What is the difference between an error code and a support code on a Canon?

On many Canon machines the panel shows a short message or E-code while the more specific support code appears on the computer or in the printer's status monitor. The support code is usually the more useful of the two, so it is worth checking both rather than only reading the panel.

Why is my code not listed here?

Because this reference only includes codes whose meaning is consistent enough to state accurately across model families. Canon's numbering differs between the laser and inkjet ranges and between generations, and a confidently wrong table would cost you more than a short one. Send us the model and the code and we will tell you.

What does a code with a five-digit number starting 5B or 58 mean on a PIXMA?

Those generally relate to the waste ink absorber reaching its capacity rather than a mechanical failure. The pad that catches ink from cleaning cycles is full. It is a service item, and on inexpensive machines it is often the point at which replacement makes more sense than repair.

Can I clear an error by resetting the printer?

A power cycle is worth one attempt and clears genuinely transient states. It does not fix a worn part, and a code that returns within a few pages is reporting something real. Repeatedly resetting to keep printing is how a small fault becomes an expensive one.

Canon Printer Error Codes: A Practical Reference

Canon printer error codes are more precise than most, but they are split across two places and two quite different product families, which is why looking one up is often more confusing than it should be.

This is a practical guide to reading them, plus the codes whose meaning is consistent enough to state accurately. A short accurate reference beats a long invented one — where a code varies significantly between model families, it is not listed.

Before opening the machine: power it off and let it cool. The fixing assembly runs hot and stays hot after the printer stops. If clearing a fault needs force or reaching past a moving part, stop and call someone.

Where to find the full Canon printer error code

Canon machines commonly report a fault in two forms, and people usually read only the first:

On the printer's panel — a short message or an E-code. Often general.
In the status monitor on the computer, or in the machine's own log — a numeric support code. Usually much more specific.

Check both. The support code is frequently the half that identifies the actual subsystem, and quoting it turns a diagnostic visit into a repair visit.

Laser machines: imageCLASS and LBP

Code family	What it means	What to do
E000 / E00x	Fixing assembly — the unit is not reaching or holding correct temperature.	Power off, let it cool fully, restart once. A repeating fixing error means the assembly needs replacing.
E001	Fixing assembly over-temperature.	Power off. Do not keep restarting to print — heat faults are worth taking seriously.
E002 / E003	Fixing assembly failing to warm correctly, or losing temperature mid-run.	Same as above: one restart, then diagnosis.
E007	Fixing film or drive fault.	Technician. Not user-serviceable.
E014	Motor or drive fault.	Technician.
E100 / E110	Laser scanner unit — beam detection or scanner motor.	Technician. The optical path is not something to open on an office floor.
E202	Scanner carriage fault on multi-function models.	Check for anything obstructing the scanner bed, then restart. If it persists, it is mechanical.
E225 / E220	Internal engine faults.	Technician.
Drum or cartridge messages	Consumable at end of rated life, or not recognised.	Reseat the cartridge and clean contacts. On separate-drum machines, confirm whether it is the drum or the toner that is being reported.

Inkjet machines: PIXMA

Code family	What it means	What to do
1000 / 1003	No paper in the tray, or paper not detected.	Reload, square the guides against the stack.
1300	Paper jam.	Clear it in the direction of travel, and account for any fragment.
1401 / 1403 / 1430	Print head not installed, not recognised, or faulty.	Reseat the head and the cartridges, clean the contacts. If it persists, the head itself is at fault — and on cheaper models that is often the end of the machine.
1600 / 1660 / 1688	Ink related — low, cartridge not installed, or empty.	Check each cartridge is seated.
1700 / 1701	Waste ink absorber approaching capacity.	A service item. Printing usually continues for a while.
5B00 / 5B01 / 58xx	Waste ink absorber full.	Service required. On inexpensive machines this is commonly where replacement beats repair.
6000	General paper feed fault.	Check the path and the rollers.
5100	Carriage movement obstructed.	Power off and check for an obstruction, packing material or a jammed piece of paper in the carriage path.

The three that mean stop

Repeating fixing or fusing errors (E000 family). One restart after cooling is reasonable. A code that returns is telling you the assembly is finished, and continuing to reset it is not a plan.

Laser scanner faults (E100 family). Diagnosis, not trial and error. The optical assembly is precisely what the safety interlocks exist to keep covered.

Print head failures on consumer inkjets. Before agreeing to a repair, ask what the head costs. We will tell you when a machine is not worth fixing, and consumer PIXMA head failures are the most frequent case where it is not.

The waste ink absorber, explained

This one confuses people because the machine is not obviously broken.

Inkjets run cleaning cycles that flush ink through the nozzles, and that ink has to go somewhere — a pad inside the machine. The pad has a finite capacity, and the printer counts what it has sent there. When the count reaches the limit, the machine reports it and eventually stops.

Two useful consequences. First, it is a genuine service item, not a phantom fault. Second, an office whose inkjet runs frequent cleaning cycles — usually because it sits idle between bursts of printing — will reach this point sooner. If that describes your printing pattern, the machine is a poor fit for it, and a small laser suits it far better.

Maintenance and consumable messages

Canon machines distinguish between faults and scheduled items, and the second category causes unnecessary alarm.

Drum and toner messages on laser machines are counters reaching thresholds. On separate-drum designs, read carefully which one is being reported — replacing toner because the drum counter tripped is the classic wasted purchase, and the difference is easy to tell from the page.

Fixing unit life on higher-volume machines is also a page counter. The machine keeps printing; the message is telling you to plan a replacement rather than to stop.

Waste toner full, on machines that collect it separately, is a genuine service item. Continuing past it risks toner escaping inside the machine, which is a much larger cleaning job than emptying the container would have been.

The rule that holds across all of them: a counter message is a planning prompt, an error code is a fault. Treating the first as an emergency wastes money and treating the second as routine turns a small repair into a large one.

A caution about service mode

Canon machines have service modes that expose counters, resets and adjustments not available from the normal menus, and instructions for entering them circulate freely online.

They exist for technicians with the service documentation for that specific model, and the reason to be careful is not secrecy — it is that several of the adjustments in there affect fusing temperature, registration and motor timing. Setting one wrong on a machine you rely on can turn a working printer into one that jams or fuses badly, and the fault will not obviously trace back to what was changed.

Resetting a counter after genuinely replacing the part is reasonable. Working through service-mode settings to see whether one of them fixes a print-quality problem is how a repairable machine becomes a project.

What to send when you ask

The full model designation. Canon's naming runs close together across machines with different internals.
Both codes — the panel message and the support code.
Whether it happens on print, copy or scan. On multi-function machines this alone often locates the fault, because a machine that prints perfectly but fails through the document feeder has a feeder problem, not a printer problem.

With those three we can usually tell you what it is, and whether it is worth repairing, before anyone travels — for Canon machines specifically and printers generally.