HP Envy Pro 6455 not printing magenta

[nc3man]

My HP Envy Pro 6455 is not printing magenta. All other colors are fine in Print Quality Report - absolutely no magenta. I have an HP Instant Ink account and HP Smart shows all color levels very good. I have tried cleaning printheads, several times. Firmware is up to date. Printer Status all good in HP Smart. All lights normal on printer. This printer is at a second home and infrequently used. Hence, our Instant Ink subscription is only 15 pages. I am desperate for color. Is there more aggressive cleaning I can do of the cartridge ink face and/or printhead connections? 

[Hawks_Eye]

Hi @nc3man 

Welcome to the HP Support Community! We're here to help you get back up and running.

Thank you for explaining everything so clearly. I can imagine how disappointing it must be to expect vibrant color and get nothing from magenta—especially when everything else seems to be working perfectly. 

Let’s try to revive that stubborn ink channel with a few deeper steps:

 

1. Manual Cartridge Cleaning

You can gently clean the cartridge’s ink face and electrical contacts:

• Power off the printer and unplug it.
• Remove the color cartridge.
• Use a lint-free cloth slightly dampened with distilled water.
• Gently wipe the copper-colored contacts and the nozzle area—avoid touching the ink ports directly.
• Let it dry for 5 minutes before reinserting.

2. Clean the Printhead Contacts Inside the Printer

• With the cartridge removed, inspect the printhead contact area inside the carriage.
• Use a clean, dry lint-free cloth to gently wipe the contacts.
• Avoid using alcohol or tap water—distilled water only.

 

3. Run Multiple Printhead Cleaning Cycles

Even if you’ve done this once, running 3–4 consecutive cleanings can help unclog dried magenta ink:

• Open HP Smart → Printer Settings → Tools → Clean Printhead
• After each cycle, print a Print Quality Diagnostic Page to check progress.

 

4. Print a Magenta-Heavy Test Page

Sometimes forcing ink flow helps:

• Create a document with large magenta blocks or gradients.
• Print it in Best Quality mode.
• If magenta starts appearing faintly, repeat the cleaning cycle again.

 

5. Try a Cartridge Swap

If you have access to another Instant Ink cartridge—even partially used—try swapping it in. Sometimes a faulty ink port or internal clog can persist despite good ink levels.

 

Let me know the outcome of the above steps. You deserve rich, full-color prints—and we’ll get you there.

If my response helped, please mark it as an Accepted Solution! ✅ It helps others and spreads support. 💙 Also, tapping "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" makes a big difference! Thanks! 😊

Take care, and have an amazing day!

Regards, 

Hawks_Eye

[nc3man]

 I just returned from a week away to try to get magenta going using the above advice. I created a single page of magenta only squares, roughly 2"x2" in a 2x4 array to cover a full 8.5x11 in page. I tried printing that first and a ~1/3 inch band of magenta appeared in the first row. The rest of the page was yellow. So, per the instructions, I first cleaned the cartridge and contacts with distilled water, wiped things clean, waited 5-10 minutes, and reinstalled the cartridge and powered up. I then ran through 4 cleaning cycles, each time pressing for second level clean. No magenta every single time. I then ran my test 2x4 magenta page through and this time yellow only, absolutely no magenta, not even the 1/3  inch band at the top. Since I have the Instant Ink subscription, there is no extra cartridge, even a used one, to swap out. How do I get one?

Also, at the end of the second level clean, I get the message "Additional cleaning option may be available on the printer control panel or in the full-feature software." I have no idea about a printer control panel on this 6455 printer. And what/where is this full-feature software that will provide me with more help?

I have had good luck with HP printers over the past ~20 years. This printer has printed probably less than 200 pages since I bought it in March, 2021. Is this now only junk? It has printed just fine until this issue popped up.

Also, this is using up paper and # printing instances. Do the test pages count against my Instant Ink page count? It seems like NONE of the 15-20 pages I've printed while the printer is not working should count against that tally.

[nc3man]

Here's an extra data point. I waited about 6 hrs and printed my 2x4 magenta test page. Again, it had a magenta streak about 1/3" wide along the top pair of rectangles. The rest of the page was entirely yellow. Without removing the cartridge this time I went stright to the the printhead cleaning tool. Ran it twice through. Then printed the 2x4 magenta test page. Now NO magenta at all - all 2x4 rectangles are again solid yellow. I'm concerned as I'm now over my monthly printing quota and accumulating charges. Any advice appreciated.

How can I request another cartridge? I signed up for the HP Instant Ink program to never have to worry about going to the store to purchase the cartridges. In HP SMart, all the colors show the same level, about 3/4 full. Yello, cyan, black all print fine. The black cartridge is at about the 50% level.

[Hawks_Eye · Accepted solution]

We sincerely thank you for your patience and co-operation during this troubleshooting process.

We've exhausted our troubleshooting options here.

We recommend taking the conversation to our phone support team. They'll work with you one-on-one to get the issue sorted, possibly with some remote assistance magic. 

It's a simple 2-step process.

I'm sending you a private message to guide you on the next steps.

If this resolves your issue, kindly mark this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" if it was helpful.

Take care and have a great day!

Regards,

Hawks_Eye

[nc3man]

For anyone else who may have exhausted the steps that didn't work for my issue, HP Instant Ink support worked once you get past the Virtual Assistant to chat with a real person live. Having checked that I ran all the steps Hawks_Eye suggested, they immediately ordered a replacement cartridge (free incl. shipping) and credited my HP Instant Ink account with 20 pages because of the 14 pages I wasted trying to get it working with basic cleaning and a special magenta-rich test page. Very pleased with the prompt response and not having to dump a relatively new printer with very few lifetime pages printed.

[nc3man]

I received the new color cartridge and the problem is completely resolved free of charge. Sent the bad cartridge back to HP in the prepaid envelope provided.

Thank you, HP Support!!!

[Cedarcedar]

Where us the phone number

[nc3man]

I couldn't find a useful phone number so I clicked on Live Chat. I first got the standard AI bot, but quickly got nowhere and requested human support . I was then connected to a live human, asked them to review everything on this thread. After a couple of minutes they said I had done everything possible and then set up the cartridge replacement. Took about 10 minutes total. The human chat was VERY efficient.