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I have a Windows laptop which I updated from Windows 10 to Windows 11. After the upgrade I had some problems printing on my HP 5541 inkjet printer, which were resolved.

After a period of trouble-free usage, and without warning, the laptop now prints grayscale only. If I print photos via the HP Smart App, they come out grayscale. This is also true if I print using Microsoft Word, Microsoft Paint or Adobe PDF.

The ink cartridges are not empty or reporting issues. The printing troubleshooter reports no issues.

I can use the HP 5541 as a copier and it will print in colour. I can also successfully print in colour successfully from other devices such as my wife's Windows 10 laptop.

My drivers show as the latest drivers when I check via Device Manager.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers as per this solution, but it has not helped.

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    I am not sure. The HP site says drivers for Windows 11. It also lists Basic drivers along with the full suite of drivers. Try Basic. On my Printer, Basic supports Scanning.
    – John
    Apr 9, 2022 at 16:05
  • @John I think this has cracked it. I have formulated an 'answer' for my question. Thank you once again dear sir!
    – EleventhDoctor
    Apr 10, 2022 at 10:47

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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As kindly suggested by @John, I tried the following and it worked!!!

(1) First delete Print Queues.

Open cmd.exe with 'Run as Administrator'.

Type net stop spooler then press “Enter“.

Type (carefully) del %systemroot%\System32\spool\printers* /Q then press "Enter".

Type net start spooler then press “Enter“.

The print queue on your Windows should now be cleared.

(2) Remove printers:

Open Control Panel, Devices and Printers, and remove all HP Envy 5541 Printers.

(3) Uninstall printer and printer support apps:

Open Control Panel, Programs and Features, and uninstall the HP Envy 5541 Printer and any (and all) HP Envy 5541 support Apps. It seems to be OK to not remove HP Smart.

(4) Restart the Computer

(5) Download and install the basic driver

Visit HP Customer Support - Software and Driver Downloads. Be sure to select Windows 11 as your Operating System. Download and install the 'Basic Driver'.

The printer should now print properly.

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Instead of selecting the HP Envy 5540 series printer when printing from an application, select 'HP Smart' from the list of printers in your application and use that. It seems that 'HP Smart' is a proxy that runs your printer for you.

This will restore all the colour and double-sided features, as well as offering refinements such as booklet printing.

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