“Printer offline” almost never means the printer is broken. It means Windows and the printer have stopped talking, and one of them needs a nudge. Work through this list in order – most people are printing again by step 3.
The sequence
- Restart the printer properly. Off at the power button, unplug for 30 seconds, plug back in, wait for it to fully wake (lights stop flashing).
- Untick “Use Printer Offline”. Start > Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners > your printer > Open print queue. In the menu, make sure Use Printer Offline is not ticked, and cancel any stuck jobs while you’re there.
- Restart the print spooler. Press Start, type services, open Services, find Print Spooler, right-click and choose Restart. This clears the jam that a stuck job leaves behind.
- Check it’s on the right network. Wireless printers love hopping to a guest network after a router reboot. Print the network status page from the printer’s own menu and check the Wi-Fi name matches your computer’s.
- Reinstall the driver. Remove the printer in Settings, then re-add it. If Windows can’t find it, add it by IP address (on the printer’s network status page) – IP installs are far more reliable than auto-discovery.
If it keeps happening
A printer that drops offline every few days usually needs a static IP so it stops moving around the network. That’s a five-minute job for us – raise a ticket and mention this article.