Why Does Printer Say Offline When Connected? Quick Solution Tips

It is very frustrating when you find that your printer is showing offline but it is connected to your pc or laptop. This printer problem is not new, but it is a recurring issue that can happen anytime.

I have faced this problem many times and finally, I got angry and frustrated then I decide to get a full knowledge of it.

I reached out to a local expert, call printer customer care, and deeply searched the web to get the actual cause and solution.

I am going to share a few tips that have helped me fix my problems and might be useful for you also.

Why Does Printer Say Offline When Connected?

Look there are a few reasons that why does printer say offline when connected:

1. It may be because of a faulty cable connection. It often happens that the cable connection you made is not accurate or it may be disconnected due to dust and dirt. 
2. It can be due to a printer jam because of pending print jobs.
3. It can also occur due to printer drivers and packages. If the printer drivers are not updated timely then it can disconnect your printer.

This is the most common and actual reason for which a printer goes offline. In this article, we will provide you with a solution that is applicable to all types of printers Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, and more.

Check your cable connections

The very first step is to check your cable connection double times. It is a very general issue that happens mostly so before going to any deep technical solution it is good to start with this step.

You have to check that does network cable of the printer is connected well with the router and with that check your printer cable connection with your laptop or PC.

To be sure try to move your cables to alternate ports and also change the cables so that you check the fault is not with the cable.

Now Restart Your Printer

After you check all the cable connections it is now time to restart your printer. Restarting the printer sometimes helps to regain the connection by rebooting your machine.

Make Printer Online Manually

You can also change your printer online manually by going to the start button then selecting the control panel and then clicking Devices and Printers. After that do a right-click the printer in question and see “See what’s printing”.

A new window will open choose printer from the top of the menu bar. And from the drop-down menu select “Use Printer Online”. This process also helps you to bring your printer online manually.

Clear Pending Printing Jobs

But if your printers still show offline then it may be because of a pending printing job. It may have happened that you have commanded a document print which is in the queue causing your printer to go offline. 

To solve this you have to go to the “See what’s printing” menu by following the above method and right-click then “cancel” all pending printing jobs. After that click “Use Printer Online” and then restart your pc or laptop and printer.

Try to remove and reinstall your printer

You can also try to remove and reinstall your printer to change printer offline mode to online. You can easily remove your printer by going to “devices and printers” from your computer control panel and then selecting the printer model you like to remove and clicking “remove”. 

Now you have to reinstall your printer on your laptop or pc. If you are using a wired printer then simply connect your printer and computer with a USB cable. 

But if you are using a wireless printer then you have to first turn on your printer after that on your computer click “change PC settings” now go to “PC and devices” and select “devices”. ‘Select add a device” and select the printer model that you want to install. 

If you are a Mac user and having trouble connecting a wireless printer then you can see our detailed guide on how to connect a wireless printer to Mac. 

To solve this you have to go to the “See what’s printing” menu by following the above method and right-click then “cancel” all pending printing jobs. After that click “Use Printer Online” and then restart your pc or laptop and printer.

Remove And Reinstall Printer Drivers

In many situations, the printer offline problem is caused due to the printer drivers. So, it is also a good idea to remove and reinstall the printer’s drivers. 

How to remove drivers: For this, you have to use Windows as an Admin if not then sign in as one. Now type CMD in the search bar after that a command prompt will open now type “printui /s /t2” after that in question remove the printer driver and package.

How to reinstall drivers: To reinstall drivers you need to go to the “settings” then “printers” select the printer model.

After that right-click on the printer and go to “properties” then under the “general” or “details” select the driver button and choose the driver again.

You might be required to download the driver if it is not available or the driver has an update so you can download it from the manufacturer’s website. 

Uncheck The “Use Printer Offline mode”

Don’t check “use printer offline” if it is then you have to uncheck it because it will not print any document in the print queue. 

So, click the start button then go to “Devices and Printers” or you can simply write in the search bar. Then select your printer and right-click on it then click “See What’s Printing” or you can left-click on your printer and select “manage device”.

After that, a printer menu window will open from there uncheck “Use Printer Offline”. After unchecking you can print any printing document in the print queue. 

Conclusion

Here we conclude our article “Why Does Printer Say Offline When Connected”. These are the major reasons that put printers offline and by following these steps you can solve it.

I personally faced printer problems three times the first was a connectivity issue, the second was a driver-related problem, and the third printer jam due to pending printing jobs. 

Hope the “Why Does Printer Say Offline When Connected” article really helps you to troubleshoot your printer problems. If it still exists you can mail me from my contact page so that I can help you to solve it.