Problem
On your Canon printer, the cartridge holder will not move into the centre. Additionally, if you go to print, a message appears on the computer or printer display indicating Error 5011. It advises to turn your printer off and on again which doesn’t resolve the problem.
Solution
Get the printer repaired by the provider or manufacturer.
I just bought this fuckin shit!!! fuckin bitches i hate u basterds @ Canon
but the advisers thanks for telling me
I just had the same exact problem. I went to the Canon website and the recommendation was to unplug and replug the printer. And if this doesn’t work you’re supposed to contact a service center. I am not very computer savvy, but what worked for me was to turn the printer off, then lift the lid of the printer (including the scanner portion) and then while the lid is open, turn on the printer. After that, the printer did whatever it does when you usually start it and was fine. I closed the lid and error message is gone. No idea why this worked, but just printed a document and no problems.
that works, just make sure the lid is open befpre restarting the printer, the cartridge will move to the middle, issue resolved
Thanks!
Worked for me… same issue 3 years after you had it, but same solution still worked! Thank you.
how do I lift the scanner?
the Ink thing doesn’t even move. they told me to go get it fix which will cost me $60 when with that money I could buy the same printer twice with that money.
That was very helpful
2016 and the same issue still exist. Your solution still works ?
muchas gracias me funciono bien el consejo
error 5011…pissed off that even experts at canon have no answer but bring to tech to get it fixed…never buying another canon product…this is only a week old and now i have to get it fixed…just junk…going back to epson
We tried all recommended solutions to no avail. We then had an epiphany and after launching it off the fourth floor roof we had our answer! Best Buy for a different model!
Louisville Slugger works well too !
I read your comments and tried turning off with lid open… didn’t work. I was so mad and frustrated with this printer that I finally just body slammed it 4 or 5 times on the desk, and it suddenly stopped showing the supoort code 5011 and printed stuff! I don’t get it.
I have the same issues and failures. I like your tactics and I am going to try them now. Know that I intend to “slam it” not on a desk but on a concrete pad. Thanks for the tip!
tried all so far nothing then tried yours and that didn’t work either but thanks anyway for the laughter I got from this.
Hi Gary,
I had the same problem – and tried a few things – but your solution worked form me. I turned the Printer off, then I banged the Printer about a bit (ie, 4-5 times) and turned it back on – and there you go, I can print again??
Thanks again,
I have a Canon PIXMA TS8120, so there are no Cancel or Off buttons, just a single button that toggles power on and off. With my one button I tried various suggestions (unplug the power cord, press some button 4 times or 5 times, leave the lid open) but nothing worked. With the lid open, the ink cartridge carriage would not come to the center. It was solidly stuck to the right. What finally worked (powered off and power cord unplugged) was sitting it on a solid surface and lifting the right side of the printer about 5-6 inches and dropping it a few times. That must have jolted something back in place because then the ink cartridge carriage would cent in the machine, and I did not get the 5011 error. Same thing happened again after I had printed a duplexed page. It took a couple of treatments this time. I have not had the courage to try duplexing again, but thanks for the recommendation to get a little rough with it.
i did but it dose for me So i hate all of printers
I just bought a brand new canon printer mp237….but sadly it does not properly working. It has an error 5011. I turn it off and on again, nothing has changed. The cartridge don’t move, it stocked at the right side of the printer. 🙁 I’ve tried the other way, i think the only solution for this is to bring it to the service provider.
Had the same error just now. Tried turning it off and on, and then unplugging and plugging it again. Didn’t work. What did work was looking at the glass/scanner part and finding that the page I wanted a photocopy of was wedged between the glass and the black plastic housing. After removing that, it worked.
Thank you Cindy – that was the issue with my printer, had a little bit of sticky note paper stuck between the glass and the black plastic housing…I’m sure that ‘fix’ would have cost e pretty penny if I had taken it in for service! Yay!!
Try taking a flashlight and looking inside… we discovered a long lost pencil jammed way back in there.
Thank you so much, really p****** off but tried turning on with cover open and it worked!
Canon MG6300
Thank you Drew, you save the day
I used all the techniques described above, I watched the cartridge holder try to move; it seemed to be hung up on somethiing. I gently helped it get loose and then found a piece of paper left from a paper jam on the far side of the cartridge holder which I never would have been able to see if the cartridge holder hadn’t moved.
Thanks David. I used your technique, gently moving (forcing) the cartridge out, which exposed my problem: the generic cartridges I’m using were jamming the printer.
This worked! Thank you so much. I had to make sure that the cover and the scan lid were open BEFORE I started the printer. Thank you!!!!!
I’m having the same problem.. I tried turning it on with the lid open but I’m still getting the same error message.. any suggestions? It worked fine about a week or so ago the last time I used it.
Scanner fault, my guess is the lamp doesn’t run on quick enough so the scanner doen’t initialize properly, it has to read some white and black stuff inside the glass on the left side and misses some of those.
Try thiis (workaround on mg5350, not permanent fix but seems to at least buy you some time).
The procedure is similar to entering the service mode, but 4 clicks on cancel button instead of 5:
With the printer off, press and hold power+cancel simultaneously,
Release cancel but keep power button pressed,
Press cancel button 4 times,
Release both.
I don’t know what this does exactly, but it seems to reset something and make a fresh start, the printer will take longer to resume the power on sequence.
Please take the time to share the info, posting this somewhere else to help someone, if you find it works.
Good luck 🙂
it works!!! Thanks buddy
you are a genius, i tried everything and was about to throw it though the window when i tried this and it worked!!
thank you
Thanks very much Hogo, I was just about to smash this printers with a hammer but your solution worked forst time – genius!!
Thanks again
Annie
Apologies – I mean Hugo not Hogo!!
Oh my goodness! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I tried everything and this was the only think that worked, aside from chucking the printer.
YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD.
A ZILLION THANK YOUS.
YOU FIXED MY PRINTER AS I WAS ABOUT TO BURY THE DIRTY DOG.
BLESS YOU.
Hey there, I did exactly what you said, plus lots of prayer, Thanks to you, It worked for me .
Best,
Yay , it worked But now power won’t come on ? Hmm
I tried every suggestion on this site, even pretty much slamming it on the floor, but this worked! Thank you Hugo!!!!!
That worked! Thank you!!!!
That worked. awesome.
THANK YOU THIS WORKED! amazing ! i truly beat the crap out of this printer thru 4 rough and careless moves , and when i set it up tonight for the first time in a long time, the 5011 error message was all i was getting after a lot of self-troubleshooting lol, then i found this hilarious AND helpful forum, so i thank u, cuz it worked.
This helped me! Man, I was about to chuck it in the trash! Thank you so much Hugo! You’re the best!!
Thank you, this worked for me
I do not know how but this solution worked for me, thanks a lot!
Brilliant Hugo – It really works – I thought my new printer was a pile of ……
But this fix is great news.
Thanks Hugo
This worked! And here I was just seconds away from dropping it out a window. How disappointing to miss that experience. But thank you Hugo! Obviously, you’re a genius. 🙂
This is a definite solution and answer to my prayers concerning my printer! Thank you for your awesomeness in sharing how you repaired your printer.
Thank you. I try your advice for the last time before I was going to throw away my printer. And it’s working. ?
Top man tried everything came on your post and tried your fix worked first time it was gojng in the bin and a new one ordering thanks
Thank you, having enjoyed trying the bashing advice I tried yours and hey presto all working again
Thank you so much! This worked!!
After powering on by pressing the cancel button 4 times along with the power button in the described sequence, the next power on sequence might not work, just unplug the printer for a few minutes and power on again as usual.
Thank you SO much. After trying everything except for hurling the bloody thing out the window this button pressing did it’s magic. After a awful day and the frustration of ANOTHER printing problem, you honestly saved my sanity.
Thank you.
Thanks, Hugo, that worked!! It saved me a dreaded call to Canon and a service call!
Thanx man!!!
It works! I guess its the printer equivalent of hitting a server on the side twice and then on the top three times to get it to boot successfully!!!
Thanks
Glad it worked, although we wouldn’t recommend hitting anything 😛
F$£! you Canon printers. Fooled me once. Never again – stop making printers
Hello,
THANKS! Have just tried almost everything during the whole day and was on my way to the shop to buy a new printer. THEN just a few minutes before I thought there had to be a solution as this printer has been a great work horse so far (and I had just bought two brand new original cartridges for the same Price as a new printer :-O
SO I surfed around a bit and found this solution. Did everything as describes. Cartridges suddenly moved into the middle and I pulled out that small piece of paper that had been jammed behind one of the ink cartridges.
Now its running like a dream. Brilliant! Thanks Again.
It happened to my boyfriend’s printer when I tried to copy something, I was freaking out! He isn’t home and he does a lot of printing due to his work and hobbies & it’s only a brand new printer it shouldn’t be doing this. So I was frantically trying to turn it on and off, opening and closing the tray, taking the ink cartridges out and putting them back in again, nothing was working.
However, I pulled every plug out (the power and USB Connection) and left it for a minute, plugged them back in with the trays open, turned it on and hoped for the best, and yes, it didn’t beep at me or show me the ‘error’ message, I just left it and backed away from it, no copying for me today. I’ll just pay 25 cents at the library, or buy my own printer. So that is how I fixed that issue, it prints, but I’m not going to use it. Hahaha, anyway I hope this helps people out.
Regards!
I tried switching it off and on, then tried switching it off and on with the scanner lid open, then tried switching it off and on with the scanner lid open and the front lid open. nothing helped. Then hit it a couple of times and then did all of the above… that didn’t help! In the end while I was deciding if I should recycle it or just throw it from the 3rd floor, I noticed that it has other parts on the back that comes off without having to unscrew anything. So, I decided to open/ remove whatever parts that would open or were removable without using any tools. Then, I tried switching it off and on and behold…. It worked! I hope this helps y’all…. if not then for sure… Just throw it!
This worked for me the first time I tried:
Power off the printer
Press and hold power+cancel simultaneously
Hold on the power button and release cancel
Press cancel button 4 times,
Release both.
FINALLY! You had the answer. Thanks sooooo much!
Thank you so much for your clear instructions?
Marcel you are a star!!!!
I tried everything mentioned on here, plus stuff on Utube..resetting etc. for the last hour or so.
Followed your instructions and ….Bingo!!!!
Thank you very very much★★★★★
Read directions for ink absorber reset- it did all the above ideas and none worked! Then read error 5100 to reset ink.
I just got the same error. Nothing that was suggested above has worked for me. I’m very disappointed in this printer, I think it’s only printed 200 pages total, what a waste.
It’s my first Cannon printer, its less than a year old. I may just look for another brand.
Thanks Drew, your really helped me today
Thank you for the above trick! Turned the printer off. My model is 435 so it didn’t have a cancel button….so I pressed and held “power” and “off” together….released the off, then pressed off 4 times….released both. Worked! Will see how long it holds out. I have always been happy with my Canons; however my last one lasted for almost 15 years! Nobody makes things to last anymore! Shame on them for contributing to the landfill and environmental issues, all in the name of making sales.
After trying all of your suggestions on here nothing worked……….except giving it the old Arthur fonzerelli smack on the side and it started to work. Can’t explain that, but hell it works now.
I got the same error. I noticed my wife had left two documents on the scanner window. Removed them, turned the printer back on, and the problem was solved. My WP file is printing now. Thanks to all.
Hello there fellow users! I’ve spent the past two hours trying to tear this thing apart and fix and have finally succeeded. I would like to note I do not know if everyone is having the same exact problem as me. I will share my situation and what i did to fix it.
I was trying to use my printer this morning and the printer kept “jamming” even though the paper was flat as can be going in and being yanked out. The sensor kept tripping i believe on the right side of the paper feed all the way at the base of the machine. Being a techy guy I unscrewed the two screws on the back topside of the machine and lifted from the back. I realized I couldn’t reach the sensor or get inside too well so i closed it back up. Now the printer has NO POWER whatsoever. I take it apart AGAIN. The whole scanner part of the machine lifts of with a few ribbon cable attached. The base or printer part can be completely separated from the top scanner part. The two ribbons that attach to the top part where the scanner is are for the scanner which is a wide ribbon and a very small ribbon that goes to the power button. I finally reattached the two ribbons and hooked the printer back up whilst still partially apart. Now the printer has POWER!!! I go to try and print and now i get the error 5011… I started looking around again and realized the larger ribbon for the scanner is slightly loose (I could see the metal contacts on the ribbon) which means it wasn’t fully grounded into the slot. So i gently but firmly wiggled and pushed the cable into place to make sure no metal contacts were showing. Tried the printer again and voila! It finally works. No error codes, no jams, just perfect printing. If you don’t want to take the printer apart, the top part of the printer where the power, wifi, stop, black, and color buttons are that leftside panels pops off (not easily -.-) but you can see several ribbons in there. Look at all those ribbons and make sure none are loose or disconnected and that no metal on the ribbons is showing. Hope this helps some people!
Grazie Marcello, funziona perfettamente!
Thanks Marcello, it works fine.
This is amazing
This worked for me the second time when I kept the scanner lid open as well as the cartridge cover open and then did the following.
Power off the printer
Press and hold power+cancel simultaneously
Hold on the power button and release cancel
Press cancel button 4 times,
Release both
My F#@KING Cannon printer has only been used 6 times small easy jobs to. And THE FU××ING PIECE OF S+×T is broken already. Thank You guys for leaving posts to help a poor person get his POS PRINTER WORKING AGAIN F@#K YOU CANNON…..
I have just gone through the turn on off method with the doors open and closed and still the same – but what I did notice was the travelling assembly on the left that carry s the light for the scaner was the problem as it did not move the printer would not start so I turned it off and then on, as it was trying to start I then hit the left side of the printer and this got it moving – bingo !!
Well lets see for how long. But it wasn’t the print cartridges that cased the problem as most think – ?? Do not think any service department would recommend hitting anything but at the end of the day its that or a new printer so had nothing to loose. Good luck Dave.
I have the same problem. Very frustrating! Better to throw it away and never to go with this model. Never never again! Everybody having same problem means this equipment is unworthy selling.
I am in Bermuda. My provider will charge the cost of the printer just to look at it. I guess I will have to buy a different printer.
It’s 2019 and this STILL WORKS. Thank you!!!