How to Check the Capacity of an Ink Cartridge

Determining ink cartridge levels can help you avoid messy situations when you are printing important papers.

Most printers have a sensor that detects how much ink remains in an ink cartridge without making you physically remove the cartridge from the printer. Your operating system receives this information and can display this to you. Finding out the capacity of your ink cartridge is not much trouble either way. You simply have to access the Control Panel of your operating system in order to find these values.

Instructions

1. Go to your Start menu and click "Control Panel."

2. Click on "Printers and Other Hardware" and then click "Printers and Faxes" if you are on category view. If you are on classic view, simply double-click on "Printers and Faxes."

3. Right-click the printer you want to check the ink capacity of and click "Properties."

4. Click the "Services" tab, then click the button labeled "Service the Device."

5. Go to the "Estimated Ink Levels" tab to check the ink capacity of all your cartridges. Depending on your printer, you might see more than just two cartridges.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember that this is simply an estimate of the levels and, by no means, can be completely exact. You will know if the levels are too low if the bar showing the amount of ink left in the cartridges is nearly at the bottom. By then, you should consider buying new cartridges or refilling your current ones so that you do not end up with any surprises when you end up printing important papers.

• Not all printers are the same and there are times that your operating system will not be able to get the information directly from your printer. If this is the case, read your printer's operation manual to find out exactly how to find out the capacities of ink for your particular printer.

References

• HP: Checking Ink Levels