Hp printer printing in black and white

One of my users has an annoying problem with an HP color printer. After connecting the printer (either directly, or as a shared network printer via GPO) and installing drivers, it works fine and prints documents in color. However, on some days the color printing option disappears from the printer menu, so it prints in black and white only.

If you remove the printer from Windows devices and reinstall drivers, the color printing appears, but only for a short time.

First of all, open the Print preferences and go to the Paper/Quality tab (for HP printers). Make sure that the Color option is selected here instead of Black & White.

Hp printer printing in black and white

If the Color option is missing, click the Advanced. In the Advanced Options window, set Off for Print in Grayscale under the Document Options section.

Hp printer printing in black and white

Then enable the color printing option in the printer settings.

On HP printers, you also need to check one more option in the driver settings. Open the printer properties and go to the Device Settings tab. Make sure that the Device Type is set to Color (not Auto detect or Monochrome) in the list of printer features.

Hp printer printing in black and white

If the color printing option is still unavailable, create a special parameter in the printer registry key.

  1. Run Regedit.exe;
  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\YourPrinterName\PrinterDriverData;
  3. Create a DWORD parameter with the name ColorPrinting and the value 1;
    Hp printer printing in black and white
  4. Restart the print service using PowerShell: get-service spooler|restart-service

Check that the “Print to Color” option is now available in the printer settings. It works for HP printers and other printer models, like Canon, Epson, etc.

HP is one of those renowned tech companies which is famous for its mid-range but high-graded tech products. Its product lineup mainly consists of laptops, hard drives, pen drives, and printers.
As a tech company, HP has a wide product lineup but it is mainly famous for its consumer-grade printers. Due to its low production costs and print rates, it is very much preferable by students and professionals. However, any device eventually gets affected by some errors at a certain point in time. HP printers are no different from others in this respect. This is the reason, users often come across HP printer only printing black and white error.
Every printer is usually made up of hardware and softwares therefore, it can get affected by critical errors with regular usage.
This article basically focuses on HP printer black and white issue and the effective solutions to solve them.

Causes For HP Printer Only Printing Black And White Issue

In default printing configuration a printer will always print with black and white ink. Therefore before any troubleshooting, you should check the printing configuration of your HP printer.
If all the configuration is correct then this issue can occur due to printer’s ink cartridges, outdated drives, and printing software.
Other than that printing issues usually happen due to the hardware malfunction. But all those malfunctions can be solved by a simple reset or reboot. That is why you should give this method a try.

Simple Solutions For The  HP Printer Only Printing Black And White Issue

There are many major and minor issues in an HP printer but this one falls in the minor category. Therefore all the solutions linked to the issues are very elementary and anyone can perform them without any problem.
That’s why we have provided some of those methods below in this article.

1. Check The Ink Level

If your HP color printer is giving you black and white printouts it is caused by the ink cartridge. This usually indicates that your printer’s ink cartridge is getting empty and you should replace it.

2. Check The Colour Of The Ink Cartridge

Sometimes users mistakenly pick the wrong color ink cartridge for their HP color printer and that mistake ends up in this issue. Therefore it is always recommended that you should check the ink cartridge before buying it.
In the case of HP ink cartridges, the color is always mentioned on the cover of the box. Check that thing to prevent this issue.

3. Verify The Print Settings

In most of the situation, it has been found that this issue happens due to the incorrect print setting. But it can be fixed with simple steps, therefore, you don’t need to worry about it.
To do fix this issue at first, open the File menu in that software which you are using for printout. Then click on the Print option to launch the Print dialog box. On that dialog box, you need to double-check about the printer’s name. If not, then change the name to your HP printer by scrolling down on the printer name section.
After that verification, you need to click on the Properties option. Then, click the Properties dialog box. On the properties dialog box, you need to check all the incorrect settings especially the color option and then revert them back to your desired settings.
Make sure to uncheck the box beside the Print in Grayscale. If it is checked, then click the OK option. After that give your printer another try.

4. Try Different Printing Software

In some rare cases, it has been founded that this issue happens due to the printing software. In such a situation, you just need to try different printing softwares to verify the cause and fix it accordingly.
To test this method at first, open the new printing software. Then test a dummy file printout through the new printing software. If it works fine then it indicates that your old printing software is corrupted and you need to download it again.

5. Install The Latest Printer Drivers

Another thing that can trigger this issue in your printer is the outdated drives. It usually triggers software malfunction causing this issue.
To download the latest drivers for your printers, you need to visit the official website of HP and open the driver section. After that type, the product number of your printer and then click on the Next option. Then you need to select your OS version. This will take you the driver page where you will find all the drivers for your HP printer.
Then all the compatible driver links will appear in front of you. Click on those link to start the download and after click on the files to start the installation. After the installation is over, reboot your system and check for the problem.

6. The Last Resort

If this issue is happening due to the hardware malfunction than reset or restart your HP printer
In case the reset or restart fails to solve the problem, then you need to take your printer to a service store. Only they will be able to fix your printer.

Concluding Remarks

We hope that all the above methods are able to solve your HP printer only printing black and white issue. For future updates keep in touch with us.

Why is my HP printer Printing in black and white only?

Check the options on the property tabs to make sure that the appropriate color options are selected. If there is a checkmark in the box by Print in Grayscale, click in the box to remove the checkmark, and then click OK. Try printing again.

How do I get my HP printer off black and white?

At the Windows Manage your device screen, click Printing preferences..
On the HP printer's Printing Preferences screen, click the Color tab..
Under Color Options, either: Click the Automatic radio button to print in color. Click the Print in Grayscale checkbox to print in black and white..

Why is my printer Printing in black and white instead of color?

First, check your printer settings on the file or picture your trying to print. If your page is setup to print in “grayscale” it will only print in black and white. Change the setting to “default” so it will print in color. If your settings look good from the start, the cartridge may just need to be primed.

Why is my HP printer not Printing in color?

Go to your printer preferences and check to see if "print in all black" is ENABLED or DISABLED. Also check for "grayscale" is on. If you have any issue, just uninstall and re-install the software.