An inkjet printer’s inability to properly feed paper can be caused by a variety of factors, making paper transport issues difficult to resolve. When you start having problems with transport, the rollers are usually to blame. You can try a few things that don’t require any tools to get the rollers working again.

Before we move on, a few points:
1. Except for changing ink cartridges, you shouldn’t touch the inside of your printer if it’s still under warranty. Have the paper transport serviced for free if something is wrong.

2. Gears and rollers are clearly not the same thing. Even when there is no paper in the printer and it is simply attempting to reset itself, you can tell there is a gear problem when you hear grinding or chattering sounds. I do not recommend replacing gear unless you are a printer technician because it typically results in more work than it is worth.

3. If your printer is an older model, be willing to accept the possibility that the rollers are simply worn out or will soon become worn out.

You can try the following to restore your rollers’ functionality.

Be aware that dust kills rubber rollers. Printers that load paper from the top and leave it in the open are most susceptible to this.The majority of people use a top-load printer to load paper into it and then let it sit and print as needed.

In this case, a thin layer of dust will accumulate between the paper and the rollers if you only print occasionally, and when you go to print, the dust will be squashed onto the rollers.When this occurs enough times, dust settles on the rollers repeatedly until they no longer grab.

Things you can do to stop this:

Take the paper out of the printer and pull the plastic flap down when it won’t be used for more than a week to prevent dust from getting on the rollers.If you don’t have a flap, cover the area around the paper insert with something to keep dust out (for example:a small towel, a magazine, or anything else you have on hand)

Use high-quality, “grabby” printer paper. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: don’t use cheap paper. Always read the paper’s packaging to make sure it says it will work with inkjet or laser printers.This is not the case with all printer paper, contrary to popular belief.

Since older printers already have rollers that have been used a lot, they should be printed on better grabby (or slightly textured) printer paper.It’s less expensive to purchase preferable paper over another printer, so it merits an attempt.

Print something at least once per week. Printing without a printer is the main thing that causes rollers to fail more quickly than anything else.

Assuming that you notice when you print that the initial not many pages “struggle” going through the printer and the rest go through alright from that point forward, odds are you’re not utilizing your printer enough.Typically, the rubber rollers are slightly warped here, but after sending a few pages, they return to their normal round shape and begin to grasp paper.

Due to their manufacturing process, rubber rollers will warp if left unused for an extended period of time.Print more frequently in order to maintain proper roundness.The rollers will remain in good condition if you send at least one three-page job once per week to a printer.

Clean your rollers. Once more, if your printer is still covered by a warranty, you should have it serviced.
Depending on whether you can actually get to your rollers, cleaning them will either be simple or challenging.They can be cleaned if you can get to them.

Cotton swabs and water are all you need to clean rubber rollers. The printer must be physically removed from the wall, the cotton swab must be dipped in water, the excess water must be squeezed out of the tip, and the rollers must be gently cleaned. Rub the roller with the wet side of a cotton swab, then rub it again with the dry side before moving on to the next rubber part until the job is done.