We can all appreciate a fully functioning and highly capable wireless home network.
Having all your devices set up and properly configured to communicate with one another allows for simple yet powerful home computing, giving you all the functionality you need.
What happens when one of your devices is not working the way it is meant to?
Perhaps, this has already happened to you at least once before, so you may already know how much it can hinder your workflow and productivity.
If you have ever encountered such an issue with your printer, you may have been left wondering what went wrong.
Fortunately, there is most likely a straightforward solution. Having a printer appear as offline can be frustrating, but it is an issue that does not need to disrupt you for long.
In this article, we will look at a few of the reasons your printer may be offline and how to get it back up and running. If you are asking, why is my printer offline, read on.
Determining the Issue and How to Solve It
As we said, there are a few reasons why a printer may appear as being offline, and with each one comes its own solution. We will list each of these potential issues and help you get your printer back online.
Physical Problems and Cable Checks
Your printer may simply not be properly connected. The cable may have become misaligned, or maybe your wireless internet connection has failed.
Whatever the case may be, check all the cables attached to your printer, ensuring that each is properly plugged in.
If everything is in place and you are still having issues, replace the cables with different ones to eliminate them as the problem’s source. You should also insert the cable in different ports to be safe.
If your printer had previously been connected wirelessly, check your internet connection and make sure it is still stable.
You can also directly plug your printer into your computer via a cord just to determine whether or not the device is actually working.
If none of these solutions work, read on to find more.
Manually Setting the Printer to Online
It could be that your printer is perfectly functional but merely is not displaying the list of printers available.
To solve this, when using Windows, click on the Start button on the bottom left of your screen, then select Control Panel, and then Devices and Printers. Right-click on the printer, and then select ‘See what’s printing.’
You will be greeted by another window. Select ‘Printer’ from the menu bar at the top of the dialog panel, and then select ‘Use Printer Online’ from the drop-down menu.
Removing All Printing Jobs
One of your printing jobs may have caused your printer to go offline for several reasons.
To get around this, go back to the ‘See what’s printing’ window, then click ‘Cancel’ on any jobs it lists. Once they are all removed, select ‘Use Printer Online’ once more.
If this does not work, there may be one or two printing jobs that have not been displayed. In this case, your best bet is to restart both your computer and your printer to properly clear the queue.
Reinstalling Your Printer
If your printer is still giving you problems, try removing and then reinstalling it. From the Devices and Printers menu, select ‘Remove device’ and then choose the printer in question.
To reinstall it, select the ‘Add Printer’ option from the same menu, and then click on your printer.
Drivers and Packages
Finally, the problem may lie with your drivers and any software packages you have installed.
To remove these bits of software, make sure you are an Administrator, then type ‘CMD’ (no quotation marks) into the search bar.
You will be greeted by the command prompt, wherein you will type ‘printui /s /t2’ (again, no quotation marks) to open the Print Server Properties window. Remove the drivers and packages it displays, then add your printer once more via the Devices and Printers menu.
Your printer should now be showing as online, and you can continue printing.
Conclusion
If none of these solutions have worked, there is likely an electronic or physical fault with your printer.
Check the repairs’ cost and weigh it against a new printer’s price — an expensive repair job may not be worth it.
Hopefully, your problem is now solved, and your home network is back at full functionality. Happy printing.