My Officejet 3830 will not print in color from my computer

[SanD33]

Which version of Windows are you running?  I'm running Windows 10.  Which printer is showing as your default printer?  Didn't matter which  driver I tried to use,  I didn't have the option to select color either; it was automatic since the OfficeJet 3830 is a color printer.   There are steps in this thread to uninstall current printer drivers; I would follow those steps as best you can--I noticed some of the steps didn't match my screens, but then I worked in IT to know which screens to go to.  When I installed the Windows 7 driver, I installed the full-feature printer driver, not just the basic driver.  

[kingtreerat]

I can say for certain that I have resolved this issue. The method was rather simple and I feel silly for not trying it sooner and wasting all of this time.

What I did: Go buy a Canon.

Problem solved.

[Ryan1330]

Tried this still not printing in color.  Any other suggestions?

[Betty0610]

@Ryan1330

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Are you able to copy in color?

Try using a built-in driver: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c01796879

Let me know if this helps.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution button, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Thanks!

Have a great day!

[SanD33]

Have you tried deleting the Windows 10 version of the HP3830 printer driver and installing the Windows 7 version of the HP3830 driver?  That's what worked for me.

[SanD33]

If you installed the Windows 7 version of the HP3830 driver, you shouldn't have to select "print in color."  It was automatically chosen for me.   Does your printer print the diagnostics page in color?  If it doesn't, then you have an actual printer problem.  My printer DID print the diagnostics page in color, but wouldn't print color from Word.  After I installed the Windows 7 version of the printer driver, I had no problem printing in color.

[SanD33]

You followed the other steps to completely remove your printer driver, restarted your computer, then installed the Windows 7 driver and it still won't print color?   Do you know for certain your ink cartridges are good, not dried out, and the contact points are fairly clean?   Does your printer print the diagnostic page in color?  If you know your ink cartridges are good, but won't print the diagnostic page in color, I would think you have a printer issue. 

That's how I diagnosed my printer problem.   

[graphicdav]

Printing in color only lasts temporarily. Then it reverts to Grayscale. Will you be updating the driver to fix this issue?

[ASiegel]

I finally broke down and contacted HP and they were able to go into my printer remotely and fix the issue for me. I now can print in color. 

[Dualmask]

I have found a solution to this widespread problem.. I read a different forum and tried this (copied from here: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/59896d75-3042-446c-bde0-43d9cf86ce2d/windows-10-ap...)

"I finally found a solution! I have an HP Deskjet 4729, and out of the blue it suddenly stopped printing in colour. Its very easy to fix. Go to Control Panel>Devices and Printers>Right Click on your printer>Go to Printer Properties>Advanced Tab>Change the driver to any one>Click on OK
Now try to print out a picture. It won't work. (*It did work for me.)
Follow the steps above and change the driver back to the original
Now try to print. It will be in colour!"

I did this by changing the print driver from the HP 3830 driver to "Microsoft IPP Class Driver" and now my printer prints in color normally.