6 min read ·
Printer Shows "Offline"? 7 Fixes That Actually Work
Your printer is on, connected and ready — but Windows or your Mac insists it is offline. Here is how to get it printing again, step by step.
Why printers go "offline"
The "offline" message almost never means the printer is broken. It means your computer lost its connection to the printer — usually because the print queue got stuck, the printer got a new network address from your router, or the driver glitched after an update. Work through the fixes below in order; most people are printing again by fix three.
1. Restart everything — in the right order
Turn the printer off and unplug it for 30 seconds. Restart your computer while you wait. Plug the printer back in, let it fully start up (wait until its screen or lights settle), then try printing. This clears stalled connections more often than any other single step.
2. Check the connection itself
For a USB printer, unplug the cable at both ends and plug it back in firmly — and try a different USB port. For a wireless printer, print a network status page from the printer's own menu and confirm it shows your current Wi-Fi network name. If you recently changed routers or Wi-Fi passwords, the printer is still trying to use the old network and needs to be rejoined through its settings menu.
3. Take it out of "offline mode" (Windows)
Open Settings, go to Bluetooth & devices, then Printers & scanners, and select your printer. Click "Open print queue". In the queue window, click the Printer menu and make sure "Use Printer Offline" is not checked. If it is, click it once to turn it off. On a Mac, open System Settings, Printers & Scanners, select the printer and resume any paused queue.
4. Clear a stuck print queue
One corrupted document can block every job behind it. In the print queue window, cancel all documents. If a job refuses to cancel on Windows, restart the print spooler: press Windows key + R, type services.msc, find "Print Spooler", right-click it and choose Restart. Then try a fresh test page.
5. Set it as the default printer
After updates, computers sometimes switch the default to a "virtual" printer like "Microsoft Print to PDF", so real jobs go nowhere. In your printer settings, select your actual printer and choose "Set as default".
6. Remove and re-add the printer
If the entry itself is corrupted, a clean re-add fixes it. Remove the printer in your printer settings, restart the computer, then add the printer again and let the system fetch fresh drivers. For wireless printers, add it from the network list rather than by old IP address.
7. Update or reinstall the driver
A driver that broke during a system update is a classic cause. Download the latest driver from your printer manufacturer's official support website — search the exact model number — and install it. Avoid third-party "driver updater" tools, which often cause more problems than they solve.
Still offline?
If none of these work, the issue may be a router configuration, a failing network card in the printer, or a deeper driver conflict. That is a good moment to get help: a technician can usually spot the exact break in the chain in minutes. Pro PC Support fixes printer problems like this every day — call +1 888-406-8086 or send a support request and we will take it from there.