To provide an ink jet recorder having such a cap structure as waste ink does not flow backward into a nozzle nor adhere to the nozzle forming face at the time of cleaning a recording head.

The ink jet recorder comprises a recording head performing recording by ejecting ink from a nozzle toward a recording medium, a capping unit for sealing the nozzle forming face of the recording head with a cap member, a suction unit for discharging ink in the recording head forcibly by applying a negative pressure under a state where the nozzle forming face of the recording head is sealed with a cap member wherein the volume of the cap member is not smaller than the volume of ink being sucked by single suction of the suction unit.