How Do You Change A Printer From Offline To Online?

Many of us have encountered this problem that whenever we try to print something, the printer does not work at all, and on inspecting the parts and connections, everything seems to be working fine.

Beginners often get confused due to this problem, and because of the lack of knowledge, they end up going to the professional who charged them a lot merely for a simple task, see also find printer IP address.

The problem arises when a printer status is changed to offline. It means that if the printer is set to offline status, it won’t work for anyone until and unless the status is changed back to online.

Now the latest model printers send a popup message telling you the status of a printer if it is found to be offline when you send a printing command.

To save your time and resources, we have come up with an article where you will come to know that how you can change a printer status from offline to online with a few steps.

It does not require you to have much of technical knowledge; follow the steps accordingly, and you will be able to change the status in no time.

Why Printer Is Offline?

Printer status can be changed to offline due to a number of factors; it might be because of an issue in the computer or a printer.

In simple words, we can say that when the printer is unable to communicate with the computer, the status is changed to offline.

For a printer to function and operate, it is necessary that the status is changed back to online; otherwise, it is of no use.

Changing the Status

Printer Mode

When you don’t see any physical problem, there is a chance that your printer’s mode is set to offline. You have to change it yourself from your computer.

To do this, open the Start menu from your computer, type “Setting” in the search bar, and open it. Here you will see an icon for Devices. Click on it; you will be shown a list of devices connected to your computer.

Select the Printer and Scanners option from the list, choose the printer you want to work on, click on it, and you will see a button with the name “Open Queue.”

Click on that button, and here you will see a checkbox showing you the status, change it if you find it offline. check also, Best Printer for Waterslide Decal

Troubleshoot the Status

There are a number of things you can do to change or troubleshoot the status; however, here, we are only going to mention the most effective one that you can do it easily and quickly.

Cables Check

Whenever you encounter an error, it is preferred that you check all the ports and cables for any distortion or disconnection.

Sometimes the wires are not connected properly due to which the printer fails to communicate with the computer.

Connections Check

If your printer is not working, the first thing you need to see is the power connection, whether the printer is turned or not, and the second thing you should ensure is that it is connected to the same internet connection as your computer.

The printer’s menu shows you the connection it is associated with.

Restarting the Printer

Often the problem is solved when you restart the printer. For this, turn off the printer, unplug the switch, wait for a few seconds and then reconnect the button. Turn on the printer, and it might work for you.

Set Your Default Printer

Setting the default printer also helps you in not getting the mentioned error, especially when you have more than one printer connected to your computer.

To set the default printer setting, continue following the steps as mentioned in the above method; when you see a list of connected printers, select the one you want to make default option, click on the Open Queue button, under the printer, you will see an option saying Set as default printer. Click on OK to proceed.

Remove and Reinstall the Printer

One of the many options to troubleshoot the offline error is by removing the printer and reinstalling it again.

From the Devices and Printers option in the setting menu, right-click on the particular printer and select the Remove Device option. In the same way, select the “Add the Printer” icon from the Devices and Printers screen to re-add the printer.

Reset Print Services

Resetting a service helps if there is an issue within it; once you have tried the above methods and it does not work, try resetting the print spool services.

To do this, open the start menu, type Services in the search area; from the menu, click on the service’s icon to open it. Here you will see a list of services, find the Print Spooler option, right-click the option, and select Restart.

Clearing the Printer Spooler

The error can also be shown when you send a large number of files together in a go, and the printer finds it difficult to communicate.

If resetting the service does not help, try clearing the spool queue of the printer and remove any document in the list.

To do this, go to the Printer and Scanners menu, the same way as mentioned in the above methods, select the printer in which there is an error, click on the Open Queue button, and under the documents heading, you will see a list of all the documents in the pipeline which needs to be printed.

Now you need to cancel all of them in order to clear the printer’s queue.

Restart Computer

Try restarting the computer if any of the methods mentioned above do not help. There might be a problem with your PC, which may resolve by restarting it.

Update or Reinstall Drivers

At the end of the day, if nothing works, then there is a chance that your drivers are outdated or need to be reinstalled in order to work properly. Try updating the software and the drivers; eventually, it will work.