You have a document that absolutely needs to be printed. Right now. Today. And your Epson printer just decided that the ink pad is at the end of its service life.
The first thought is: “Can I just print this one thing? I will deal with the error after.”
We understand the frustration. But we also want to be honest with you from the start.
The Short Answer: No
Once the waste ink counter reaches 100%, the printer is completely locked. You cannot print a single page. Not one. Not even in black-and-white. Not even a test page.
This is not a warning that you can dismiss or click past. It is a hard lock that Epson has programmed into the printer’s firmware. When the counter hits the limit, every print function is disabled. The printer will still turn on, and it may still show up as connected on your computer, but it will refuse to execute any print job.
There is no “print anyway” button. There is no override. There is no trick to squeeze out one more page.
What About the Warning Stage?
There is actually a brief window before the total lockout. When the waste ink counter reaches approximately 90-95% (this varies by model), many Epson printers will display a warning message:
“A printer’s ink pad is nearing the end of its service life.”
During this warning stage, you can still print. The printer lets you continue, but it is telling you that the full lockout is coming soon. This is your opportunity to take action before the hard stop.
If you are currently in the warning stage, do not ignore it. The counter will continue to increment with every print job and every automatic cleaning cycle. Once it hits 100%, there is no going back without a reset.
The smartest move at this stage is to download PrintFix and run the free diagnostic to see your exact percentage. If you are above 90%, consider resetting now while you can still print.
”Bypass” Tricks You Will Find Online
If you search for ways to bypass the ink pad error, you will find various suggestions on forums and YouTube. Let us go through the most common ones honestly.
”Hold the power button and the cancel button for 10 seconds”
This trick circulated years ago and may have worked on some very old Epson models (pre-2015 era). On any modern Epson printer, this does nothing. The firmware has been updated to prevent this kind of bypass. If you try it and the printer seems to restart, check carefully — it is still locked.
”Press the stop button to continue printing”
On some models, during the warning phase (before 100%), pressing the stop or resume button can dismiss the warning message and allow you to continue printing temporarily. But this only works during the warning phase. Once you hit 100% and get the full lockout, pressing buttons will not help.
”Downgrade the firmware”
Some people suggest downgrading the printer’s firmware to a version that did not have the lockout. This is technically complex, risks bricking the printer, and Epson has made it increasingly difficult on newer models by preventing firmware downgrades entirely. We do not recommend this approach.
”Disconnect from the internet to prevent updates”
This is good advice in general — Epson has been known to push firmware updates that add or tighten restrictions. But disconnecting from the internet does not fix an already-locked printer. It just prevents future changes. If your counter is already at 100%, being offline makes no difference.
”Use a different driver or print from a phone”
The lock is in the printer’s firmware, not in your computer’s driver software. It does not matter how you send the print job — from a Windows PC, a Mac, an iPhone, or an Android phone — the printer itself refuses to print. Changing the driver or printing method does not help.
Why Does Epson Lock It So Completely?
Epson’s stated reason is overflow protection: if the waste ink pads are truly full and you keep printing, ink could leak inside the printer and potentially cause damage or a mess. The hard lock prevents this.
The reality is more nuanced. The counter is based on estimates, not actual measurements. There is no physical sensor in the waste ink pads. The printer counts how many cleaning cycles it has performed, assigns a “waste ink value” to each one, and adds them up. When the total reaches a predetermined number, it locks.
This means the counter can hit 100% while the physical pads still have significant remaining capacity. Most users who open their printers after the lockout find pads that are damp but far from overflowing.
This is why resetting the counter is both safe and practical for the vast majority of users. For a deeper dive into the legal and ethical aspects, read our article on right to repair and Epson printers.
What Actually Works: Resetting the Counter
Since the lock is caused by a software counter, the fix is resetting that counter. There are only two legitimate ways to do this:
1. Pay Epson for professional service
You send the printer to Epson or an authorized service center. They replace the ink pads and reset the counter. This costs $50-$150 and takes 1-3 weeks. For many budget printers, this costs more than the printer itself is worth.
2. Reset the counter yourself
You use a reset tool like PrintFix to set the counter back to zero. This takes about two minutes, costs a fraction of professional service, and you do it from home.
Here is the process with PrintFix:
- Download the app from the download page — free, available on Windows, macOS, and Linux
- Scan your network — PrintFix automatically finds your Epson printer over WiFi or USB
- Check your counter — the diagnostic is free, and you will see the exact percentage
- Get a reset key from the pricing page — starting at EUR 4.99
- Reset — the counter goes back to 0%, and your printer is unlocked
The printer restarts and works exactly as it did before the lockout. Print quality is not affected. Nothing about the printer has changed except the counter value.
What About Scanning and Copying?
This depends on your model:
- On most multifunction models, the scanner and copier functions are also disabled when the waste ink counter locks the printer. Even though scanning has nothing to do with waste ink, Epson locks the entire device.
- On some older models, the scanner may still work even when printing is blocked. But this is increasingly rare.
If you need to scan a document urgently and your printer is locked, check whether the scan function still responds. If it does not, the counter reset will unlock everything.
Act During the Warning, Not After the Lock
The single best piece of advice we can give: do not wait for 100%.
If your printer is showing the warning message (ink pad nearing end of life), you still have time. Download the free PrintFix diagnostic right now, check your exact percentage, and decide whether to reset before you lose the ability to print.
If you are already at 100% and locked out, the reset still works — it just means you are dealing with it under pressure instead of on your own schedule.
Get Your Printer Working Again
Your printer is not broken. It can print just as well as the day you bought it. A software counter decided to stop it, and that counter can be reset.
- Download PrintFix — free diagnostic, no commitment
- Get a reset key — starting at EUR 4.99, 14-day money-back guarantee on unused keys
- Reset and print — two minutes from locked to printing