Printer makes grinding or clicking noises

All inkjets whir, click and pump during startup, print head cleaning and after a cartridge change, and a new inkjet is especially noisy during its first ink charge. Laser printers hum while warming up, and their fans can keep running for a minute or more after a job. These sounds are regular and stop on their own.

Grinding, crunching, loud repeated clicking with an error, the carriage banging into the sides, or a noise that gets worse over time isn't normal. Notice when it happens: at power-on, as paper is picked up, while the carriage moves or as the page comes out. That tells you where to look.

With the printer off and unplugged, pull out the paper tray and shine a flashlight into the slot, then open the front cover, the access door and any rear door or duplex unit. Common culprits are paper clips, staples, sticky notes, labels peeled off a sheet, pen caps, coins and small toys.

A small piece left from an earlier jam can make rollers grind or skip. Pull any paper out slowly with both hands in the direction it normally travels, so it doesn't tear again, and check around the rollers and in the output area for leftover strips.

Open the access door and look along the whole carriage rail and under the carriage. On a new printer, remove any colored tape, foam or cardboard. If the carriage is in the middle of the rail, slide it gently to each side to feel for anything in the way; if it's parked at the side or won't move with light pressure, leave it.

A grinding that starts right after fitting a new toner cartridge can come from the cartridge itself. Reinstall the old one briefly and print a page. If the noise disappears, the new cartridge is the cause; return or replace it.

Squealing, or a click-click with no paper feeding, usually means the pickup rollers are slipping. With the printer off and unplugged, wipe the rubber rollers with a lint-free cloth lightly dampened with water and let them dry. Use paper within the thickness your printer supports.

Close every cover, plug the printer straight into a wall outlet, turn it on and print a single test page. If the noise came from a jam or a loose object, the printer should now start and print quietly apart from its normal sounds.

If grinding continues after you've cleared the path, you smell burning, or you can see broken parts such as stripped gear teeth or loose pieces rattling, stop printing. Running it can do more damage. Contact the manufacturer through its official support website about repair or warranty.