Unable to print in colour and perform automatic duplex

[yi1130]

I have been using this printer for about 9 months, but recently it started to stop printing automatic duplex, as well as printing in colour. 

When I open the printing menu, the option for duplex printing says "Print on both sides manually", and under the Paper/Quality tab, the option for colour/BW printing has disappeared.

I have looked up other posts about enabling colour printing (through Printing Preferences on both Devices and Printers and on HP envy menu), but there was no option for colour or greyscale. Same for the automatic duplex printing. I've tried Printer Propertis -> Device Settings -> Automatic Config, but that hasn't worked.

Uninstalling and reinstalling new, appropriate drivers and rebooting the laptop and printer didn't change anything, either..

As I'm not familiar with programs and softwares, this was as much as I could do after hours of tackling this.

It would be great to have especially the auto duplex printing function back.

Thank you in advance!

[Dvortex]

Hello, @yi1130 – Hope you are well 🙂

Welcome to the HP Forum! This is a wonderful location to converse with the community, get assistance and find tips!

I understand that you are facing issues while printing 2-sided / duplex on your Envy printer. I would suggest the steps mentioned below to try and fix the issue:
 

1. Go to Control panel – Devices and printers.
2. Right-click on Envy 4520 and select “Printing preferences”.
3. Under the Paper/Quality or Layout tab, select the 2-sided / duplex printing option.
4. Apply and save the settings. Now try to print.

If the issue still persists, then the issue could be with the printer drivers and I would recommend installing the updated printer drivers for smooth printer functioning. Here are the steps:
 

• Unplug the USB cable from the printer and computer if present.
• Go to Control panel – Programs and feature – Select all the HP envy printer entries and uninstall them.
• Restart your computer.
• Now click on http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software13/COL61222/mp-147801-1/EN4520_Basicx64_1122.exe to download and install the printer drivers.
• Connect the USB cable if prompted and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the installation.
• Now, again change the printing preferences and try to print 2-sided and check. this should also help you print in color.

Those steps should do the trick, let me know the outcome!

Good luck 🙂

Please click "Accepted Solution" on the post that solves your issue to help others find the solution. To show appreciation for my help, please click the "Thumbs Up Icon" below!

[yi1130]

Hi Dvortex,

Thank you for your detailed help.

But unfortunately, duplex printing is still manual, not automatic, and the options for colour printing does not work (still does not appear in the normal printing options and 'advanced').

I haven't touched any of its settings before this issue came up.

I doubt that installing another driver for a Brother Printer caused this, either

Kind regards

[Chimney_83]

Hi @yi1130, I am the @Chimney_83. It looks like you were interacting with @Dvortex, but he is out of the office today so I'll take over from here.

Thanks for the reply, as you have mentioned that Automatic duplex option is missing. The issue seems to be a driver issue. 

However, have you tried to print a duplex job using different applications?

Are you able to make a copy in color?

Recommend you uninstall the printer software on your computer by following the procedure mentioned below and install it back by downloading the latest full feature software from www.hp.com/drivers

Uninstall the printer from "programs and features" which can be accessed by doing a right-click on the Windows button (Please have the printer Off and disconnected during uninstallation.)

Check in device manager, if the printer is listed there, please delete it. (Right click on the Windows button to access device manager)

Go to devices and printers, select any printer listed there and you will get some options on the top. 

Click on print server properties. 

You will get a popup, click on the drivers tab and delete all the HP printer drivers listed there, if any.

Delete all the instances of your printer listed in devices and printers.

Restart the PC.

Once the PC is on the desktop, press Win + R, it would bring a Run dialog box, 

Type %temp% in the run box and click Ok or hit the Enter button.

It would bring up the temporary files folder. Delete the files in the folder (You might not be able to delete all the files).

If possible, delete the printer from the registries using Regedit or using any other 3rd party application.

Restart the PC again. 

Download the latest full feature driver from www.hp.com/drivers and install it on the computer.

Connect the printer to your computer only when the setup prompts for the printer. 

Let me know if this helped.