Printer shows as offline: a practical checklist

Work through the steps in order and try printing a page after each one. Keep the printer within reach, because several checks use its own buttons or screen.

1. Check the power, cables and printer display

   Start with the printer itself. A printer that is asleep, showing an error or half-connected looks offline to Windows.

   • Make sure it is switched on and awake. Press a button or touch the screen to wake it.
   • Read any message on its display, and clear paper jams, open covers or empty trays first.
   • For a USB printer, push the cable in firmly at both ends, plug it straight into the PC rather than a hub, and try a different USB port.
   • For a printer on a network cable, check that the cable is secure and the light beside the port is lit.

2. Check that the printer is on your Wi-Fi network

   A wireless printer must be on the same home network as your PC. Printers often drop off after a power cut or a router change, and they do not always say so.

   Find the printer’s network status on its control panel, usually under a Wireless, Wi-Fi or Network menu, or print a network configuration page (the manual explains how for your model). Compare the network name it shows with the one your PC uses under Settings › Network & internet › Wi-Fi.

   If	Then
   The printer is on the same network	Go to step 3.
   It is not connected, or the signal is weak	Move it closer to the router, then reconnect it from its control panel.
   It shows an old network name, or you have a new router or Wi-Fi password	Reconnect it with the wireless setup option on its control panel, the WPS button, or the manufacturer’s app. The manual or the manufacturer’s support website has the exact steps.
   Your PC is on a guest network	Connect the PC to the main network. Guest networks usually keep devices from seeing each other.

   If your router shows two network names, one for 2.4 GHz and one for 5 GHz, they are usually the same home network. Many printers can join only the 2.4 GHz one.

3. Restart the printer, router and PC, in that order

   Restarting in this order lets each device rejoin the network cleanly, so Windows can find the printer again at its current address.

   1. Turn the printer off with its power button.
   2. Unplug the router, and the modem if it is a separate box, for 30 seconds. Plug the modem in first, then the router, and wait until the internet works again, usually a few minutes.
   3. Turn the printer on and wait until it shows it is connected.
   4. Restart the PC with Start › Power › Restart.

4. Clear the queue and turn off Use Printer Offline

   A stuck document can hold the printer in an error state, and the Use Printer Offline setting tells Windows to stop sending anything at all.

   1. Go to Settings › Bluetooth & devices › Printers & scanners, select your printer, then Open print queue. On Windows 10, go to Settings › Devices › Printers & scanners, select the printer, then Open queue.
   2. Cancel any documents waiting there.
   3. Open the Printer menu (in the newer Windows 11 queue, the … menu at the top) and make sure Use Printer Offline is not ticked. If it is, select it to clear the tick.

   If the documents will not cancel, follow the stuck print queue procedure, then come back here.

5. Make it the default printer

   Windows can change the default printer on its own, then send your documents to an old printer or to Microsoft Print to PDF instead.

   1. On the Printers & scanners page, turn off Let Windows manage my default printer. On Windows 10 it is a tick box on the same page.
   2. Select your printer, then Set as default. On Windows 10, select the printer, then Manage › Set as default.

   If the list shows your printer twice, for example once with (Copy 1) after the name, the copy is often the one that works. Try printing to it, and remove the one that stays offline.

6. Remove the printer and add it again

   Removing and adding the printer gives Windows a fresh connection and a fresh driver.

   1. On Printers & scanners, select the printer, then Remove (on Windows 10, Remove device), and confirm.
   2. Restart the PC.
   3. Return to Printers & scanners and select Add device (on Windows 10, Add a printer or scanner). When your printer appears, select it to add it.

   If it does not appear, select The printer that I want isn’t listed (on Windows 11, then Add manually), choose to add it by IP address, and enter the address shown on the printer’s network configuration page.

7. Install the driver from the manufacturer’s website

   Most printers work with the driver Windows supplies, but if yours keeps dropping offline, the manufacturer’s own driver or software may include fixes for your model.

   Go to the manufacturer’s support website, search for your exact model number (printed on a label on the printer), and choose the download for your version of Windows. Run the installer, restart the PC, then print a test page from the printer’s page in Printers & scanners.