How long should an ink cartridge remain in my product if it's not used often?

• When an installed ink cartridge is more than six months old, you may need to replace it. If you notice that your printouts don't look as good as they used to and quality doesn't improve after cleaning and aligning the print head, replace the ink cartridges.
  
  Related tasks
  Removing and Installing Ink Cartridges
  Related references
  Ink Cartridge Part Numbers