Its All About Direction When Fixing A Printer Paper Jam

After finding out you've run out of ink cartridges, one of the most frustrating experiences for a printer user is the dreaded paper jam. New and more sophisticated printers are being released all the time, yet the perennial paper jam is still a recurring problem.

And while there is plenty of advice online, much of it comes from dubious sources that also suggest a good way to preserve toner cartridges is to pack them away for weeks on end with a wet sponge. So it's good to hear some advice coming from a rather more legitimate source – the New York Times' Gadgetwise blog, no less.

The newspaper's J.D. Biersdorfer suggests that one way to solve the problem is to pull the paper out by hand, but only if it is in the direction it would normally feed through. Pulling it out any which way isn't advised, as this could damage the printer's internal rollers and apparatus.

And if the paper can't be manually removed, have a look at the printer's access trays and doors – you might be able to remove trapped paper this way, Mr Biersdorfer says. "If you are using a laser printer, removing the toner cartridge may also reveal an additional spot to remove a jammed print job," he wrote.

Posted by Jamie Foster.