It could be panicking if your printer goes offline at a wrong time. Like when you are in a hurry to print a document for an important meeting that’s about to take place in a few minutes. Moreover, the status of the printer in the devices and Printers window shows the same.
Well, that’s a prevalent issue, and it’s not rocket-science to resolve it. Here are a few ways to deal with the problem if the printer shows offline status.
Check Printer Connection
If the printer goes offline, the first thing you must check is the connection. Chances are there is something wrong, and your printer is not able to communicate with your system. So, check the wired or wireless connection whichever you have.
To check the connection, first, reboot your printer. Now check all the connection cables to see it is properly connected to the system. Also, see that the USB port in which it is connected is working properly.
If the connection is wired, make sure the connection is properly connected to the ethernet port, and the connection from the router is secure as well. Also, check the network signal on your printer and see if it is blinking.
And if the printer is wireless, make sure it is connected to your PC network. And you must be able to see the lit-up wireless icon on the panel of your printer.
Update The Driver
Your printer could also get offline due to the faulty drivers. So, you can reinstall or update the drivers for resolving this issue. You can manually update the drivers and even you can opt for an automatic update as well.
For manual updation, go to the website of the manufacturer of your system, search for the recent driver with the model details of your printer and OS and install it. Or you can use automatic updating tools if you don’t have that much time for updating the drivers manually.
Check Printing Status
Sometimes, Windows automatically update the printer driver. This sometimes changes the printer settings as well and you will not have any clue about it. To deal with this reason, restart your printer and press together Windows and I keys. Go to the devices and then to devices and printers.
There you will find your printer icon that must be carrying a green tick mark. Right-click on it and select see what’s printing. If the icon is gray, set it as your default printer with the right-click. And then check what’s printing.
Go to printer option and if you see a check mark next to the Use Printer Offline and Pause printing options, click on them and remove the marks. And now check if you can print.
Restart The Print Spooler
Print spooler service is vital for keeping the printer functional. If this service doesn’t work, your printer will show the offline mode. To check if the spooler service is working properly, press Windows and R at the same time. In the run window, type in services.msc and hit enter.
To locate print spooler faster press the P button on your keyboard. Check the status of the spooler and see if it’s running. If you are unable to see the status, right-click on the spooler and click on start. Or, you can also restart the service. After you are done, close the window and see if your printer is online now.
Add A Second Printer
If you have a wireless printer, you can use this method to resolve the offline printer issue in case no other solution worked for you. For your printer, you can set a manual IP address and add a port on your PC for matching them. For that, you must have the IP address of your printer. You can find it in the manual or on the website of the manufacturer.
Go to devices by pressing Windows and ‘I’ keys together. Now go to the devices and printers option. Go to the printer properties by right-clicking on your printer. Navigate to the ports tab and then to add a port option. There, select Standard TCP/IP Port and click on the new port option. Hit next. There you will need to enter the IP address of your printer along with the port name and hit next.
Wait for the system to add the second printer then exit the setup. Restart your system and see if your printer is back up online or not. With these solutions, your printer should be up and running flawlessly. However, in some cases, these solutions don’t work. In that case, you might have to call in an expert for looking into the matter and resolving it. It could also be the hardware problem where some parts might need to get repaired or replaced.
