Won't print in colour from my laptop

Question

My HP Envy printer will not print Word documents in colour when sent from my laptop. It will print if sent as a PDF though. Even the print test page is in black and white, only PDFs are colour.

Answer 1

Unfortunately now, it's not even printing in colour on a PDF. I have checked that colour is enabled and grayscale is off. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the printer driver. There is a full colour cartridge in place.

This sounds like a hardware issue with the printer. I take it you can no longer print in color from, say, Excel, either?

Answer 2

Thanks so much for all of your suggestions.

Unfortunately now, it's not even printing in colour on a PDF. I have checked that colour is enabled and grayscale is off. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the printer driver. There is a full colour cartridge in place.

Answer 3

My HP Envy printer will not print Word documents in colour when sent from my laptop. It will print if sent as a PDF though. Even the print test page is in black and white, only PDFs are colour.

Since only files of a certain type, PDFs, are working properly, this could be some setting of the printer. Is it an inkjet printer or a laser one? For an inkjet, I suppose some colors could be affected while others print properly.

Answer 4

Hi!

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Can you tell me when did the issue began? Also, do a quick check in Word see if the greyscale option is not enabled.

Here are the steps:

• Open any document
• Go to File → Print
• Click Printer Properties (or “Printer Preferences”)
• Look for settings like:
  • Print in Grayscale
  • Black & White
  • Economy / Draft mode
• Ensure both greyscale and black&white is set to OFF
• The only thing that should be enabled is Color Printing.

Next, can you check and open Control Panel > Devices and Printers and Right-click your HP Envy → Printing preferences. You need to find and ensure Color is enabled (Color: Enabled) and print in grayscale is disabled (Print in grayscale: Disabled).

Answer 5

Change the print settings in Word and in the printer driver so the printer is allowed to use color, then verify the printer/driver itself can print color outside Word.

1. In Word, enable color printing
   1. Open the document in Word.
   2. Select File > Print.
   3. Under Printer, make sure the HP Envy is selected.
   4. Under Settings, look for any color-related option (for example, “Print in grayscale” or “Black and white”). If such an option is selected, change it to the color option.
2. Check printer properties for grayscale/black-and-white
   1. In the same File > Print screen in Word, select Printer Properties.
   2. In the printer’s properties dialog, find the color options (often on a Color, Paper/Quality, or Advanced tab).
   3. Turn off Grayscale or Black & White and select Color.
   4. Select OK, then select Print.
3. Confirm the printer can print color from Windows Since even the test page is black and white, verify Windows and the driver are set up correctly:
   1. Select Start > Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners (Windows 11) or Start > Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners (Windows 10).
   2. Select the HP Envy, then Printer properties (or Manage > Printer properties on Windows 10).
   3. On the General tab, select Print Test Page.
   4. If the test page is still black and white, update or reinstall the HP printer driver from HP’s site and test again.
4. If printing works in other apps but not Word If color prints correctly from other apps (for example, Notepad, Paint, or PDFs) but not from Word:
   1. In Word, confirm again that Print to PDF or Print to file is not selected in File > Print.
   2. Check page size, orientation, and layout in File > Print to ensure they match the printer.
   3. If the issue persists only in Word, repair Office:
      • Select Start > Settings > Apps > Installed apps.
      • Select Microsoft 365 (or Microsoft Office), then Modify (or Advanced options).
      • Run Quick Repair and test printing; if needed, run Online Repair.

If after updating the HP driver and confirming color is enabled in both Word and the printer properties the test page is still black and white, the issue is likely with the printer/driver configuration and should be further troubleshot using HP’s tools or support.

---

References:

• Print in black and white
• Print a document in Word
• Fix printing problems in Word, Excel, or other apps