You sent a document to your HP Smart Tank 5101, the page started to feed, and then everything stopped with an "E4" on the control panel and the Resume light blinking. That code is the printer's way of telling you it has a paper jam, and until it clears, nothing else you print will go through. The good news is that this is one of the most fixable errors on a continuous-ink-tank All-in-One, and you can almost always sort it out yourself without any tools.
The fixes below are ordered from the quickest and safest to the more involved, ending with the official factory reset and the path to HP support. Work through them in order and stop as soon as the E4 clears and the Resume light stops blinking.
Start With the Front Door and the Print Carriage
On the HP Smart Tank 5101, a paper jam shows as "E4" on the control panel with the Resume light blinking. Most jams are sitting right behind the front door where you can see and reach them, so this is always the first place to look.
- 1.Open the front door of the printer.
- 2.Check that the print carriage is not obstructed; if it is sitting in the middle or left side, slide it gently to the right.
- 3.Remove any jammed paper or other objects blocking the carriage, pulling slowly so the sheet does not tear.
- 4.Make sure the printhead cover is properly closed before you continue.
Close the front door once the path is clear and check the control panel. If the E4 error is gone, you are done; if it is still showing, move on to the bottom access door.
Reach the Hidden Jam Through the Bottom Access Door
When the front-door check does not clear the E4 error, a torn scrap or a sheet has usually worked its way underneath the paper path. The HP Smart Tank 5000 and 5100 series has a dedicated bottom access door for exactly this situation, released by two tabs.
This step involves tipping the printer onto its front, so clear a flat space and have the power cord unplugged before you start.
- 1.Press the Power button to turn off the printer, then unplug the power cord.
- 2.Open the front door.
- 3.Turn the printer and lift the rear so it rests on its front.
- 4.Locate the two tabs at the bottom of the printer, push the two tabs to release them, then open the bottom access door.
- 5.Remove the paper by slowly pulling it away.
- 6.Close the bottom access door until the two tabs click.
- 7.Return the printer to the horizontal position.
- 8.Open the front door, close the printhead cover, then close the front door.
- 9.Reconnect the power cord and turn the printer on.
With both the front and bottom paths cleared, the E4 error should be gone when the printer powers back up. If it returns the next time you print, the way the paper is loaded is the likely culprit.
Reload the Paper the Way the Tray Expects
Misfeeds and repeat jams are often a loading problem rather than a hardware fault. Paper that is wrinkled, curled, or slightly damp grabs unevenly as it feeds, and a stack pushed too far to one side can skew on the way in.
Take the whole stack out first, discard any wrinkled, curled, or damp sheets, and tap the stack on a flat surface so the edges are even. Then reload it carefully:
- 1.Raise the input tray.
- 2.Slide the paper-width guide fully to the left.
- 3.Load plain white paper into the tray.
- 4.Slide the paper-width guide to the right until it touches the paper, but not so far that it bends the edge of the stack.
A guide that rests lightly against the paper keeps the sheets straight without pinching them, which is the balance you are aiming for. Try a short print after reloading to confirm the feed is smooth.
Resume or Clear a Stuck Print Job
Sometimes the printer is mechanically fine, but a job jammed in the queue on your computer makes it look stalled or paused. Clearing that backlog often gets things moving again, and it is worth doing before you touch anything else on the printer.
On Windows, open the print queue, open the Printer menu, and clear any checkmark next to "Pause Printing" or "Use Printer Offline." If a job refuses to leave the queue, you can clear it fully:
- 1.Turn off and unplug the printer.
- 2.Open Services, right-click "Print Spooler," and choose Stop.
- 3.Delete all files in C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS.
- 4.Shut down the computer, reconnect the printer power, turn the printer on, then turn the computer back on.
On macOS, open Terminal, type cancel -a, press Enter, and restart the Mac. Alternatively, go to Printers & Scanners, right-click or Control-click your printer, and choose "Reset printing system" to start the queue fresh.
Let the HP App Diagnose and Fix It
If you would rather not work through the queue by hand, the HP app (formerly HP Smart) has a built-in tool that does it for you on Windows and macOS. It clears print jobs stuck in the queue, resumes any paused jobs, and resolves other print-queue errors automatically.
Open the HP app, click your HP Smart Tank 5101, then click Diagnose & Fix and let it run. You can download the HP app from hp.com/hp-app if it is not already installed.
Update the Software, Driver, and Firmware
Outdated drivers or firmware can cause feed and print errors that look exactly like a stubborn jam. Keeping the printer current rules this out and is worth doing if the E4 keeps coming back after the path is clearly empty.
Go to the official HP Smart Tank 5101 software and driver download page on support.hp.com and install the latest software, driver, and firmware for your version of Windows or macOS. You can also use the HP app to pull updates. For reference, this printer supports Windows 10 (version 1809 / Redstone 5) or later and macOS 12.0 or later, with mobile printing on iOS/iPadOS 16+ or Android 10+ through the HP app, plus Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service for driverless printing.
Restore Factory Defaults as a Last Resort
If the printer still will not feed or keeps reporting E4 after everything above, restoring factory defaults gives it a clean slate. Be aware that this clears the printer's settings, so you will need to set it up again afterward, including reconnecting it to your Wi-Fi network.
The HP Smart Tank 5101 uses a button-based control panel, so the reset is done with a button hold rather than a menu:
- 1.Turn off the printer.
- 2.Press and hold the Resume and Black Copy buttons at the same time.
- 3.Without releasing the buttons, turn on the printer.
- 4.Wait at least 5 seconds, then release the buttons.
- 5.After about 20 seconds, the printer restarts.
Once it restarts, run through the initial setup again. If even a factory reset does not resolve the E4 error, the next step is to contact HP support through the official channels on support.hp.com for further help.
Reconnect to a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi Network
A factory reset, or the unplugging and power cycling earlier in this guide, can knock the printer off your wireless network. HP Smart Tank printers in this family connect over the 2.4 GHz band, which is the band HP requires during setup, so that is the network you want to rejoin.
If your router uses separate names for its 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks, choose the 2.4 GHz SSID during setup. The printer also supports Wi-Fi Direct and a Hi-Speed USB connection, so if you cannot get it back onto Wi-Fi right away, a USB cable will let you keep printing while you sort out the wireless connection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the E4 error mean on the HP Smart Tank 5101?
E4 on the control panel, shown with the Resume light blinking, is the printer's paper-jam indicator. It means a sheet or an object is blocking the paper path or carriage, and you clear it through the front door and, if needed, the two-tab bottom access door.
How do I reach a jam I cannot see behind the front door?
Turn the printer off and unplug it, open the front door, then tip the printer onto its front so the rear lifts up. Push the two tabs at the bottom to release the bottom access door, slowly pull out the paper, close the door until the tabs click, and return the printer to horizontal before reconnecting power.
Why does my HP Smart Tank 5101 keep jamming with fresh paper?
Repeat jams are usually a loading issue. Remove any wrinkled, curled, or damp sheets, tap the stack even, then reload it with the paper-width guide slid to the left first and adjusted to the right until it just touches the paper without bending it.
How do I reset the HP Smart Tank 5101 to factory defaults?
Turn off the printer, press and hold the Resume and Black Copy buttons together, and (still holding) turn the printer on. Wait at least 5 seconds, release the buttons, and after about 20 seconds it restarts. This clears the printer's settings, so you will need to set it up again, including Wi-Fi, afterward.
Which Wi-Fi band does the HP Smart Tank 5101 use?
This printer connects over the 2.4 GHz band, which HP requires during setup. If your router gives the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks different names, select the 2.4 GHz SSID. Wi-Fi Direct and Hi-Speed USB are also available as alternatives.
