HP Envy 5055 is printing completely blank pages

My HP Envy 5055 printer has worked fine for years, but all of a sudden there is no ink on the page, it's just completely blank. The paper is just as white going into the printer as it is coming out of the printer. I can hear the print head moving back and forth and the paper is advancing as it should based on what should be printed, but no ink is being deposited on the paper (no faint lines or smudges, absolutely nothing at all). I'm using a Windows 10 laptop and there haven't been any changes to my OS since the printer problem started. I primarily print in Black ink only, but I checked and it's not printing in color either, and I use the normal printer settings (not economy).

Here is the troubleshooting I have done so far, with no success in resolving the problem:
○ rebooting computer and printer numerous times
○ uninstall/reinstall printer software
○ uninstall/reinstall printer drivers
○ made sure firmware is up to date
○ ran the HP Print and Scan Doctor
○ manually cleaned gold contacts both inside the printer and on the ink cartridges
○ performed all of the cleaning functions available in the printer tools (I can't do an alignment because I can't print the alignment page, note to self to save the next alignment page I can print)
○ I always use genuine HP ink cartridges (which the printer confirms when I install them)
○ installed a brand new 100% full cartridge (even though the cartridge I was using when the problem started was still about 80% full and had been working just fine)
○ uninstall/reinstall USB ports in device manager
○ tried printing via each of the two USB ports on my laptop as well as via wifi

Buying a new printer is not an option for me right now, so I really need to get this one working again. I don't have access to a printer at work, so I've had to make some emergency trips to the library, which is time consuming and I really don't like printing personal stuff on a public printer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Are the ink tanks new or refilled ?
Can you try the printer on another computer and try another printer on your computer ?
How old is the printer and what does HP have to offer in the way of advice/assistance ?

joeandmarg0 said:

Are the ink tanks new or refilled ?
Can you try the printer on another computer and try another printer on your computer ?
How old is the printer and what does HP have to offer in the way of advice/assistance ?

I always use only brand new official HP cartridges (never refills). And as I mentioned before, the cartridges I was using when the problem started were still about 80% full and those specific cartridges had been working just fine for a few weeks. But just in case I also tried a brand new 100% full cartridges, no luck there either. I also blotted all cartridges on a napkin, and ink was deposited on the napkin so none of the cartridges are clogged.

Also something I forgot to mention before, the printer is scanning just fine, but still not printing. There is something, be it physical with the printer or computer-related, that is preventing ink from being deposited on the paper (even though the printer is going through all the other motions). And that's a great idea of swapping the laptop/printer, and the only reason I haven't done it is that I don't have access to another printer nor another computer. But I also think that because the scan feature is working and the printer head is moving and the paper is advancing, that swapping them out might not do much to help with the diagnosis in this case.

I've found HP to be completely useless for any help. Their diagnostic "doctor" tool found nothing wrong, and none of their articles or threads are helpful either. So after doing lots of research online and trying all the things I listed in my original post, I came here for help. For the life of me I can't figure out what the problem is!

I had the same thing happen with my HP Envy, but it was clogged heads. Basically, the ink had dried up from lack of use.

But you are able to get ink out of the cartridges, so my only idea is to make sure that the printer isn't printing white letters. I.e. a white font colour. It does happen.

Catnip said:

I had the same thing happen with my HP Envy, but it was clogged heads. Basically, the ink had dried up from lack of use.

But you are able to get ink out of the cartridges, so my only idea is to make sure that the printer isn't printing white letters. I.e. a white font colour. It does happen.

How does the white font happen? All of the docs I've tried to print are black font (docs and pdfs), at least they appear as black on my laptop screen. And trying to print from both Office and Chrome.

Berton said:

One test I always do with printer issues after doing it diagnostic is to do a Copy of that sheet, provides working of all parts of the device.

As for printing white text, after I retired in '94 I got a job in a computer shop that sold Alps printers mostly to businesses, only one I ever saw that used actual white ink. It used ink sticks that were heated for the printing, great on construction paper of different colors.

Are you talking about the photocopy feature on the printer? That is also printing blank pages.

The problem is likely to be the electrical contacts and/or incorrectly inserted cartridges.
HP put a protective film on the contacts and when inserted is pushed out of the way.

Trying to clean them yourself tends to be counter productive, repeated insertions was much more successful when I had such an HP Printer.
The position of cartridges after insertion went to a marked position if either cartridge was inserted wrongly/dodgy contacts.

The printhead is on the cartridges, so you get a new one on each cartridge.

The worst case would be the printer dying for other reasons

Very first would be a diagnostic test bu having the printer print a self test report, etc. That would rule out a faulty printer. Next would be yo attempt to print with a Linux live USB stick yo see if you can get it to print with hplip.