How to Reduce Your Printer's Ink and Toner Costs

Use Draft or Economy mode for everyday printing

Switching from "Normal" to "Draft" or "Economy" print quality for everyday documents — emails, drafts, internal notes, anything that doesn't need to look polished — meaningfully reduces ink usage per page, often by a large margin, since these modes intentionally lay down less ink. Reserve higher quality settings for documents that actually need to look their best.

Buy XL or high-yield cartridges instead of standard

Larger-capacity cartridges (XL for inkjet, high-yield or extra-high-yield for laser toner) almost always work out to a lower cost per page than standard-size cartridges, even though the upfront price is higher — you're paying less per unit of ink or toner. If you print regularly, this is one of the simplest cost reductions available, and it's purely a buying decision, not a settings change.

Consider a subscription ink/toner program if you print a lot

HP Instant Ink, and similar programs from other manufacturers, charge based on pages printed rather than cartridges purchased, and can work out considerably cheaper for households or offices that print regularly — though it's a worse deal for very light or infrequent printing, since you're paying a baseline regardless of volume. Whether it's worth it depends entirely on your actual print volume, so it's worth checking your typical monthly page count against the plan tiers before committing.

Consider a tank-based printer if you're buying a new one

Ink tank systems (like HP Smart Tank, Canon MegaTank, and Epson EcoTank) use refillable bottles instead of individual cartridges, and the cost per page is typically dramatically lower than traditional cartridge printers over the life of the machine — though the printer itself usually costs more upfront. For anyone who prints heavily and is in the market for a new printer, this upfront cost is very often recovered within the first year or two just from ink savings.

Avoid printing what you don't need

Before printing, use your application's print preview to catch and remove unnecessary pages (like a trailing blank page or an unwanted final section), and consider whether a document genuinely needs color when black-and-white would do — color printing uses meaningfully more ink for the same page. Small habits like this add up more than most people expect over months of regular use.

What doesn't actually help

Running a printer "dry" until it fully stops rather than replacing a cartridge slightly early doesn't meaningfully extend cartridge life and can risk damage to the print head on some models by running it without adequate ink. Similarly, third-party or refilled cartridges can be cheaper upfront, but the savings aren't guaranteed if they cause quality issues or clogs that cost you print jobs and cleaning cycles — it's worth reading reviews for your specific printer model before assuming a third-party cartridge is a clear win.