No menu option visible for Printhead cleaning

[KVJ2018]

My printouts are looking blurry and smudged, even with brand new ink catridges. I want to try cleaning the printheads. According to the manual this option should be under Tools but this option is not visible on my printer. I can see (from the help button) that it should appear after 'Print quality report' and 'clean cartridges' but it's not there. 

I have run diagnostics and no problems appear and all updates are installed.

Can someone please suggest a fix?

Many thanks

[A4Apollo · Accepted solution]

Hi! @KVJ2018, Welcome to HP forums.

I understand you have issues finding the printhead cleaning on the printer control panel.

Don't worry I'd like to help you out.

Did you make any changes to your printer?

Please provide the operating system you are running on your PC to assist you better.

Try the steps recommended below to perform printhead cleaning from the printer control panel.

Clean the printhead

Follow these steps to run a utility to clean the printhead.

1. Load plain white paper in the input tray.

2. On the printer control panel, touch the Setup icon , and then touch Tools.

3. Touch Clean Cartridges.

      NOTE:

   Mechanical noises during the cleaning process are normal. A test page prints when the cleaning process finishes.

   NOTE:

Never turn off the printer when ink cartridges are missing. Make sure that you replace any missing ink cartridges as soon as possible to avoid print quality issues and possible extra ink usage or damage to the ink system. To avoid issues that require cleaning the printhead, always turn the printer off with the Power button on the printer itself

Refer this article to further troubleshoot print head issues.

If the issue still persists after trying out the steps. It is a hardware issue with your printer.

Please contact HP support for service options.

Link to contact HP.

If the solution provided worked for you, please mark accepted solution for this post.

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[KVJ2018]

Thank you!

I realise now that 'clean cartridges' is the same thing as 'clean printhead' - that had confused me.

I've tried this option - clean cartridges - a few times but my print outs are still blurry, even with new HP cartridges, so I assume I have a hardware issue so I'll contact support. Thanks again.

[sandytechy20]

@KVJ2018

I see that you were interacting with @MrRobot. I'd like to help.

Thanks for the reply.

I appreciate your time and effort.

Yes,this issue may require one to one interaction with the HP Phone Support.

Feel free to contact us if you need any assistance in feature.

Cheers.