OfficeJet Pro 9019 paper tray will not close. I had trouble opening the tray, now it is stuck open.

[SColby]

I attempted to print a single one-sided page, but the printer kept cycling like it was unable to load a sheet of paper. Finally, it showed a message saying that I needed to load 8.5 x 11 paper. When I tried to open the paper tray, it was stuck and would not slide out. I wiggled it and pulled it, and finally got the tray to slide open. I loaded the required paper in the tray, but the paper met no resistance from the usual "paper guides" at the rear of the tray. I have made several attempts to slide the tray back inside the printer housing, but cannot slide the tray all the way to the closed position; it remains stuck with about 3" of the tray still outside the printer and will not close further. I have already unplugged the printer, waited more than 60 seconds, and plugged it back in to reset it. When the tray is almost closed as I have described, the display screen shows the normal task icons. When I pull the tray back out, the screen shows a message stating that the tray is open and must be closed to continue. Help!

[SColby · Accepted solution]

Hold everything! I stumbled onto a solution: I noticed the small curved button near the front of the tray on the left-hand side, and tried pressing it, which actually meant pulling it toward the front edge of the tray. To my great relief, I found that this released the tray completely from the printer. I then lined the tray back up with the opening and carefully pushed it back inside the printer -- and this time, it closed completely. I then dismissed the paper size confirmation message on the screen and was able to print. Eureka!