Remove offline status for printer


Change Printer Status from Offline to Online

If your printer is showing offline status and you want to change printer offline status to online then here is a complete guide you have landed upon. In offline stage your printer won’t be available and ready to print. So, one must that if your printer is offline then it doesn’t mean that it has been removed. It might be an error or may be some kind of printer driver issue which is why the window operating system has set the status of the printer as offline. Here in this guide, we will share some easy hacks with the help of which one can easily change the printer offline status to online.

How to restore printer online status from offline in Window 10?

If your printer is unable to communicate with your PC or detach the connection due to some driver issue then it might appear as printer offline status. Follow the below mentioned steps to change printer offline status to printer online.

· Locate for the search section in the taskbar.

· Enter “Control Panel” as a search query. Hit on “Enter” button.

· Now select “Devices and Printers”.

· Locate your printer which is showing offline status and right click on it.

· Choose Printer and see “Use Printer Offline” is enabled.

· In case its enable, then select disable option for it.

· Close all open windows and check whether your issue has been resolved or not.


If you still face the same problem again then it is suggested to troubleshooting the printer to remove offline status for Printer in Windows 10. How to raise troubleshooting printer option is discussed further in this article.

How to fix the issue of Printer Offline Status to Printer Online?

Sometimes, solution resides so close to the problem. Might be same in this case. So, for recalling just few common things that helps in keeping the printer status online here is the list of few alternative solution. Make sure to check all these before troubleshooting the printer or contacting support team. Given below are general alternatives for fixing the printer offline issue to online status.

· Delete the printer and re-add it again. Check whether it shows online status.

· Uninstall and reinstall printer driver.

· Check your printer’s built-in menu to check whether your PC and Printer are connected to same Wi-Fi network or not. Or, you can check your printer manual for more option.

· Start Printer Spooler service if its disabled.

· Restart your printer and computer system.

· Run printer troubleshooting so that it can resolve driver and connectivity issues.

How to run Printer Troubleshooting?

If your printer offline status has not been resolved yet then try Printer Troubleshooter in order to get back the connectivity. Window has its own in-built printer troubleshoot package that helps in resolving connectivity, driver, restart printer related issue. Listed below are few steps to initiate Printer Troubleshoot

  • Go to Settings > Update and Security > Troubleshoot

  • Select run the Printer Troubleshooter.

  • Now wait for a while and check whether the issue has been resolved as it helps in fixing the offline status of the printer

How to troubleshoot Network Printer in order to restore Printer Online Status?

If you have been connected to network printer and facing the same issue of printer offline status and want to restore printer online status by bringing back the system connectivity with the printer, here is the solution on how to raise printer troubleshoot for it. In this case, user need to troubleshoot network issues in case the printer is being operated from different computer, not from the system that you are currently using. Issues in this case, might be firewall issue that means the use of printer has intentionally being blocked by somebody to restrict its usage. It’s better to raise network troubleshoot issue to make things work in your favour.

Steps to Remove & Add Printer

Earlier in this article, we discussed about remove/add printer. The best and simplest way is to remove the printer from the system and add it again. Listed below are steps to remove/add printer-

  • Unplug the connectivity of the printer from the computer.

  • Go to Devices > Printers and Scanners.

  • Choose the printer you wanted to remove by clicking on” Remove device”.

  • Not plug in the printer connectivity back, Windows should add it back again, include the downloading of the driver and OEMs application.

  • This process might restore Printer to online status from offline status.

How to Remove Printer Drivers and Packages?

1. Firstly, make sure that you signed- in as an admin in the Windows and have complete rights on the system that you are using, where you want to resolve the issue.

2. Type CMD (command prompt) in the search bar (located in the task bar).

3. With command prompt open type “printui /s /t2” including the spaces to open the Print Server Properties window.

4. Now remove the Driver and Package for the printer.

5. You can now add your printer again by selecting Add a Printer from “Devices and Printers”.

6. Now you will see that your printer status has been changed from offline to online and allow you to continue with the printing process.

7. If not, then there is likely to be an issue with the printer electronically, it is advised to contact the printer’s technician or raise a printer troubleshoot (steps given above).

8. Tip- Don’t forget to check the cost of a printer fixing. As, in some cases it proved to be cheaper than the cost of purchasing a new printer rather than paying for its maintenance cost.

How to change the status of the printer?

  1. Open Windows Settings (Win + 1)

  2. Go to Devices > Printers and Scanners

  3. Select the printer of which you want to change the status, and then hit on Open Queue Option

  4. In this window, click on “Use Printer Offline” option. A message will be displayed, “This action will change the printer from offline to online.”

  5. Confirm, and the status of the printer will be changed to online.

You may asked to clear the Print Queue before you can change the status which means completion of all the pending printer tasks. In that case, print job had an issue, and it chose to set it offline. While this will resolve the issue of printer offline status in most of the cases.