# HP Smart Tank 580 All‑in‑One Printer Not Printing Or Not Working
(Expert Printer Help @ 1-888-765-0492)
If your **HP Smart Tank 580 All‑in‑One** refuses to print right when you actually need it, it can feel like the printer is mocking you. The panel lights look fine, the Wi‑Fi icon is glowing, yet nothing comes out or you only get faint or missing colors. In real-world repairs, this usually comes down to a handful of repeat offenders: ink supply, clogged printheads, connection problems, or a stuck print queue.
Below is a practical, technician-style guide specifically for the HP Smart Tank 580 series. Work through it in order, and you’ll usually get the printer back to life without dismantling half your desk.
## Start With The Basics On The Printer Itself
Before diving into apps, drivers, or advanced resets, confirm that the printer itself is actually ready to print. Many Smart Tank 580 “not printing” cases turn out to be something simple at the device level.
* Check that the Power light is solid and not blinking in an error pattern.
* Make sure there’s plain paper loaded correctly in the input tray and nothing jammed inside.
* Look at the ink tanks on the front: each tank should be at least above the minimum line, not almost empty.
If anything obvious looks wrong (no power, no paper, nearly empty tanks), fix that first. There’s no point troubleshooting drivers when the printer is literally out of ink or stuck on an internal error.
## Verify Ink Levels And Tank Refilling
The Smart Tank 580 uses refillable ink tanks, and low or empty tanks are one of the most common reasons it stops printing or prints blank pages.
* Stand in front of the printer and visually confirm all four tanks: black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. If any tank looks low, top it up with the correct HP ink bottle for this series.
* Do not mix third‑party and original ink in the same tank; inconsistent viscosity can worsen clogging and cause poor print quality.
If you recently refilled, double‑check that you actually filled the correct tank and closed the bottle properly. Users sometimes pour black into the wrong color or stop refilling halfway, and then wonder why blacks look grey or the printer prints nothing.
## Check For Printhead Protectors Or Incorrect Installation
If the HP Smart Tank 580 is new or you just replaced the printheads, there’s a specific trap: the protective seals or orange covers left on the printhead assemblies. That will absolutely cause “not printing” or “black not printing” issues.
1. Open the front access area where the printhead carriage slides to the center.
1. Carefully remove the black and tri‑color printhead units and inspect the nozzles and electrical contacts. If you still see any orange plastic caps, tapes, or seals, remove them gently as per HP’s instructions
1. Reseat both printheads firmly until you hear/feel a proper click, then close the access door.
This is a very common mistake when setting up Smart Tank devices: scanning works, menus work, but no ink hits the page because the nozzles are still sealed.
## Run Printhead Cleaning From The Printer Or App
If the printer powers on, has ink, and the printheads are properly installed, but prints are faint, streaky, or completely blank in certain colors, the printheads are often clogged. HP Smart Tank 580 models support built‑in printhead cleaning levels and alignment routines.
1. Use the control panel or the HP Smart app to run a basic printhead cleaning and then print a Print Quality Diagnostic Page.
1. If quality is still poor or some colors are missing, run a Level 2 or deeper cleaning as recommended for the Smart Tank 500/580 family.
Do not spam deep cleaning one after another; it uses a lot of ink. Run a cleaning, print a test page, compare, and only then decide whether to repeat.
## When Manual Printhead Cleaning Is Needed
If you see completely missing colors (for example, black not printing at all while colors are okay, or cyan/magenta/yellow missing), even after multiple cleaning cycles, the printhead may be heavily clogged and require manual cleaning.
1. Power off the printer and carefully remove the printheads following HP’s safety steps.
1. Use a printhead cleaning kit designed for HP Smart Tank or similar ink tank printers; these typically include syringes, tubes, and cleaning fluid for gently flushing dried ink from the nozzles.
1. After manual cleaning, reinstall the printheads, run a printhead cleaning from the control panel again, and then print a diagnostic or alignment page.
This is a bit more advanced, so if the user is nervous, it’s often smarter to leave manual cleaning to a technician or follow a trusted video guide step‑by‑step instead of improvising.
## Confirm The Printer Is Receiving Print Commands
Sometimes the HP Smart Tank 580 is perfectly healthy, but the computer never actually sends the job to it. This is common in homes where multiple printers are installed.
1. On Windows, open “Printers & Scanners” and make sure “HP Smart Tank 580 series” is selected as the default printer.
1. Remove any old or offline printer entries so you don’t accidentally send jobs to the wrong queue.
1. On phones or tablets, confirm you are selecting the right printer in the HP Smart app and that it shows as “Ready” or online.
If you have another printer in the house and that one prints fine while the 580 stays silent, there’s a strong chance you’re either sending to the wrong device or the driver for the 580 is misconfigured.
## Clear Stuck Print Jobs And Restart The Spooler
When users hit “Print” repeatedly because nothing seems to happen, the print queue can get jammed. The Smart Tank 580 then appears “not working” while it’s actually stuck behind a corrupt job.
1. On Windows, open the print queue for the HP Smart Tank 580 series and cancel all documents.
1. After clearing the queue, restart the computer and power cycle the printer (turn it off, unplug for about two minutes, plug back in, and turn it on again).
This simple “clear queue + reboot + power reset” combo fixes a surprising number of cases where the printer shows as ready but refuses to print anything new.
## Check Wi‑Fi, USB, Or Network Connection
For wireless users, unstable Wi‑Fi is a frequent reason the Smart Tank 580 appears online but doesn’t actually respond to print commands.
1. Make sure the printer and your phone/PC are on the same Wi‑Fi network (same SSID, not one on 2.4 GHz and the other on an isolated guest network).
1. If prints fail over Wi‑Fi, connect the printer temporarily via USB and test a simple document; if USB works, you know it’s a network issue rather than a hardware problem.
If Wi‑Fi remains flaky even after router restarts, consider assigning a fixed IP to the printer through your router or via HP Smart, then re‑adding it to the PC using that IP.
## Update Or Reinstall HP Smart Tank 580 Drivers
A lot of “not printing” complaints show up right after a Windows update, new Mac version, or moving the printer to a new machine. In those cases, the driver or HP Smart configuration is usually the culprit.
1. Download the latest full driver or HP Smart software that supports the Smart Tank 580 series for your OS from HP’s official site.
1. Uninstall old HP printer entries and related software for the 580, restart the computer, then reinstall using the latest package, making sure to complete the setup and test page.
On mobile devices, update the HP Smart app from the relevant app store, then remove and re‑add the printer. A fresh pairing often clears weird one‑off connectivity or permission glitches.
## Update Or Reinstall HP Smart Tank 580 Drivers
A lot of “not printing” complaints show up right after a Windows update, new Mac version, or moving the printer to a new machine. In those cases, the driver or HP Smart configuration is usually the culprit.
Download the latest full driver or HP Smart software that supports the Smart Tank 580 series for your OS from HP’s official site.
Uninstall old HP printer entries and related software for the 580, restart the computer, then reinstall using the latest package, making sure to complete the setup and test page.
On mobile devices, update the HP Smart app from the relevant app store, then remove and re‑add the printer. A fresh pairing often clears weird one‑off connectivity or permission glitches.
## Use Built‑In Print Quality And Alignment Tools
Even once the printer starts printing again, poor alignment or streaks can make it feel like it is “still not working properly.” HP provides a dedicated print quality and alignment routine for the Smart Tank 210/520/580/590/5100 families.
From the HP Smart Tank 580’s menu or the HP Smart app, run “Align Printheads” and “Print Quality” troubleshooting.
Follow the on‑screen instructions to print an alignment page and scan it using the scanner glass, so the printer can automatically fine‑tune the nozzles.
Skipping alignment is a classic user mistake after installing or cleaning printheads; prints often look blurry or mis‑registered until alignment is completed.
## Try A Power Reset Or Cold Reset When Nothing Else Works
If your HP Smart Tank 580 simply acts weird — freezing, ignoring print commands, or showing random errors — a proper power reset or cold reset can bring it back to factory‑fresh behavior.
Start with a basic power reset: turn the printer off, unplug the power cable, wait at least two minutes, plug it back in, and power it on again.
For stubborn issues like persistent Wi‑Fi or configuration errors, advanced users can perform a cold reset / hard reset sequence specific to the Smart Tank 580/585/590 to restore factory defaults.
Be aware that a full factory reset wipes network settings and some preferences, so you’ll need to set up Wi‑Fi and services again afterward.
## Common Mistakes HP Smart Tank 580 Users Make
Over time, certain patterns show up with this model series. Avoiding these mistakes can save hours of trial and error.
Ignoring visible low ink levels because “it should still print a bit more,” which leads to air in the system and clogging.
Running deep cleaning cycles repeatedly without checking the diagnostic page in between, wasting ink and not actually fixing the root cause.
Forgetting to remove printhead protective seals on new units, then assuming the printer is defective when it prints blank pages.
Sending jobs over Wi‑Fi from a device that’s on a different network or VLAN than the printer, especially in offices or multi‑router homes.
Once you know these traps, troubleshooting becomes much faster because you instinctively check those spots first.
## FAQs About HP Smart Tank 580 Not Printing Or Not Working
### Why is my HP Smart Tank 580 not printing anything even though there is ink?
Most of the time, either the printheads are clogged, the protective seals were never removed, or the printer is not getting the job because of a driver/network issue. Run printhead cleaning, check for seals, and confirm the printer is selected correctly on your device.
### My HP Smart Tank 580 prints but the black ink is missing or very faint. What should I do?
First, visually confirm the black ink tank level and refill if low. Then run one or more printhead cleaning cycles from the control panel or HP Smart, and if black is still missing, consider manual printhead cleaning for the black head.
## The Smart Tank 580 is connected to Wi‑Fi, but my computer says it cannot print. Why?
This often happens when the PC and printer are on different networks or the driver has gone corrupt. Verify both are on the same Wi‑Fi, clear and reinstall the HP Smart Tank 580 driver or HP Smart app, and test again using a simple document.
### Do I need to replace the printheads if cleaning doesn’t work?
If multiple automatic and manual cleanings still leave missing colors or severe banding, the printheads may be worn or permanently clogged. At that point, replacing the Smart Tank 580 printheads with new compatible units is usually the long‑term fix.
### Is a full factory reset safe for my HP Smart Tank 580?
A cold reset is safe for the hardware but will erase your network and some configuration settings. It’s a good last step when dealing with strange errors or unresponsive behavior, provided you’re okay redoing the Wi‑Fi and setup afterward.
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