Why is there a paper jam error with no paper inside?

I’ve tried all solutions already such as shaking the printer gently, checking for paper pieces, et cetera. There’s one solution I haven’t tried which is taking out the ink cartridges. The problem is that the paper jam error comes up & I cannot take them out because there is a barrier that lies on top of the cartridges. I tried moving it to the left side, but it does not budge. On top of that, there’s always a grinding noise that comes with it,