HP Envy 4520 - Printer printing blank pages

[ChrisandJess]

My HP Envy 4520 All-in-One inkjet printer only prints blank pages (HP white 8.5x11" sheets).

I've tried to clean the ink cartridges (using the touchscreen/system, not by hand) and realignment, but it does not work (obviously, I cannot complete alignment because the scanner cannot detect anything on a blank page). Ink cartridges are HP 63 (black and tri-color). These are newish cartridges that have not been refilled. Ink levels are as follows: Tri-color: approx. half; Black: approx. 2/3. There are no smears or smudges; the printer does not appear to apply any ink whatsoever. I've tried printing with the black cartridge only by removing the tri-color cartridge; same issue. I do not see any apparent damage to the internal hardware of the printer or the cartridges themselves, and I've never received a warning regarding damaged hardware or outdated/corrupted software. I've checked for updates on the printer itself; it's up to date. I've installed the latest device drivers on my MacBook Pro Monterey OS; up to date. I've unplugged the power, waited 30 seconds, and plugged it back in. Same result.

Nothing seems to work. I think the only thing I haven't done is restore the printer to factory settings, but I'm curious if that would actually do anything given everything else I've tried.

One other thing: I purchased this printer new about eight years ago (I realize this printer series has been discontinued and is probably considered "ancient" and "outdated" by the tech community), but it had been working up until my last move about 9 months ago. I realize the printer could have been damaged from the move (I've moved about four times since I bought it), but once again, there is nothing apparent to me to indicate physical handling being the cause, such as cracks, busted or disfigured hardware, etc. In sum, everything looks and acts normal; it just won't apply any ink to paper.

I'd love to not have to purchase a new printer, but I've run out of ideas. Does anyone have any of their own?

Thank you.

[Bob_Headrick]

The troubleshooting steps in the document here may help resolve black and color not printing on your HP Envy 4520 printer. 

If you have already done the first six steps (short of servicing the printer) without resolving the issue there are some additional things you could try:  get two coffee cups and put about 1" of hot (but not boiling) water in each.  Put the cartridge in separate cups with the nozzles down (in the same orientation they would be in the printer) and let the cartridges soak for about fifteen minutes.  Remove the cartridges and dry the electrical contacts with a lint-free wipe.  A clean coffee filter works well for this.  Blot the printhead against a damp tissue.  The black cartridge should show a strong blot of black, the color cartridge should show a strong blot of cyan, magenta and yellow.  At this point put the cartridges back in the printer and run a cleaning cycle, then print a test page and see if the issue has been resolved.  If not you may need to replace the cartridges.

[It is possible the printer was unplugged for the move without first turning it off and waiting for the printheads to properly park.  This would have allowed the printheads to dry out.  Soaking the print cartridges may resolve this issue.]