Maybe you're out of color inks but have plenty of black ink, or vice versa. You might be wondering if you can still print with just one ink cartridge.

Can I Print with Just One Ink Cartridge?

It really depends on your printer model. Some printers are quite flexible and will let you print with one or more empty ink cartridge. However, some models need all cartridges to be installed and functional, even if you only want to print in black and white.

For example, if you have an HP printer that uses HP 178, 364, 564, 655, 862, 902-920, 934, 935 ink cartridges, you're in luck! You can continue printing even if one or more cartridges run out. But if you're using HP 932, 933, 950, 951-959, 962-969 cartridges, you'll need to make sure all ink cartridges have enough ink to print.

Print With Only Black Ink

If your color ink is running low but you still have plenty of black ink, your printer might allow you to print in black and white or grayscale. This way, you can keep printing documents even without a full color ink cartridge. You can usually find this option in your printer settings on your computer.

Print Without Black Ink

If you're out of black ink and want to print with color ink cartridges, your printer might still print using colors, but black prints may be lighter than usual. Some printers blend color inks to produce black, so if your black ink is empty, the results might not be perfect. You can continue printing until the quality becomes unacceptable.

Can I Keep Printing with an Empty Cartridge?

Sure, it's great to have the option to print with just one ink cartridge, but don't do it for too long. Why? Because running your printer with an empty ink cartridge for too long can cause your printhead to overheat. 

Your printer will keep trying to extract ink from the empty cartridge. Without any ink in your empty cartridge to cool the printhead, it’s only a matter of time before it overheats,  leading to expensive damages to your printer.

Also, running your printer with just one cartridge might cause the other empty cartridges to dry out and clog your printhead. When you eventually replace the empty cartridges and try to print in full color, you're very likely to see streaks and fading because of the clogged printhead.

Finally, the quality of your print results will definitely suffer without all the necessary colors it needs to produce accurate images.