Pages come out wrinkled or curled

Load paper from a sealed ream

Open a fresh ream and load it so the side marked by the wrapper’s arrow, if there is one, is the side that gets printed. Store the rest flat in its wrapper. Paper left in an open tray in a humid room can pick up moisture within days.

You should see: Pages printed on fresh paper should come out noticeably flatter.

Set the guides snugly

Slide the guides until they touch the stack without bending it. A sheet that enters at an angle drags against one side of the paper path, which shows up as diagonal wrinkles.

Turn the stack over to counter curl

If pages curl the same way every time, turn the stack over in the tray. Paper carries a slight natural curl, and printing on the other side often lets the printer’s own curl cancel some of it out.

You should see: The next prints curl less, or curl the other way, which confirms the paper’s own curl is involved.

Use the straight-through output on a laser

Many laser printers have a rear output door that lets paper leave flat instead of turning back up to the top tray. Open it for heavy paper, labels and envelopes, and for any job where curl is a problem, then close it again for normal printing.

You should see: Sheets come out of the back, face up and flatter.

Set envelope or paper levers correctly

Some laser printers have levers near the fuser, usually behind the rear door, that change roller pressure for envelopes or thick paper. Once the printer has cooled, set them for envelopes when printing envelopes and back to the normal position afterwards. Your manual shows where they are and which way they go.

Use heavier paper for dense inkjet prints

On an inkjet, pages full of color or dark graphics swell where the ink lands. Use heavier paper, around 100–120 gsm, or paper made for inkjet printing, and lay prints flat to dry rather than stacking them wet.

You should see: Heavier paper stays flat with the same artwork.

Look for something in the path

If creases appear in the same spot on every page, unplug the printer and look along the paper path with a light for a scrap, a label or a bent guide that the paper is catching on.

Match the paper type to the paper

In Printing preferences, opened from Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners (Windows 10: Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners and Manage), set the paper type to what is loaded. On a laser, a heavy-paper setting on thin paper runs the fuser hotter than needed and can increase curl, while a plain setting on card can leave toner poorly fused.

You should see: With a matching setting, prints should come out flatter and better fused.

Use standard quality for everyday prints

For everyday inkjet pages, standard quality uses less ink than best or photo modes, and less ink means less waviness on plain paper.

Check the printer’s menu for curl options

Some printers have a curl reduction, humidity or paper setting in their setup menu or built-in web page. If yours has one, try it, and check your manual for what it changes.