Know How to Fix Printer Offline Windows 10 Issue with Simple Tricks

Printer offline is one of the most annoying issues that bother users of different printers. However, according to our survey, this error is more common for Windows 10 users. 

Thus, we have decided to discuss this problem for the sake of Windows 10 users. This doesn’t mean that this article won’t be useful to other Windows users. They can also refer to this article for solving their issue. 

Methods to Fix Printer Offline Windows 10:

Here are some of the accessible ways to solve the concerning issue. 

Method 1: Verify the Connection Between Your Printer and Computer

The printer will display an offline status due to a lack of connection between your printer and PC. 

Thus, you need to ensure that the USB cable you are using to connect your printer to your PC is not defective. If required plug in the USB cable to another USB port of your PC. 

Then, turn on both the printer and computer and check whether the PC can detect the printer. You will then receive the printer offline message if your PC fails to recognize the printer. 

Method 2: Check The Network Connection

Printer offline error can appear due to a lack of internet connection. So, check the network connection with the following steps:

1. Turn on the printer as well as the computer and connect them to the same network. 
2. If you are using a wireless printer, then ensure that it is not beyond the range of your PC. 
3. If there are any objects between your printer and computer, then remove them. 
4. Now, check the status of your printer. Move on to the next solution if the printer shows an offline status. 

Solution 3: Update Or Reinstall Printer Driver

The printer can display an offline status if your PC lacks updated or compatible printer drivers. 

Hence, follow steps given below to update or reinstall the printer driver. 

1. Type ‘devmgmt.msc’ into the search box and press ‘Enter’ to open Device Manager. 
2. Expand ‘Devices and Printers’ to get the list of devices installed on your PC. 
3. Your printer doesn’t have a proper driver if it has a yellow-colored icon next to it. 
4. In that case, visit the printer manufacturer’s website and choose the ‘Support and Drivers’ option. 
5. Then, click the ‘Device driver and software’ and enter the model number of your printer in the search field. 
6. When prompted, select the Windows version installed on your PC. 
7. Tap on the ‘Downlaod the driver’ button and wait until the progress bar disappears. 
8. After downloading the latest driver, run the installer to set up the driver on your PC. 
9. Turn on the printer as well as the computer, launch Device Manager and ensure that your printer has the latest version of the driver. 

Solution 4: Check The ‘Use Printer Online’ Option

The printer will display an offline status if the ‘Use Printer Online’ option isn’t enabled on your PC. This is why you need to turn on the option by the following steps:

1. Press Windows key and ‘R’ at the same time to open the Run dialog box. 
2. Type ‘control panel’ into the Run box and click ‘OK’ to access the Control Panel window. 
3. Then, navigate to the ‘Devices and Printer’ section and search for your printer. 
4. Choose your printer from the search results and select the ‘Use Printer Online’ checkbox. 
5. Your printer is back online once the status next to the printer changes to ‘Ready.’
6. Now do a print test to ensure that your printer is no longer offline and working correctly. 

Solution 5: Use The Device Manager

1. Press Windows key and ‘R’ on the keyboard to launch the Run application. 
2. Type ‘devmgmt.msc’ into the Run dialog box and click ‘OK’ to launch the Device Manager. 
3. To save your time, you can right-click on the Start menu and open the Device Manager directly. If the Device Manager isn’t available, then follow the above steps. 
4. Go to the ‘View’ tab and check the ‘Use any interrupt assigned to the port’ option. 
5. Enable ‘Legacy plug’ and ‘Play Detection’ features as well. 
6. Click the ‘OK’ button to save the changes. 
7. Restart the system and connect it again to the printer to check the status. 

Solution 6: Enable The Print Spooler

1. In the first step, open the Run application and enter ‘services.msc’ in it. 
2. You will come across the services running at the Windows startup. 
3. Locate and select ‘Print Spooler’ from the list of services and set the ‘Startup Type’ to ‘Automatic.’
4. Now, navigate to the ‘Recovery’ tab and select ‘Restart the service for the first failure; option. 
5. Tap the ‘Apply’ button at the end of the window to let the changes take effect. 
6. Type ‘C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Printers’ into the search box and press ‘Enter.’
7. After that, press ‘Ctrl’ and ‘Alt’ keys simultaneously to select all data inside the printer folder. 
8. Tap the ‘Delete’ button to erase the selected data and restart the system when the process is completed. 

Solution 7: Uninstall And Reinstall The Printer Driver

If none of the above solutions is helpful in fixing the ‘printer offline’ error, then uninstall and then reinstall the printer driver on your PC. 

You can do that by the simple steps mentioned below.

1. Power of the printer and unplug it from the PC. 
2. Right-click on the Start menu on your PC and open the Device Manager. 
3. Click ‘Printers and Scanners’ on the Device Manager window and look for your printer driver. 
4. Right-click on the printer driver and select the ‘Uninstall’ option from the context menu. 
5. Then, check the ‘Delete the driver software for the device’ option on the resulting popup and click ‘OK’ to confirm the uninstallation. 
6. Restart the system and go to Device Manager to ensure that you have installed the printer driver correctly. 

Now, it’s time to reinstall the printer driver and thus, you will need to visit the printer manufacturer’s website and follow the given steps:

1. Enter the printer’s model number in the search field of the manufacturer’s website. 
2. Download drivers and software’ link to find the latest driver available for your printer. 
3. Now, tap the ‘download’ button next to the available printer driver. 
4. After downloading the driver, open Command Prompt and enter ‘setup.exe’ in it. 
5. Press ‘Enter’ to run the above command in order to install the downloaded driver on your PC. 
6. After completing the installation process, restart the printer and your PC. 
7. Now see whether the printer is showing an online status or not. 

If nothing works to fix the ‘printer offline’ issue, then avail som trusted technical support near you to inspect your printer for other glitches.