Why does my printer say offline when it is turned on?

You'll be able to: Reconnect an offline printer and resume printing

The steps

1. 1

   Make sure your printer's power light is steady (not flashing), and check that its USB cable is firmly plugged in (or that its Wi-Fi light is solid blue). The printer displays a ready status on its physical screen or has a steady green/white power light.

   Why does Windows say offline when the printer is clearly on?

   If the USB connection or Wi-Fi momentarily drops, Windows places the printer in a safety state called "Use Printer Offline" and often forgets to turn that mode off automatically once connection is restored.

Windows 11Windows 10

2

Press Win+I to open Settings, click Bluetooth & devices in the left menu, and select Printers & scanners.A list of all printers configured on your computer appears.



2. 3

   Click on your printer, then click Open print queue. A window opens showing pending documents waiting to print.

   

3. 4

   Click Printer in the top menu bar, and look at Use Printer Offline — if there is a checkmark beside it, click it once to remove the checkmark. The checkmark disappears, the status changes to Ready, and queued documents immediately begin printing.

It looks different on my screen

If the printer remains offline, turn off your printer's physical power button, wait 10 seconds, and turn it back on. Also try unplugging the USB cable and reconnecting it to a different USB port on your PC.

Updated 2026-09-19اقرأ بالعربية