How to Fix a Printer That Is Offline: 8 Steps That Work
When a printer shows as offline, it usually does not mean the printer is broken or even switched off. It means your computer has lost contact with it — the connection between the two has failed, the print queue is stuck, or a setting is telling the computer to treat the printer as unavailable. The fix is almost always one of a handful of simple things, and you do not need to be technical to work through them.
Go through the steps below in order. They start with the checks that take ten seconds and move towards the ones that take a few minutes. In most homes and small offices, the printer is printing again by step 4 or 5.
Step 1: Check the Obvious — Power, Paper, and Error Lights
Start at the printer itself, not the computer. Is it switched on? Is there paper in the tray? Is any warning light flashing or an error message showing on its small screen — out of paper, paper jam, low ink, a door not fully closed?
A printer in an error state often appears unavailable to the computer, because from the computer’s point of view it might as well be: it cannot print. Clear whatever the printer is complaining about first — reload paper, close the tray properly, clear any jam carefully by following the printer’s own instructions — and wait half a minute to see if the message clears on its own.
Step 2: Make Sure It Is the Selected Printer
Computers that have ever been connected to more than one printer — an old one, a work one, a print to PDF option — sometimes send documents to the wrong place, or show the wrong printer’s status. Open the document you want to print, look at the print preview, and check that the printer named at the top is actually your printer.
While you are there, set it as the default so future prints go to the right device: on Windows, go to Settings, then Bluetooth and devices, then Printers and scanners, and set your printer as default (you may need to turn off the option that lets Windows manage your default printer first). On a Mac, go to System Settings, then Printers and Scanners, and choose it as the default printer at the bottom. Documents sent to a printer that no longer exists are a surprisingly common cause of this kind of confusion.
Step 3: Turn Off the Use Printer Offline Setting
Windows has a setting that can quietly switch a printer into this mode — sometimes flipped by accident, sometimes left behind after a real connection problem long since fixed. To check it: open Settings, Bluetooth and devices, Printers and scanners, click your printer, and choose Open print queue. In the queue window, click the Printer menu at the top. If Use Printer Offline has a tick next to it, click it to untick it.
While that queue window is open, also look at the list of waiting documents. One stuck or corrupt job at the front of the queue can block everything behind it and keep the printer looking unwell. Cancel any documents that have been sitting there failing — you can always send them again once the printer is working.
Step 4: Restart the Print Spooler
The print spooler is the background service on your computer that manages print jobs — it takes each document, queues it, and feeds it to the printer. When it gets stuck, printers show as unavailable even though nothing is wrong with them. Restarting it takes under a minute:
- Press the Windows key, type services, and open the Services app.
- Scroll down to Print Spooler, right-click it, and choose Restart.
- If Restart is greyed out, choose Stop, wait a few seconds, then choose Start.
On a Mac there is no spooler to restart in the same way; instead, in Printers and Scanners, right-click (or Control-click) the printer list and choose Reset printing system, then add the printer again — note this removes all printers and queues, so use it only if the later steps have not helped either.
Step 5: Reconnect the Wi-Fi
If your printer connects wirelessly, this is the single most common culprit. The printer may have dropped off the network after the router restarted, the Wi-Fi password changed, or the printer simply lost the connection while asleep. On the printer’s own screen, open its network or wireless settings and check: does it say it is connected, and to the correct network name? Printers can only talk to computers on the same network, so if your printer joined a guest network, or your computer is on a different band or a different router, they will never find each other.
If the printer shows as disconnected, run its wireless setup again and rejoin your home network. If your whole home network has been acting up lately — devices dropping, settings lost — it may be worth sorting the network itself out first; our guide on how to reset network settings covers phones and computers step by step. Also check the printer is reasonably close to the router, or at least not separated by several thick walls — a weak, borderline signal causes printers that keep dropping their connection all day.
Step 6: Restart Everything, in the Right Order
When a connection has got itself into a confused state, a clean restart in the right order clears it more reliably than restarting things at random:
- Turn the printer off, and unplug it from the wall for 30 seconds.
- Restart your router: unplug it, wait 30 seconds, plug it back in, and give it a few minutes to fully start and reconnect.
- Restart your computer.
- Turn the printer back on and wait until it has finished starting up and rejoined the Wi-Fi.
Then try printing a simple test page. This single routine fixes a large share of these problems, because it forces every device to rebuild the connection from scratch instead of clinging to a broken one.
Step 7: Remove the Printer and Add It Again
If the computer still insists the printer cannot be reached, remove the printer completely and add it fresh. This rebuilds the computer’s side of the connection, including any damaged settings stored for that printer.
On Windows: Settings, Bluetooth and devices, Printers and scanners — click the printer and choose Remove. Then click Add device and let Windows find it again; make sure the printer is on and connected to Wi-Fi while it searches. On a Mac: System Settings, Printers and Scanners — select the printer, remove it with the minus or Remove Printer button, then add it again with the plus button. Print a test page before trying your real document.
Step 8: Update or Reinstall the Driver
The driver is the software that lets your computer and printer understand each other, and an outdated or damaged driver can cause a perfectly healthy printer to show up as unavailable. If the steps above have not worked, go to the printer manufacturer’s official support website, find your exact model, and download the latest driver or full software package for your version of Windows or macOS. Install it, restart the computer, and try again.
Avoid downloading drivers from random driver updater websites — they are a common source of junk software. The manufacturer’s own site is the only place you need.
When It Is Probably the Hardware
If your printer will not print even its own built-in test page — most printers can print one directly from their own menu, with no computer involved — then the problem is inside the printer itself, not the connection. Warning signs include grinding or clicking noises, paper repeatedly jamming in the same place, error codes that return immediately after clearing them, or the printer not powering on properly at all. At that point, check whether it is still under warranty before paying for a repair; for inexpensive home printers, a repair can cost more than a replacement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my printer keep going offline?
The usual reasons are a weak or dropping Wi-Fi connection, the printer going to sleep and not waking properly, the Use Printer Offline setting being switched on, or a stuck print spooler. If it happens often, work through steps 3, 4, and 5 — between them they cover the repeat offenders.
Why does the printer say offline when it is turned on?
Because offline is your computer’s opinion, not the printer’s. It means the computer cannot currently reach or use the printer — due to a network break, a queue problem, or a setting — even though the printer itself is powered up and fine.
Will removing and re-adding the printer delete my documents?
No. It removes the printer’s entry and its waiting print queue from the computer, nothing else. Your saved documents are untouched; you will just need to send anything you still want printed again afterwards.
Does this also fix a printer that is offline on a Mac?
Yes, the logic is the same: check the printer’s own state, make sure it is the selected/default printer, confirm it is on the same Wi-Fi network, restart everything in order, and remove and re-add it. Only step 4 differs, since macOS has no print spooler service to restart by hand.
My printer is connected by USB. Can it still show as offline?
Yes. With a cable connection, the usual causes are a loose or damaged cable, the cable being plugged into a faulty USB port, or a driver problem. Try a different USB port and, if you have one, a different cable before working through the driver step.
