Lexmark / MX431 / MS431 office laser family

Paper jam in trays - Paper is jammed in the tray feed path.

Paper is jammed in the tray feed path.

This guide is scoped to the MX431 / MS431 office laser family family. Exact menu wording, cartridge naming, and service behavior can still vary by model variant and firmware.

Severity

Medium

Most likely cause

Paper loaded unevenly or above the tray fill mark.

Can you keep using it?

Maybe after the first checks

Consumables involved

Paper, Tray path

Can you keep using it?

Can you keep using it?

Contact customer support if any of these apply

  • !Tray jams return repeatedly on clean paper after a full clear.
  • !The same tray path jams every time, pointing to a pickup or guide hardware issue.
If the printer still starts normally: Finish the first checks once, then stop if the same message repeats or the printer still cannot return to ready.

What to check first

Step-by-step checks

  1. 1

    Consumable check

    Open the tray path and remove any jammed paper or scraps fully.

    Start with the official recovery step before moving on to parts or deeper servicing.

  2. 2

    Consumable check

    Reload a smaller stack of clean, flat paper below the fill line.

  3. 3

    Consumable check

    Verify the paper guides are aligned with the loaded media.

Background

What this message usually means

Lexmark's MX431 and MS431 office family guides treat tray-feed jams as a full tray-path clear, not just a quick pull from the paper drawer. In practice this usually means a sheet stalled near the tray pickup or entered the main path badly and must be removed fully before printing resumes.

Diagnosis

Likely causes

Most common

Paper loaded unevenly or above the tray fill mark.

Common

A torn scrap remains near the tray pickup path.

Possible

Damaged or curled paper entered the feed path badly.

Service

When service or replacement is more likely

  • -Repeated tray jams on office printers often point to feed wear rather than one bad sheet.

See also

Related codes in this family

Explore more

More Lexmark printer families

Source notes

Lexmark's official MX431 interactive guide includes tray-jam procedures that focus on clearing the tray path fully and reloading the media correctly.

Built around official Lexmark user-guide and service-manual material for the MX431 and closely related mono office models. Exact code behavior can vary a little by print-only versus MFP model and installed options, but the main paper-jam and supply messages stay close across the family.

Printer error codes can vary a little by firmware, region, and exact model variant. Use this guide as a family-level starting point and stop if the next step would require disassembly or service-mode changes.

Known family variants: MX431adn, MX431adw, MS431dn, MS431dw, XM1342

Last reviewed: 2026-04-12

Reference: Open reference

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