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Most people don't think about their printer until something goes wrong — and winter is when things go wrong more often than any other time of year. Cold temperatures, increased humidity, and longer periods of inactivity all take a quiet toll on inkjet printers. A few simple checks in autumn can save a lot of frustration when you actually need to print something in December.
Here's what to do before the cold months set in, and how to handle problems if they appear mid-winter.
Why Cold Weather Affects Printers
Inkjet printers are more sensitive to their environment than most people realise. The ink inside cartridges is liquid, and like most liquids it behaves differently at lower temperatures — becoming more viscous, flowing less freely through the nozzles, and drying out more quickly if the printer sits unused in a cold room. At the same time, winter brings higher indoor humidity, condensation on cold surfaces, and paper that absorbs moisture from the air — all of which can affect print quality and cause paper jams.
None of this means your printer will stop working. But it does mean a few environmental checks in autumn are worth making.
Choose the Right Location
Where you keep your printer makes a bigger difference than most people expect. Printers placed in unheated rooms, garages, conservatories, or against external walls are exposed to more temperature variation than those kept in a consistently heated living space.
For best results, keep your printer in a room that stays reasonably warm throughout the day — ideally between 15°C and 25°C. Avoid placing it directly next to a radiator though, as dry heat close to the printer can cause ink to dry out in the nozzles more quickly than usual. A desk in a regularly used room is ideal.
Keep It Away from Damp and Draughts
Windows, external doors, and poorly insulated walls are all sources of cold draughts and condensation in winter. Both are problematic for printers — condensation can affect internal components over time, and cold air hitting warm ink can cause it to behave unpredictably.
If your printer sits on a desk near a window, move it slightly further into the room during the colder months. Even a small change in position can make a meaningful difference to how consistently it performs.
Store Paper Properly
Paper is surprisingly moisture-sensitive. In a damp winter environment, a ream left open next to the printer can absorb enough moisture to cause feeding problems, paper jams, and wavy or curled prints — even before a single sheet has been through the printer.
Keep paper in its original packaging until you need it, and store it flat in a dry cupboard rather than on an open shelf. If you have a ream that's been sitting beside the printer for a few weeks, fan through the sheets before loading to separate any that have stuck together. Our post on storing ink cartridges properly covers the same principle for cartridge storage — the same cool, dry conditions apply to paper.
Print Something Every Week
This is the single most effective thing you can do to prevent ink problems in winter. Inkjet printers are designed to be used regularly — when a printer sits unused in a cold room for weeks at a time, ink can dry in the nozzles and cause blockages that result in streaky, faded, or patchy output.
Printing a test page or a simple document once a week — even just a short letter or a page of text — keeps the ink flowing freely and prevents the kind of blockage that requires multiple cleaning cycles to fix. If you're going away over Christmas or the new year, print something just before you leave and again when you return.
Run a Print Head Cleaning Cycle
If you notice streaky prints or missing colours after a cold spell or a period of inactivity, don't assume the cartridge is empty. The more likely cause is dried ink in the nozzles — and your printer has a built-in cleaning cycle specifically designed to fix this.
On most HP and Canon printers, you'll find it under Settings → Maintenance → Clean Printhead, or via the HP Smart or Canon PRINT app on your phone. Run one cycle, then print a test page. If quality hasn't fully improved, run a second cycle — but avoid running more than two or three in a row as each one uses a small amount of ink.
For step-by-step guidance, see our posts on how to clean HP ink cartridges and how to clean Canon ink cartridges.
Check Ink Levels Before the Busy Period
Winter is when home printing picks up significantly — Christmas cards, school projects, gift labels, party decorations. Running out of ink mid-job is frustrating at the best of times; it's considerably more so on Christmas Eve.
Check your ink levels in November rather than waiting until December, and order replacements before you actually need them. Genuine cartridges stored in their sealed packaging keep perfectly well until needed. Browse our full range of genuine HP ink cartridges, Canon ink cartridges, Epson ink cartridges, and Brother ink cartridges with free UK delivery on every order.
Give the Printer a Quick Clean
With windows closed and central heating running, dust builds up faster indoors in winter. A light wipe of the printer exterior and a check of the paper feed area takes two minutes and can prevent feeding and alignment issues from developing over the season.
Use a dry lint-free cloth on the outside. For the paper feed rollers, a slightly damp cloth wiped gently along the roller surface removes dust and paper residue that can cause sheets to slip or misfeed. Allow the rollers to dry fully before printing again.
Check Cables and Wireless Connections
If your printer connects via USB, temperature changes over autumn can cause cables to work slightly loose. Worth a quick check if you notice connection issues appearing without an obvious cause — sometimes the fix is simply reseating the cable at both ends.
For wireless printers, winter can occasionally bring Wi-Fi reliability issues — particularly if your router is in a colder part of the house. If your printer suddenly stops being found on the network, restarting both the printer and the router usually resolves it. For more persistent connection problems, see our guide on why your printer won't connect to Wi-Fi.
Coming Back After the Holidays
If the printer has sat unused for two weeks or more over Christmas, give it a moment before diving into a big print job. Turn it on, let it run through its startup cycle, and print a test page first. If the test page looks streaky or patchy, run a cleaning cycle before printing anything important — it takes a few minutes and saves the frustration of ruined prints.
And when cartridges from Christmas printing are empty, don't bin them. Every HP and Canon ink order from Crazy Kangaroo includes a free prepaid recycling envelope automatically, or you can download a free Freepost recycling label at any time for your empty genuine HP and Canon ink cartridges.
