Offline Printer Troubleshooting

Seeing your printer in ‘Offline’ can catch you off guard and frustrate you. Especially, there is no bigger headache then when you have a very important task related to documents and your device doesn’t work. The good news is there are ways to handle such a situation and knowledge of printer troubleshooting is beneficial. 

Prior to thinking about troubleshooting, it is very significant to know why the printer is offline. Here is what we need to know about this common printer issue:

Why does a printer show offline even if it is online?

Generally, your printer will appear offline if it is unable to connect to your PC. Your computer assumes that your printer is not connected, however, in truth; the printer is working on power, connected and ready to do the printing. 

So, what could be the reason behind it? Let us dive into it:

• One of the common reasons is the cable issue. One must check  the powers wire connection. 
  

• The second cause for printer fault might be the temporarily paper-jam issue.

• Another reason for the printer coming as “Offline” may be happening because of printer drivers issues or outdated drivers.  
  

• It is also possible for software updates to cause offline printer issues. Older software or not updated software can become a reason for electronic devices to malfunction. 

When you have applied all the possible causes and still cannot identify the cause or resolve the printer issue. Then, you can follow offline printer issue solving steps.

Offline PrinterTroubleshooting Guide to make it go from offline to online:

1)    Check cable And Wi-Fi:

It is the first step for any user to check if there is an issue with the printer cable. If the printer uses Wi-Fi, the user must also check the printer's and PC's Wi-Fi settings. It's essential that the PC and printer connect to the same Wi-Fi network.

Do make sure that there’s no issue with your internet connection. As it can create problem with the functioning of your device. 

2) Check that the printing mode isn't set to ‘Printer Offline Mode:’

a)    Windows allows users to set the printer to offline Mode.’ You must  check the status of your printer by following these steps:

b)    Navigate to Start > Settings > Devices > Printers and then scanners. 

c)    Click Open queue after selecting your printer. 

d)    Here see the ‘Under Printer’; option, you have not chosen the ‘Use Printer Offline option. 

3)    Follow the steps below to manually set the printer to ‘online’ state

a)    On your desktop, click on the ‘Start’  option then ‘Control Panel’, and then find the ‘Devices and Printers’ option.

 

b)    Select a printer from the list, simply right-click the ‘printer in question’ option and choose ‘See what's printing.’

 

c)    On the pop-up window that opens in front of you, click ‘Printer’ in the top menu bar.

d)    In the drop-down menu, click on the “Use Printer Online" option and then check your device.

 

4) Printer troubleshooting step to add a printer manually again:

 

By adding a printing manually in your computer setting may help your device to show online. Following are the steps to go about it:

a)    Select ‘Remove device’ from the ‘Devices and Printers’ menu option.

b)    Then choose ‘Add a Printer’ from the Devices and Printers menu.

c)    Restart both your PC and printer again. 

5)  Install the latest driver and update your printer software: 

It is important to have the latest drivers & here's how to update the printer drivers on Windows:  

a)    Start by going to Control Panel, then, click on the ‘Hardware & Sound’ option available there.

b)    For information about your computer's hardware, select the 'Device Manager' option. A printer display list appears under the 'Printers' drop-down menu.

c)    Click the ‘Update driver’ option next to the printer you want to update the drivers for & then select either automatic or manual search for drivers.

d)    Make sure you choose automatic update unless you already have the latest drivers downloaded stored somewhere on your PC’ internal or external drives.

e)    You can download a new driver if Windows cannot find one for your printer or doesn't show one at all. You can visit the manufacturer site of your printer brand to do so.  After downloading the latest drivers, install them manually.

Are you in need of our assistance?

It is possible that even after reading the above troubleshooting steps for printer issues, you are still unable to resolve the issue. Get in touch with our experts so that they can help you resolve the ‘Offline Printer’ problem. Please contact us here.