How to Find the Capacity of My Inkjet Cartridge

While a sure way to find your ink cartridge's current capacity is to simply use it until it stops working, you may want a little more advanced warning before you need to buy a new cartridge. There are two main ways to check the levels of your ink cartridge through your computer. You can either take advantage of the built-in ink level monitor used by your operating system or the software that came with your printer to discover the cartridge capacity.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Open the "Start" menu and select "Control Panel." Double-click "Printers."

2. Scroll through the list of available printers and find the specific printer you are currently using. Right-click the name of the printer and select "Preferences." Navigate to the "Services" tab. Click "Service the device."

3. Navigate to the "Estimated Ink Levels" tab. Scroll down to view two images showing the current capacity of both the color and black and white ink cartridges.

4. Close the window and open the software you installed when you set up your printer. Click the tab labeled "Cartridges," "Levels" or something similar.

5. Click "Ink Levels" or the corresponding option for your specific printer software to view the current capacities of the ink cartridges.

Tips & Warnings

• Depending on your specific operating system, printer manufacturer and printer software version, you may need to choose slightly different options to find the current ink capacity. Check the manual that came with your printer for specific instructions.

References

• Checking Current Ink Capacity
• Checking Lexmark Ink Levels
• Checking Epson Ink Capacity