You sent a document to your HP Smart Tank 5101, the page rolled out, and what came back was completely blank or so faint it might as well be. That is frustrating on an ink-tank printer, where you have plenty of ink sitting right there in the visible tanks. The good news is that blank pages on this model almost always trace back to a short list of causes, and most of them you can fix yourself in a few minutes without any tools.
Because the Smart Tank 5101 is a continuous-ink-tank printer with a user-replaceable printhead (not a cartridge printer), the fixes below focus on checking your tank levels and cleaning or aligning the printhead, plus clearing up any driver, queue, or settings problems on your computer. Work through them in order, starting with the easiest and safest, and save the reset for last.
Start With the Ink Tanks Before Anything Else
Even though this is an ink-tank printer with ink you can see, low levels can still produce blank or faded pages. Look at the ink-tank levels on the front of the printer and refill any tank that is running low before you try anything more involved.
Refilling the tanks is the equivalent of changing a cartridge on other printers, so this is genuinely the first thing to rule out. Once the tanks are topped up, send your print job again and see whether the page comes out correctly. If it does, you are done; if it is still blank, move on to confirming where the problem lives.
Print a Diagnostic Page to Pinpoint the Cause
Before you start cleaning anything, let the printer tell you what is wrong. The Smart Tank 5101 can print a Print Quality Diagnostic Page that shows whether the issue is mechanical or on the computer side.
To print it, press and hold the Color Copy button for three seconds. A Print Quality Diagnostic Page prints automatically.
Read the result carefully. If this page comes out blank or shows missing or faded blocks, the printhead likely needs cleaning. If the diagnostic page prints correctly, the blank pages are more likely a driver, queue, or settings problem on your computer, so you can skip ahead to the print-settings and queue fixes below.
Clean the Printhead to Clear Clogs
A printhead that has partially dried or clogged is a common reason an ink-tank printer pushes out blank or streaky pages. Cleaning it pushes ink through the nozzles to clear them. Load plain white paper before you begin.
To clean from the control panel, follow this sequence exactly:
- 1.Press and hold the Power button for more than 4 seconds.
- 2.Press the Color Copy button two times.
- 3.Release the Power button. The printhead cleaning begins.
If you need a more thorough cleaning, use this sequence instead:
- 1.Press and hold the Power button for more than 4 seconds.
- 2.Press the Color Copy button two times and the Black Copy button one time.
- 3.Release the Power button.
You can also clean from the HP app. Open the HP app, click the image of your printer, then go to Settings > Advanced Settings (or Settings > View All > Advanced Settings), open the Tools or Print Quality Toolbox, and click Clean or Clean printhead.
After a cleaning cycle, print another diagnostic page to check your progress. If the page still has defects, you can repeat the cleaning. Give a badly clogged printhead time to rest between cleanings so any dried ink has a chance to soften.
Align the Printhead So Output Lands Correctly
If cleaning improved things but the output still looks off, aligning the printhead helps the printer place ink accurately. Load plain white paper first.
The Smart Tank 5100 series has a scanner, so the alignment is partly automatic. An 'A' blinks on the control panel and an Alignment page prints automatically; follow the instructions on the page to scan it and complete the alignment.
You can also start an alignment from the HP app under Print quality tools > Align printheads. This is a quick step that often restores clean, full pages after a cleaning cycle.
Double-Check Your Print Settings
Sometimes the printer is working perfectly and the blank page comes straight from the wrong settings in the print dialog. This is especially likely if the diagnostic page printed correctly.
In the print dialog on your computer, make sure the color, paper type, paper size, and quality settings are correct for the job you are trying to print. A mismatch in any of these can produce blank or near-blank pages, so correct anything that looks wrong and print again.
Clear the Print Queue and Offline State
A stuck job, a paused printer, or an offline state can all cause pages to come out blank or not print as expected. How you clear this depends on your operating system.
On Windows, open the print queue and make sure Pause Printing and Use Printer Offline are not selected. If a checkmark appears next to either, click the item to clear it.
If jobs are stuck on Windows, restart the print spooler:
- 1.Turn off the printer and unplug it.
- 2.In Windows, search for and open Services.
- 3.Right-click Print Spooler and click Stop.
- 4.Open File Explorer and go to C: > Windows > System32 > spool > PRINTERS, then delete all files in the PRINTERS folder.
- 5.Shut down the computer.
- 6.Reconnect and turn on the printer, then turn on the computer.
On macOS, open Printers & Scanners, click the printer name, click Remove Printer or the Remove button, confirm, then click Add Printer and select your printer to add it back. To fully reset, right-click (or Control-click) in the printers list and select Reset printing system. Note that resetting the printing system removes all printers and scanners and clears all queued jobs and saved print settings.
Let Diagnose & Fix Handle the Software Side
HP's built-in Diagnose & Fix tool can repair most of the computer-side causes of blank pages in one pass. Install the HP app from 123.hp.com or your device's app store first; it is the renamed replacement for the older HP Smart app.
Diagnose & Fix clears stuck or paused print jobs, resolves print-queue and print-spooler errors, and reconnects an offline printer to the network. On Windows it also checks for and installs available driver updates and fixes a port mismatch, both of which can be behind unexplained blank output.
To open it on Windows, click the Diagnose & Fix icon in the bottom-left corner of the HP app. On macOS, click your printer, click Printers in the top menu bar, then click Diagnose & Fix.
Restore Factory Defaults as a Last Resort
If the blank pages persist after everything above, restoring factory defaults gives the printer a clean slate. Be aware that this clears the printer's saved configuration, including its network setup, so after a reset you will need to reconnect the printer to your 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network.
On the Smart Tank 5101, which has a button-only control panel, reset it this way:
- 1.Turn off the printer.
- 2.Press and hold the Resume and Black Copy buttons at the same time.
- 3.Turn the printer on without releasing the buttons.
- 4.Wait at least 5 seconds, then release the buttons.
Alternatively, you can reset from the printer's Embedded Web Server (EWS). Open the EWS, click the Settings (or System) tab, then under Restore Defaults click Restore Factory Defaults. Keep in mind this also clears your saved configuration, so you will need to set up the printer again afterward.
If the diagnostic pages still print blank or defective even after a reset and repeated cleanings, the printhead itself may be at fault. On the Smart Tank series the printhead is user-replaceable, so installing a new one can bring an otherwise healthy printer back to life. If replacing it yourself is not an option or you are unsure, contact HP Customer Support, who can confirm whether the printhead is the culprit and guide you through your options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my HP Smart Tank 5101 print blank pages even though the ink tanks look full?
Full tanks do not guarantee ink is reaching the page. A common cause is a clogged or partially dried printhead, so print a Print Quality Diagnostic Page by holding the Color Copy button for three seconds, and if it is blank or faded, run a printhead cleaning.
How do I clean the printhead on the Smart Tank 5101 without a computer?
Load plain white paper, then press and hold the Power button for more than 4 seconds, press the Color Copy button two times, and release the Power button to start cleaning. For a deeper clean, hold the Power button for more than 4 seconds, press Color Copy two times and Black Copy one time, then release the Power button.
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 at the same time, turn the printer on without releasing the buttons, wait at least 5 seconds, then release the buttons. You can also do this from the Embedded Web Server under Settings (or System) > Restore Defaults > Restore Factory Defaults. Either method clears your saved configuration, so afterward you will need to reconnect to your 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network.
What should I do if cleaning the printhead does not fix the blank pages?
If diagnostic pages still print blank or defective after repeated cleanings, the printhead may need replacing, and on this model the printhead is user-replaceable. If you would rather not replace it yourself, contact HP Customer Support for further help.
Can I align the printhead from my phone or computer instead of the control panel?
Yes. Open the HP app, select your printer, and go to Print quality tools, then Align printheads. The Smart Tank 5100 series also aligns from the control panel, where an 'A' blinks and an alignment page prints automatically for you to scan.
