A printer that prints faded or light pages is usually telling you one of four things: the toner or ink is running out, a save-toner or draft setting is on, an inkjet’s print head is partly clogged, or a laser drum is worn. This guide shows you how to tell which one you have from the page itself, then fix it, starting with the free checks.
Quick answer
- The whole page is evenly light? Turn off Toner Save, EconoMode or draft mode first. If it’s already off, the toner or ink is low.
- Laser printer fading on one side or in patches? The toner is running low and packing to one side. Take the cartridge out, rock it gently side to side, and put it back. Order a new one now.
- Still faded with new toner? Clean the corona wire, then replace the drum unit. A worn drum can’t hold enough toner.
- Inkjet text faded or full of thin white lines? The print head is partly clogged. Print a nozzle check and run head cleaning up to twice.
- Faded and damp-feeling pages? Humid air or the wrong paper type setting can make toner and ink print light. Use dry paper and match the setting to the paper.
Why is my printer printing faded? Match your page
Faded pages aren’t all the same. Where the fading shows up tells you which part to look at. Print one full page of text, hold it next to these examples, and pick the closest match.
Whole page evenly lightA save-toner or draft setting, low toner or ink, or a density setting turned down. Faded down one sideLaser toner running low and packed to one end. Rock the cartridge, then replace it. Faded spots that repeatThe same light patch at even spacing down the page. Usually a worn laser drum. Faded text with thin white linesAn inkjet print head that’s partly clogged. Run a nozzle check and clean the head. Starts dark, fades down the pageThe cartridge is nearly empty, or ink isn’t flowing fast enough. Replace it soon. Text fine, colors washed outOne color is low or clogged, or the paper type setting is wrong for the paper.
Faded or blank? If pages come out completely empty rather than light, the causes are a little different (tape left on a cartridge is the big one). See why a printer prints blank pages.
Why printers print faded: causes at a glance
Use this table as a cheat sheet. Start with the clue column. The costs go from free settings changes to a new drum or repair.
| Cause | Printer type | Clue | Fix | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toner Save, EconoMode or draft mode on | Laser and inkjet | Whole page evenly light, every job | Turn it off in the printer menu and the driver | Free |
| Density or darkness set too low | Mostly laser | Evenly light, toner isn’t low | Raise density or toner darkness one step at a time | Free |
| Wrong paper type setting, damp paper | Laser and inkjet | Light or patchy on one paper, fine on another | Match the paper type setting; use dry paper from a sealed ream | Free |
| Toner low and packed to one side | Laser | Fading on one side or in streaks | Rock the cartridge side to side; order a new one | Free, then $ |
| Dirty corona wire or drum | Laser with a separate drum | Light pages, sometimes with streaks | Slide the corona wire cleaner; clean the drum | Free |
| Partly clogged print head | Inkjet | Thin white lines; gaps in the nozzle check | Head cleaning up to twice, then a deep clean | Free (uses some ink) |
| Empty or nearly empty cartridge | Laser and inkjet | Low warning; print gets lighter page by page | Replace the cartridge | $ |
| Worn drum unit | Laser | Still faded with new toner; light spots that repeat | Replace the drum | $$ |
| Transfer roller or high-voltage fault | Laser | Faded with new toner and a new drum | Repair, or replace the printer | $$$ |
Laser printer printing faded or light: fixes in order
Laser printers don’t clog, so faded pages almost always come down to a setting, the toner, or the drum. Brother’s own list for faint prints follows the same order: check the setting, clean the drum and corona wire, then replace the toner, then the drum. Work down the list and you won’t buy a part you didn’t need.
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Turn off Toner Save or EconoMode Free
Brother says that if the whole page is too light, Toner Save mode may be on, and to turn it off in the machine’s menu or the printer driver. HP calls the same setting EconoMode. On many HP LaserJets it’s a check box on the driver’s Paper/Quality tab, and it can also be set in the printer’s web page. Check both places. A setting saved on the printer can override the driver.
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Raise the print density or toner darkness Free
Most office lasers let you print darker. Canon calls it toner density, Lexmark calls it toner darkness, and HP and Brother call it density on many models. Raise it one step and print a test page. Higher density only uses more toner. Too high can add a gray haze to the background.
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Check the paper and the room Free
Brother lists humidity and high temperature as causes of faint prints. Damp paper doesn’t take toner well. Load paper from a freshly opened ream, keep the rest wrapped, and make sure the paper type in the driver matches what’s in the tray. Thick or glossy stock set as plain paper can print light.
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Rock the toner cartridge Free
As toner runs low it packs to one end, which leaves one side of the page lighter. Take the cartridge out and rock it gently side to side a few times to spread the toner, then reinstall it. This buys you some pages. It doesn’t add toner, so order a replacement now.
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Clean the corona wire and drum Free
On printers with a separate drum unit, like most Brother lasers, slide the corona wire tab on the drum back and forth a few times, then return it to its home position. Brother lists cleaning the drum unit and the corona wire for faint prints. A dirty corona wire can also cause lines and streaks.
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Install a new toner cartridge $
If the printer shows a low or Replace Toner message, this is the fix. Brother’s first step for faint prints is to install a new toner cartridge when the machine says Replace Toner. If you’ve kept printing in Continue mode past that message, expect faint pages. Our Brother toner replacement guide covers the steps and the messages that won’t clear.
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Replace the drum unit $$
A worn drum can’t hold an even charge, so pages stay light even with fresh toner. The other signs are a gray haze or light spots that repeat at the same spacing. On printers with a separate drum, see how to replace and reset a Brother drum. On most HP LaserJets the drum is built into the toner cartridge, so a new cartridge is a new drum.
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Have the transfer roller or power supply checked $$$
If pages are still faded with new toner and a new drum, the transfer roller or the high-voltage supply is the likely cause. On a small office laser, a repair can cost close to a new printer, so get a quote first.
Safety: Turn the printer off and let it cool before you reach inside. The fuser gets hot enough to burn. Don’t touch the drum surface, and keep the drum out of bright light while it’s out of the printer.
Printer printing faded after a new toner cartridge?
A new cartridge should print dark from the first page, so when it doesn’t, check these in order before you assume the cartridge is bad.
- A seal or cover is still on. Many new cartridges ship with a pull tab, sealing strip or a plastic cover over the roller. Remove everything orange or loose.
- The toner hasn’t been spread. Toner settles in shipping. Rock the new cartridge side to side before you install it.
- The setting is still on. Toner Save or EconoMode stays on after a cartridge change. So does a low density setting someone changed to stretch the old cartridge.
- The drum is worn. On Brother and other two-part systems, new toner in an old drum still prints light. If the drum is past its rated life, it’s the next part to replace.
- The cartridge is defective. Any cartridge, brand-name or aftermarket, can arrive defective. If the checks above don’t help, put the old cartridge back for one page. If the old one prints darker, contact the seller.
If the printer’s toner gauge looks wrong, our guide to how long toner lasts explains how page yield is measured and why your real page count can differ.
Inkjet printer printing faded: fixes in order
On an inkjet, faded print usually means ink isn’t reaching the paper from every nozzle. Epson’s own list for faint printouts starts with a nozzle check, then ink levels, then the paper type setting.
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Turn off draft or fast mode Free
Draft, Fast or Economy quality uses less ink and looks washed out. Set print quality to Standard or Normal in the driver and try again. Epson also lists adjusting print quality in the printer software.
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Match the paper type setting Free
The printer lays down a different amount of ink for each paper type. Epson says to make sure the paper type setting matches the paper you loaded, and that the paper isn’t damp, curled or old.
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Print a nozzle check Free
The nozzle check pattern shows which colors have gaps. If every color prints solid, the head is fine and the problem is a setting or low ink. If one color has gaps, clean the head.
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Clean the print head, then align it Free
Run the head cleaning, then print the nozzle check again. Canon says to clean twice before moving to deep cleaning. If the pattern is solid but text still looks soft, align the print head, which Epson also lists. Cleaning uses ink, so don’t run it over and over.
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Deep clean, then let it rest Free
Run one deep or power cleaning. If that doesn’t help, Canon suggests turning the printer off and running deep cleaning again after 24 hours. Epson notes that power cleaning uses a lot of ink, so save it for when regular cleaning hasn’t worked.
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Replace the low or empty cartridge $
If the nozzle check is still faint for one color after cleaning, that cartridge is low or has failed. On printers where the print head is part of the cartridge, like most HP and many Canon home models, a new cartridge is also a new head.
Keep it from coming back: HP suggests printing at least one page every one to two weeks so ink doesn’t dry in the nozzles. Turn the printer off with its own power button so it can cap the head.
HP, Brother, Canon, Epson and Lexmark: where the settings are
HP printer printing faded
On HP LaserJets, turn off EconoMode in the driver’s Paper/Quality tab or in the printer’s web page, then check the toner level. Most HP LaserJet cartridges include the drum, so a new cartridge usually fixes faded print that settings don’t. On HP inkjets, open the HP Smart app, go to Printer Settings, then Tools or Maintenance, and run Clean Printhead. HP suggests starting at level 1 and moving up only if a test page still looks faded.
If your HP shows a cartridge error instead, see what the HP cartridge problem message means. If your model name ends in “e”, read what the “e” means for which cartridges work before you buy.
Brother printer printing light
Turn off Toner Save in the printer’s menu or the driver. Then clean the drum and corona wire, replace the toner, and finally the drum. Those are Brother’s own steps for faint prints. Brother also notes that humidity and high temperatures can cause faint printing, so check where the printer sits.
Canon printer printing faded
On Canon laser printers, Canon’s support lists two settings first: toner density set too light, and Toner Save turned on. Raise the density and turn off Toner Save. On Canon PIXMA inkjets, print the nozzle check, clean twice, then deep clean.
Epson printer printing faded
Run a nozzle check, check the ink levels, and match the paper type setting. On EcoTank models, Epson says that if you printed when ink was too low to see in the tank windows, refill the tanks and run Power Cleaning to replace the ink in the tubes.
Lexmark printer printing light
On many Lexmark models you can adjust toner darkness from the printer’s web page. Type the printer’s IP address into a browser, then go to Settings, Print Settings, Quality Menu, change the toner darkness, and click Submit.
If the fix is a new cartridge or drum: what it costs
When the settings and cleaning don’t help, a new cartridge or drum usually does. A compatible or remanufactured cartridge costs much less per page than a brand-name one. In our study of 43 printers, the median mono laser black page cost 1.3¢ with Swift Ink toner versus 3.5¢ with brand-name toner.
| Cartridge | Fits | Price | Yield (pages) | Cost per page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compatible toner for Brother TN830XL | Brother HL-L2460DW, MFC-L2820DW, DCP-L2640DW and others | $32.99 | 3,000 | 1.1¢ |
| Compatible drum for Brother DR830 | Same Brother printers as TN830 | $33.99 | 15,000 | 0.2¢ |
| Compatible toner for HP 138X | HP LaserJet Pro 3001dw, MFP 3101fdw/sdw (not “e” models) | $58.99 | 4,000 | 1.5¢ |
| Remanufactured black ink for Epson 822XL | Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3820, WF-4820 | $16.99 | 1,100 | 1.5¢ |
| Remanufactured black ink for HP 64XL | HP Envy Photo 7975, 7275 and others | $22.99 | 600 | 3.8¢ |
Yields are the brand’s rated yields, which match ours for these cartridges. Cost per page is the price divided by the yield. Prices change, so check the product page. To work out your own printer, try the printer cost per page calculator.
New cartridge still printing light? Run through the new-toner checks first. If it’s still faded, contact us and we’ll help you sort it out. Our returns and exchanges page explains how replacements work.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my printer printing faded when the toner is full?
Check Toner Save or EconoMode and the density setting first. If those are normal, a worn drum is the most likely cause on printers with a separate drum. Damp paper or a humid room can also make toner print light.
Why is my printer printing faded text?
On a laser printer, faded text usually means low toner or a save-toner setting. On an inkjet, it usually means a partly clogged print head or draft mode. Print a test page from the printer’s menu to see whether the printer or the computer setting is at fault.
Why is my printer printing light after I changed the toner?
A seal may still be on the cartridge, the toner may need to be spread by rocking it, or the drum may be worn. Toner Save also stays on after a cartridge change. If none of those fix it, the cartridge may be defective, so contact the seller.
Can I make my printer print darker?
Yes, on most laser printers. Raise the density or toner darkness in the printer menu or its web page, one step at a time. On inkjets, choose a higher print quality and the correct paper type instead.
How do I know if it’s the toner or the drum?
Put in a new toner cartridge. If pages are still faded, it’s the drum. Light spots that repeat at the same spacing down the page also point to the drum. On HP LaserJets the drum is part of the cartridge, so one replacement covers both.