It works in principle, but I think there will always be notices and pop-ups informing you that there are no colour cartridges in the printer (if there aren't any). It may also be that the printer does not work at all without colour cartridges inserted (I have never tested this because it is not relevant for me). Otherwise, as Camporosso has already written, simply select monochrome or greyscale printing. For me, however, this raises the question of whether you should buy a photo printer if you only print in black and white...