Printer Adds Blank Page After Every Print Job

The 30-Second Fix: Check Your Print Settings

Most of the time, this is a driver setting that tells the printer to insert a separator page between jobs. It's stupid, but it's real.

1. Open the document you want to print and hit Ctrl+P (or Cmd+P on Mac).
2. In the print dialog, look for Printer Properties (Windows) or Printer Settings (Mac). Not the main print button – the link that opens a separate window.
3. Find a tab called Advanced, Layout, or Effects. Exact name depends on your printer brand.
4. Look for a checkbox that says something like “Print separator page between jobs”, “Page separators”, or “Job separation”. Uncheck it.
5. Click Apply, then try printing again.

Why this works: That setting was meant for shared office printers so people could grab their pages. On a personal printer it just wastes paper. The driver sends an extra blank sheet as a separator.

If that didn't fix it, move on.

The 5-Minute Fix: Reset the Printer Driver Defaults

Sometimes the driver gets stuck in a bad state, especially after a Windows update or a failed driver install. Here's how to nuke it back to sane defaults.

On Windows 10/11

1. Open Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners.
2. Find your printer in the list, click on it, then click Remove device. Confirm.
3. Now go to Control Panel (type “control panel” in the Start menu search). Click Devices and Printers.
4. Right-click anywhere in the white space and select Add a printer. Windows will scan. If it finds your printer, select it and add it back.
5. If Windows doesn't find it, hit “The printer that I want isn't listed” → choose Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings → pick the correct port (usually USB001) → select your printer from the list. If you see duplicates, pick the one without “copy” in the name.
6. Once it's back, print a test page. No blank page? Done.

On macOS (Ventura and later)

1. Open System Settings → Printers & Scanners.
2. Select your printer, click Remove Printer.
3. Click the + button and add it again from the list.

Why this works: Removing the printer clears the corrupted driver settings that might be injecting that blank page. Re-adding it forces the OS to rebuild the printer's configuration from scratch.

If that didn't fix it, the problem is deeper.

The 15+ Minute Fix: Deep Driver Cleanup and Firmware Check

This is for when the driver is genuinely broken – maybe from a bad Windows update or a half-uninstalled old driver that's conflicting with the new one.

Step 1: Run Microsoft's Printer Troubleshooter

I normally hate built-in troubleshooters, but this one actually checks the print spooler service and resets it. Go to Settings → System → Troubleshoot → Other troubleshooters → Printer → Run. Let it finish. It might fix it.

Step 2: Manual Spooler Reset

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc, hit Enter.
2. Find Print Spooler in the list. Right-click it → Stop.
3. Open File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS. Delete everything inside that folder. If it asks for permission, give it.
4. Go back to services.msc, right-click Print Spooler → Start.

Why this works: The spooler folder holds temporary print jobs. If a job got stuck or corrupted, it can cause weird behavior like extra blank pages. Clearing it forces the spooler to start fresh.

Step 3: Remove ALL Printer Drivers (the nuclear option)

1. Open Device Manager. Right-click the Start button and select it.
2. Expand Print queues. Right-click your printer and choose Uninstall device. Check “Delete the driver software for this device” if you see it.
3. Now open Control Panel → Programs and Features. Uninstall any printer software you see (HP, Canon, Epson, etc.). Reboot.
4. Go to your printer manufacturer's website and download the latest driver for your exact model and OS version. Do NOT use Windows Update or generic drivers – they often miss this setting.
5. Install the fresh driver. Connect the printer via USB. Print a test page.

Step 4: Update Printer Firmware (if you're desperate)

Some printers have a bug in their internal firmware that adds blank pages. Check your printer's menu for Settings → Firmware Update. Or go to the manufacturer's support page, search for your model, and download the firmware updater. Run it. This is rare, but I've seen it on HP LaserJet models from 2021.

When None of This Works

If you've done all three sections and the blank page still shows up, you might be dealing with a document-specific issue. Some PDFs or web pages contain hidden blank pages at the end (especially if you print from Chrome or Edge). Try printing a simple Notepad or TextEdit file – one line of text. If that prints clean, your documents are the problem, not the printer.

One last thing: check your printer's paper size setting. If the driver thinks the paper is A4 but you have Letter loaded, the printer might add a blank page because it thinks the document is too long for the page. Set it to match your actual paper size.

That's it. You should be done in under 20 minutes, and you'll stop wasting paper.