per page slightly.

Then there is HP 83. Its standard black costs 5.0c a page and its high yield black costs 5.0c, which at these prices is the same page for the same money. The X still holds more toner, so you swap cartridges less often, but the saving people buy it for is not there. Check the family before you reach for the bigger box.

One caveat applies to every number above. Rated yields come from the ISO test page at five percent coverage, which is a light text document. Dense reports and graphics burn through toner faster than the table says, though the ranking between families holds either way. Our page yield guide covers what the test does and does not measure.

The region trap, and why your model may show two numbers

Some models in the chart list two families. That is not a mistake in the data, it is HP selling the same machine with different toner numbers depending on where it was shipped. HP's cartridge reference splits the tables by region, and the pairs run right through the LaserJet range:

• The Color LaserJet Pro M255 and MFP M283 take 206A and 206X in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Japan, and 207A and 207X in Europe, Russia, the CIS, the Middle East and Africa.
• The M254 and MFP M281 split the same way between 202 and 203.
• The LaserJet MFP M232 to M237 and the M207 to M212 lines take 134A and 134X in North America, Australia and New Zealand, 135A and 135X in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, the UK and Israel, and other numbers again elsewhere.
• The LaserJet Pro M15 and M28 family takes 48A in North America, Latin America and most of Asia Pacific, 44A across Europe, and 47A in China and India.
• The M404 and M428 take 58A and 58X in one set of markets and 59A and 59X, part numbers CF259A and CF259X, in another.

HP is blunt about what happens if you mix them. Its replacement guide for the M428 carries the caution that cartridges are for distribution and use within their designated region only and will not work outside it. Owners hit this with brand new machines: HP's support forum has an M283 owner whose printer shipped with 206A toner in the box and then reported incompatible supplies because it wanted 207A.

If you moved country with the printer, buy the number the printer asks for rather than the one on the old cartridge. And if a marketplace listing looks unusually cheap, check which region the seller ships from before the chip does it for you.

The models with a separate drum

On most HP toner the imaging drum is part of the cartridge, so it gets replaced every time the toner runs out. 4 of the printers here work the other way and take a drum as its own part, the way Brother lasers do.

• HP 19A, rated 12000 pages at 0.5c per page, fits LaserJet Pro M102w, LaserJet Pro MFP M130fw.
• HP 32A, rated 23000 pages at 0.3c per page, fits LaserJet Pro M203dw, LaserJet Pro MFP M227fdw.

The drum looks alarming on the shelf because it costs about as much as toner, but spread over its rated life it is the cheap part. Adding the drum to the toner it runs alongside moves the cost of a page by well under a cent on both of these families. What it does change is the diagnosis when print quality drops: repeating marks down the page at a fixed interval, or grey backgrounds that a new cartridge does not fix, point at the drum rather than the toner. Our drum unit guide covers telling them apart.

Which of these will refuse third-party toner

Most toner charts stop at the yield. 16 of the 38 laser printers here are on our firmware lockout tracker, either because HP publishes its dynamic security notice against the model or because it is an HP+ enrolled machine committed to original HP supplies. The remaining 22 have no lock recorded.

It runs roughly by generation, but the line is not clean. Every locked model here is 2017 or newer, and the open side runs up to 2017, so the two overlap and the model year alone will not tell you. HP has also pushed dynamic security onto machines by firmware update after they shipped, which is why the tracker records it per model and cites what HP publishes for each one.

If your model is in that table and you want to keep buying compatible toner, decline the firmware update, turn off automatic updates, and keep the printer off HP+ enrolment. Our guide to declining HP firmware updates covers the steps per model type. HP+ is the one that cannot be undone: enrolment is permanent and binds the machine to original HP supplies for its working life.

Common questions

Keep reading

• HP ink cartridge compatibility chart the same treatment for the inkjet side of the HP catalogue.
• The firmware lockout tracker every printer we track, with its lock status and the HP sources behind it.
• Does HP block third-party ink? how dynamic security works and what the settlements actually covered.
• Drum units and imaging kits when the drum is the problem and what replacing one costs.
• HP cartridge not recognized telling a seating fault apart from a firmware block, with HP's exact wording.
• Is your cartridge number being discontinued? twenty of the orphaned machines are lasers, where stocking up is easier.
• Your cartridge is being discontinued: what to do about it stocking up on toner works where stocking up on ink does not.

Sources

1. HP Support, HP LaserJet Pro MFP M329, M428, M429, Replace the toner cartridge. Lists cartridge number against part number for 58A, 59A, 76A and 77A, states that high yield cartridges hold more toner, and carries the caution that cartridges are for use within their designated region only. support.hp.com
2. HP Support, Which cartridges work with my HP printer. Regional cartridge tables for the LaserJet range, including 206 against 207 on the M255 and M283, 202 against 203 on the M254 and M281, 134 against 135 on the M232 to M237, and 48A, 44A and 47A on the M15 family. support.hp.com
3. HP Support Community, brand new Color LaserJet Pro MFP M283fdw reporting incompatible supplies because it shipped with 206A toner and expected 207A. h30434.www3.hp.com
4. HP Store, HP 19A Original LaserJet Imaging Drum, CF219A, the separately sold imaging drum for the LaserJet Pro M102 and MFP M130. www.hp.com
5. HP Store, HP 05X High Yield Black Original LaserJet Toner Cartridge, CE505X, rated about 6,500 pages, the source for the short number on that part code. www.hp.com
6. HP Support, HP LaserJet Enterprise M406, M407, Order supplies. Confirms the 58A and 59A part numbers and that cartridges are listed by regional distribution. 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.