HP Office Jet-Pro 6978 All-in-One, will not recognize paper size in paper tray

[Samba-Ya-Ya]

After printing an envelope paper tray was loaded with letter size paper but unit kept telling me the letter size job could not be accommodated on envelope size even though letter size paper was in the tray, and instructions were given to resize the paper.

[Garp_senchau]

@Samba-Ya-Ya, Welcome to HP Support Community,

Thank you for posting your query; I’m here to help by guiding you through steps to resolve this issue

Here are a few steps you can try to resolve the problem:

Restart the Printer

1. Turn off the printer.
2. Unplug the power cord from the back of the printer.
3. Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds.
4. Wait for 60 seconds and connect the power cord back in.
5. Turn on the printer.

Check the Paper Tray Settings

Ensure Paper is Correctly Loaded: Double-check that the paper is properly aligned in the tray. If it’s slightly misaligned, the printer might not be able to detect it correctly.

Set the Paper Size in the Tray: When you load the tray with letter-size paper, make sure the paper size guides are snugly adjusted to the edges of the paper. If the guides are too loose or too tight, the printer might have trouble detecting the size.

Manually Set the Paper Size: On the printer’s display screen, go into the "Paper" settings and manually confirm that the paper size is set to "Letter." Sometimes, even if the paper is physically letter-sized, the printer might still default to the previous setting (e.g., Envelope).

Reset the Printer's Paper Size Settings

After you load letter-size paper in the tray, go to the printer menu on the touchscreen or control panel. Select the option for paper settings, and manually set the paper size to "Letter." Even though you’ve loaded letter paper, the printer may still be holding onto the envelope setting.

Run HP Smart:

• Download and run the HP Smart. Follow the prompts to diagnose and fix common printing issues.
• Refer: Use Diagnose & Fix in HP Smart to repair common printing issues (Windows, macOS) | HP® Support

Update Printer Firmware (Update the firmware on an HP printer | HP® Support)

• Go to the HP Customer Support - Software and Driver Downloads page. Enter your printer model number and search for the latest firmware update. Follow the instructions to download and install the firmware update.

I hope this helps.

Please feel free to reply here if you have any questions or if you need further clarification on any of the steps. 

Take care and have a good day. 

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