Printer only printing in black and white on new computer

[RobWhis]

I have a HP OfficeJet 4650 All-in-One Printer that works fine on all of the old computers. It is connected by Wi-Fi. But, on a new computer that I installed the drivers on, it will only print in black and white? Any ideas on what I should be looking for? I installed the latest drivers from the HP site for the printer.

[atharva_gp]

@RobWhis,

Thanks for reaching out to the HP Support community!

• Does the copy work fine from the printer?
• From which application are you trying to print?
• Have you tried printing from a different application?
• What are the ink levels on the cartridges?

Let's try these steps:

Step 1: Print a Print Quality Report

• On the Printer control Panel, swipe the screen from right to left to access the Set-Up menu.
• Go to Tools > select print quality report
• Check if the report has color on it.

Step 2: Check the Print settings

• Go to Windows Search and search for Control Panel
• Go to Control Panel > Devices and Printers(under hardware and sound)
• Right click on the printer > Printing preferences
• Check for 'Black and White Only' or 'Grayscale' printing option. Make sure they are unchecked.
• Try to print again.
• If the issue persists, proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Remove and re-install the printer driver

If you are able to make a copy in color and if the print quality report shows color, try re-installing the printer driver

• In Windows, search for 'Control Panel' and open 'Programs' or 'Programs and features' and select 'Uninstall a Program'.
• Select your HP Printer.
• Select Uninstall.
• In Windows, search for 'Control Panel' and look for 'View devices and printers'option under 'Hardware and Sound'.
• In the Devices and Printers window look for your HP printer. If you see it listed right-click on it and choose 'Delete' or 'Remove Device'.
• Open up the run command with the "Windows key + R" key combo.
• Type printui.exe /s and click Ok. (Note: there is a space in between “printui.exe” and “/s”)
• Click on the "Drivers" tab.
• Look for HP Printer driver. If you see it Click on it and click Remove at the bottom.
• Select Ok.
• Select Apply and Ok on the Print Server Properties windows.
• Close Devices and Printers.
• Open up the run command with the "Windows key + R" key combo.
• Type c:/programdata and click Ok. Go to Hewlett Packard folder, remove any printer related folders & files.
• Restart the computer.
• Download the printer driver and install it from this link or manually search for the drivers from https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/printers.
• Open the downloaded file, follow onscreen instructions and complete installation
• Try printing from your PC again and check if you can print.

Let me know if this information helps. 

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping.

[RobWhis]

The quality report shows color.

I uninstalled the HP drivers, programs etc and re-installed. Same exact problem. Everything prints in black and white.

All other computers on the network have no problem printing color on the printer.

It's only this one computer that will not. And it's a new computer. All the old computers pring fine.

I have tried to print from Microsoft Word, Publisher and Adobe Photoshop. They all pring fine from the other computers. Just not this new one.

[atharva_gp]

@RobWhis,

Let's try adding the printer using TCP/IP address

•  Obtain the IP address of your printer.
  • Touch the Wireless icon on your printer and obtain the IP address.
• On your PC, Go to 'Control Panel'> 'Hardware and Sound' > 'Devices and Printers'
• Right click on the printer and select 'Remove Device' to remove previously configured printers.
• Click on add a printer.

            

• Select "the printer I want isn't listed.

             

• Select "add a printer using TCP/IP address or hostname"

            

• Enter the IP address of the printer

             

• Select your printer model from the menu

           

• Click 'Next'
• Follow the On-Screen instructions and complete the installation.
• Try to print.

Let me know if this helps.

[RobWhis]

Still the same problem. What it is looking like is the computers with an OLD HP printer driver work fine. Any with the NEW printer driver only print in black and white.

Here is a test I also tried. I created a PDF document with a photo in it. I first tried to print it normally. It printed in black and white.

I then eprinted the same PDF by emailing it to my printers email address. It printed fine and in color.

[atharva_gp]

@RobWhis,

It sure looks like a driver/setting issue on the PC.

Check for the printer settings

• Go to Control Panel > Devices and Printers 
• Right click on the printer and select 'Printing preferences' 
• Go to the 'Color' tab
• Check if 'Print in grayscale' option is turned on/off. It should be off.
• Also in the 'Advanced' tab, uncheck the box 'Print all text as Black'
• Click OK.

Also, check the printer properties

• Go to Control Panel > Devices and Printers 
• Right click on the printer and select 'Printer Properties'
• Go to 'Device Settings' tab
• Select Device Set Up and select 'color'

         

Also, check if you have any Windows updates are available and try to update them.

[RobWhis]

Mine do not look like yours at all. No color tab.

[atharva_gp]

@RobWhis,

Do you have any option to select 'color' or 'black and white' under the Paper/Quality tab?

We can try adding an alternative driver for the printer.

• Obtain the IP address of your printer.
  • Touch the Wireless icon on your printer and obtain the IP address.
• On your PC, Go to 'Control Panel'> 'Hardware and Sound' > 'Devices and Printers'
• Right click on the printer and select 'Remove Device' to remove previously configured printers.
• Click on add a printer.

            

• Select "the printer I want isn't listed.

             

• Select "add a printer using TCP/IP address or hostname"

            

• Enter the IP address of the printer. Uncheck the option "query the printer automatically and select the printer for use"

             

• Select the HP Officejet 8600 class driver from the drop-down.

          

• Click 'Next'
• Follow the On-Screen instructions and complete the installation.
• Try to print and check.

[mrbensvoicebox]

Hello!

I am having EXACTLY the same issue up to the points and screenshots in this thread. Was this ever resolved?

I will try installing the other driver tonight.  It is worth mentioning that the printer was working perfectly up until I told windows to print in draft by accidental click, when I went to change it back to normal.. this problem occurred.

However the issue is exactly the same..  No option to print in gray-scale or color anywhere at all, have re-installed the printer and driver over 3 times.  Have tried checking all manual boxes and overriding windows's preferences on my printer.. nothing works.

Other printers all print color and I tried printing through the HP app with this printer (same model as mentioned in the thread) and it prints fine.  Seems to definitely be a windows problem.  Could also be worth mentioning that  I took the latest windows update just 3 days ago.

Many thanks! Hoping to resolve this!

[RobWhis]

I finally got mine working about a week ago. I tried what I am about to describe many times and it never worked. For some reason it finally worked. I am guessing the driver got updated recently.

I deleted everything I could find about the printer. Like I never had it installed.

I then downloaded the HP printer installation program and ran it.

Everything now works except the printer locks up every day and you have to do a hard reboot to get it on again. The power button no longer will turn it off when it locks up.

But it does print in color.

What I did for months is to create a PDF of what I want to print and emailed it to the printer. That seemed to always work until I finally got normal printing working again.