You might have come across a situation when you press the print command, but you do not get the required printout. You try to figure out the issue and realize that your printer has gone offline. Do you know what does printer offline mean? This occurs quite frequently if you are dealing with day-to-day printing activity. Now you must have a thought in the back of your mind that Why does my printer say offline? It can be due to several reasons. Sometimes it is just a loose cable issue, or it may be some driver package issue. With some troubleshooting methods, you can easily fix printer offline Windows 10 and turn it online. So, follow these steps and know how to turn printer online Windows 10 swiftly and effortlessly.
How to Fix Printer Offline Windows 10?
The simplest and best way to turn back your printer to online mode is by using the “Settings” option on your computer. This is the first and easiest method that you should go for to fix printer showing offline. Generally, the printer is stuck up due to network issues between printer and system. This might help to resolve your query in no time. If still not resolved by the first method, try out other 5 options to turn wired or wireless printer offline Windows 10 to online.
Option 1: How to Make Printer Online in Windows 10?
1. The menu list generated from the lower-left corner of your computer scroll down to click on “Settings.”
2. In the window that opens up, click on “Devices”.
3. Now find the “Printers and Scanners” in pane shown on the left-hand side.
4. Out of the various devices shown, select the printer you want to fix and click on the “Open Queue” option.
5. The next screen pops up. Click on the “Printer” tab shown in the upper left corner. Go to “Use Printer Offline” and click on that to ensure that the box is unchecked.
6. Now, wait till the printer comes back to the online mode.
Option 2: How to Put Printer Back Online Windows 10 Using Device Manager?
Some of you might want to fix the printer to online mode via device manager and not through the settings tab. It also involves a few steps that can be followed conveniently without any complexity.
1. Right-click on the start button appearing on the lower-left corner of your computer screen.
2. From the menu that flashes, click on “Device Manager”. Else, search for Device Manager as shown below.
3. A Device Manager window opens up in which click on the “Action” tab written next to the File option.
4. The drop-down menu that opens up, click on “Devices and Printers.” In case you could not find this option, you must try after some time.
5. The ‘Devices and Printers’ screen opens up that shows all the devices connected. Right-click on the Offline Printer; that might be a little faded one.
6. In the menu that opens up, click on the “See what’s printing” option.
7. On the next screen, select the “Printer” tab on the upper left and untick the “Use Printer Offline” option.
8. Now wait for the printer to resume printing.
Option 3: How to Get Printer Online Windows 10 by Troubleshooting?
Even after trying out various printer fixing methods, you need to troubleshoot your printer if the problem persists. This will help to overcome all the network-related issues that your printer might be facing. The printer might come online for some time and then go back again, so to resolve it now, and you can follow these steps:
1. Go to the “Settings” on your computer and open “Update & Security.”
2. Now click on the “Troubleshoot” option shown in the left pane.
3. In the “Troubleshoot” section that comes up, scroll down to come to the “Printer” option. If that option is not visible click on the Additional troubleshooters.
4. The “Printer” menu expands to show “Run the troubleshooter.” Click on that.
5. Let the troubleshooter run and wait for the instructions that come on the screen. Click on “Apply this Fix.”
Option 4: Printer Offline Fix Windows 10 by Removing All Pending Print Jobs
It might also be possible that your printer shows offline Windows 10 due to some unknown reason. In such a case, you can try to remove all the pending printing jobs, which can sometimes be helpful. The printing jobs get queued up, and deleting these lined-up jobs can turn out to be fruitful.
1. Click the “Start” icon on the bottom left of your computer and type “Printers and Scanners.”
2. From the multiple devices displayed, select the printer you want to fix and select “Open Queue” displayed beneath it.
3. From the Open Queue option, choose the printer from the bar shown at the top. Select “Cancel all documents” from the given menu.
4. This cancels all the documents that might be pending and helps to fix the offline printer issue.
Option 5: How to Get Printer Back Online by Removing and Reinstalling it?
Sometimes the printer is not fixed in several attempts, and all the efforts are in vain. In such a case, you can try to fix your device by removing it for once and then reinstalling it.
1. Open the search menu and type “Printers and Scanners.” Select the “Printers and Scanners option from the left pane that opens up.
2. Find your printer and right-click on it. Click on the “Remove Device” option.
3. A confirmation dialogue box appears in which click on “YES” to proceed further.
4. On the top of the Printers and Scanners option, find “Add a printer or scanner.” Click on that to add the desired printer again.
Option 6: Fixing the Printer Windows 10 by Removing Drivers and Packages
When all the efforts turn out to be useless, and no method yields the desired result, then reinstalling the drivers can help you at last. This can be adopted when none of the printer fixing methods gives the satisfactory result. In such a condition removing the drivers and packages and reinstalling them can help you out.
1. Press the Windows key and search for the “Command prompt.”
2. When the Command Prompt is opened, type “printui /s /t2,” including the spaces.
3. This lets you open the “Print Server Properties” window.
4. Look for the printer that is creating problems. Remove its “Driver and Package.”
5. Now you can add the desired printer again from the “Add a printer or scanner” menu in Printers and Scanners.
Conclusion
How do you change a printer from offline to online is one of the major concerns for people using printer connectivity on Windows 10. Whenever there is trouble with such a problem, make sure to check all the printer cables attached. Then proceed to resolve the issue by any of the above-given methods. Windows 10 Printer offline issues can be even due to corrupted or outdated drivers that need to be reinstalled. In some cases, even an internal error is the cause of printer issues. All this can be resolved by following the simple steps of various methods.