My printer is offline (Windows 10 Printer Troubleshooting)
If your printer showing offline, it won’t be able to communicate with your computer. Here are a few simple tips for Windows 10 users that will help you get your printer back online so you can continue printing.
Check The Offline Status of Your Printer
- First, make sure that your printer and your computer are on the same wireless network. You can check what wireless network your printer is on by accessing the wireless network settings on your printer’s display screen. Check your printer manual for specific instructions on how to pull up your wireless information.
- Double check that your printer hasn’t been switched to “Offline” mode. To do this, go to Start>Settings>Devices>Printers & Scanners. Then select your printer and go to “Open Queue”. Under “Printer”, make sure “Use Printer Offline” is not checked off.
Set your printer to default
- Go to Start and search for “Control Panel”.
- Under the “Control Panel” menu, select “Devices and Printers”.
- Right click on the printer you’d like to set as default, then select “set as default”.
- If you see a message that says, “Windows will stop managing your default printer for you,” select “OK”, then try printing again.
Reset the printer spooler
- In search bar, type “Services”.
- Then, in the “Services” menu scroll down until you find the “Print Spooler” service.
- Right-click and select “Restart”.
- The printer spooler helps your printer organize what documents needs to printed and in what order. If one document in the print queue is producing an error, it can hold up any other documents that are also in the print queue and prevent your printer from printing.
Restart Your Computer
Another simple but often overlooked fix is a printer hard reset. To reset your printer, power it down and unplug it from the wall for about 30 seconds. Then plug it back in, power it back on and try printing again.
In case if you’re HP user then you can look here to fix HP Printer Showing Offline error.
