Why Would Printer Be Offline? 4 Easiest Solutions!!

Why would printer be offline when everything seems fine? If you are asking this question, you need to know what makes your printer keep showing the offline message. And then you should try the right solution to bring the printer back online.

Why Printer Goes Offline

Many things can make your printer go offline, and each cause requires you to use different troubleshooting. Below are the common causes of the printer going offline. Learn every single thing that may cause an offline status on your computer before you learn how to fix the issue.

1.     Connectivity issues

Most offline cases on printers are caused by connectivity issues. If you are connecting the printer using a cable, you may not plug the cable properly or firmly. This is going to make your computer fails to detect the printer.

And if you are using a wireless area network to connect both your computer and printer, there may be something wrong with the WiFi network. Make sure that you check the connectivity you use to connect the devices. Fix it immediately and see whether it eliminates the error or not.

2.     The printer’s offline mode is active

The printer going offline is an issue that may occur on computers with Windows 10, Windows 11, or other operating systems. One thing that causes the issue is the offline mode on your Windows operating system. The offline mode may prevent your printer from working normally.

Fortunately, Windows users can easily disable the offline mode on their computer and make their printer works properly again. Learn the steps to disable the offline mode from the details on this page.

3.     Needs a rest

Your printer may show the offline status because it has been working for days and it needs to get some rest. Sometimes, turning off the printer for a while is enough to refresh the device and make it ready to work again. If this is the problem, then consider rebooting the printer and restarting the computer.

4.     The printer firmware needs an update

Your printer may malfunction if the firmware experiences an issue. If the offline status appears because of the firmware bug, then you need to get the latest version of the firmware for your printer. It is easy to find and download the latest version of firmware for your printer.

Just make sure that you get the printer’s firmware from the official website of the printer manufacturer. Or you can get the latest update via the software you have installed on the computer. After updating the firmware of your printer, you may stop asking why would printer be offline.

5.     The print spooler needs a restart

The print spooler is a very important system component, it is going to power the printing jobs execution. It will also make your Windows computer able to detect the printer. If the print spooler doesn’t work, the printer may display the offline status, restart the print spooler to fix this issue.

Fixing Printers That Keep Showing Offline Status

Those five things above are the most common causes of the offline issue on most printers. Now, you need to know how to fix the issue. Below are the easiest solutions that are going to help you get rid of the offline status and use the printer like always.

1.     Check the connectivity

Before accessing the PC settings, you need to check the connectivity of your printer. Make sure that you plug the printer correctly into the power socket and then turn on the device. If you are using a wireless printer, then you need to make sure that both the PC and printer are on the same WiFi network.

Some printers become inactive or enter sleep mode after a few minutes. In this sleep mode, your computer is going to think that your printer is going offline. Then you need to press the power button or any other button on your printer and you will wake the printer up.

Wait for a few seconds before checking the printer status again, it should become online on the computer. The wireless printer needs special treatment. You need to reboot your router before reconnecting your printer to the wireless network.

2.     Disable the offline mode

The second answer for why would printer be offline is the active offline mode. To disable the offline mode, you should take some steps below.

• Run Settings on your Windows computer and then access the Devices menu where you can find Printers & Scanners
• Choose the printer you want to fix and then click on the open queue button under the printer detail.
• On the new dialog box, click the Printer tab and then uncheck the Use Printer Offline This is going to bring your printer back online.

After changing the setting, you can consider restarting your devices, both the printer and the computer. The steps above are for Windows 11 and Windows 10 but you can try the same steps on your Windows 7 computer or another operating system.

3.     Run the troubleshooter

If you have no idea why the printer doesn’t want to be online, then the troubleshooter is going to help you fix this. A troubleshooter is a built-in tool Windows add to help you find and fix problems on Windows that are related to the printer.

• Open the Settings app on your Windows computer and then access the Update & Security Select Troubleshoot and then click the Additional troubleshooters’ option.
• And then click Printer where you can find the Run the troubleshooter button, and click on that button.

The tool is going to check the print queue and print spooler service for any errors. This tool will also examine the configuration of your printer’s network and also run some other troubleshooting checks. After checking, the troubleshooter is going to recommend some solutions.

4.     Simply restart your devices

Sometimes, software glitches cause an error and make your printer doesn’t want to go online. And the easiest solution possible is restarting the devices. Turn off both devices and then wait for a few minutes before turning them back on.

Five things may be the reasons why would printer be offline. Fortunately, there are solutions you can consider to fix this offline issue.