Follow some of these steps to change your printer status from printer offline to printer online.
Sometimes when printing there is an error between the device and printer. The device or computer thinks the printer is offline, but the printer is on and ready to start printing.
Check your printer cable is correctly attached, your WiFi is enabled or check the paper tray at the back of the printer to see if some paper is stuck.
A printer appearing as “Offline” error can be down to problems with your printer driver or software.
Check when your printer last did an update. You should also check the age of the printer. Older printers will tend to be more temperamental with printer errors.
Printer offline to online troubleshooting can be used with all types of printers including Brother, Canon, Epson, HP and many other printers.
How can I make my offline printer show as online again?
Follow each step to fix your printer from offline to online.
Check your Printer & Printer Cable
Networked Printer Offline – Check the Ethernet cable is firmly inserted and not corrupt. Attach a cable to your computer/or device to make sure your printer is working. Therefore the fault could be with your network connection.
Wireless Printer Offline – Check your internet connection and the router connection. Attach a cable to your computer/or device to make sure your printer is working. Therefore the fault could be with your network connection.
Printer Cable – Check the connection in multiple ports or sockets on your device. Check the USB printer cable is inserted correctly at both ends.
Try using a different cable to check if the cable is not faulty.
How to Manually set the Printer to “Online”
Go to the Start menu on the bottom left of your screen.
Select Control Panel and then Devices and Printers.
Right click the printer and select “See what’s printing”.
Choose “Printer” from the menu bar at the top.
Select “Use Printer Online” from the menu.
Remove Any Pending Job on the Printer
On “See what’s printing” menu right click and “Cancel” any print jobs present.
With the print jobs removed select “Use Printer Online” again.
If any print jobs remain then try restating both your PC and printer.
Sometimes the printer and spooler get overloaded which creates faults.
Uninstall and Reinstall Printer
Right click the printer from devices and Printers and select “Remove device”.
Add the printer by selecting the “Add a Printer” from “Devices and Printers”.
Remove Printer Drivers and Packages
Make sure you are using Windows as Admin or sign-in as one.
Type CMD in the search bar.
With command prompt open type “printui /s /t2” including the spaces to open the Print Server Properties window.
Now remove the Driver and Package for the printer in question.
You can now add your printer again by selecting Add a Printer from Devices and Printers.
Your printer should now be showing as online and allow you to continue printing.
If not there is likely to be an issue with the printer electronically, further advice would be to contact the printer’s manufacturer or a printer technician.
Always check the cost of a printer fixing error in some cases it may be cheaper to purchase a new printer rather than pay the fixing and maintenance cost.
Another way you can get your printer back online. Follow the steps below:
To attempt to get your printer online. Go to “Settings” and then “Printers.” Right-click on the printer and select “Use Printer Online.”
Check to see if there are any print jobs and clear them. Double click on the selected printer.
Go to “Printer Menu” and select “Cancel All Documents.”
If there was a printer jam or job that may cause the printer to show an error and go offline.
Try to print again to set the printer back online. Print a test page to see if the error has been resolved.
Find the printer and switch it to “printer off” and then turn it back on.
Check to see if the printer has a jam which can create an error.
Check all the network connections and wireless connections to make sure all connections are working. Restart the device or computer.
Re-install the Printer Driver
To reinstall the printer driver go to “Settings” then “Printers” and select the printer.
Right-click on the printer and choose “Properties”.
Under the “General” or “Details” look for the driver button, select it and choose the driver again.
You may also have to download the driver from the printer manufacturer’s website.
Reinstall the printer. Under “Printers” in the “Settings” menu, go back select the printer.
Delete the printer from the menu and reinstall it again through the “Add printer” wizard.
Use the latest printer driver from the printer manufacturer’s website.
If this doesn’t work you can try these simple steps:
Click “Start,” then select the “Devices and Printers” folder. Or type in “”Devices and Printers” in the search bar open. Or type “Printers” to open the settings menu.
Right-click the icon for your printer. It may be labelled as part of the device name or printer name. Check your device if you’re unsure. Click the “See What’s Printing” option.
Or Left-Click the printer and select “Manage Device”
Click the “Printer” menu in the window that opens and uncheck “Use Printer Offline.” Any items in the print queue for your printer will then print.
