How to Fix Printer Offline in Windows 11 and 10: 9 Step-by-Step Fixes

When Windows 11 or Windows 10 says your printer is offline but the printer is powered on and connected, Windows has lost contact with the printer on the port it was installed with. The fix is almost always software: untick "Use Printer Offline", disable SNMP status on the port, re-add the printer with a TCP/IP port and its real IP address, and restart the Print Spooler. Follow the nine fixes below in order; most printers are back online by Fix 4.

Quick fixes first

1. Power off the printer, wait 30 seconds, power it back on and wait until the wireless light stops flashing.
2. On the PC, go to Settings › Bluetooth & devices › Printers & scanners, select the printer and choose Open print queue. Cancel every job listed.
3. In the queue window, open the Printer menu and make sure Use Printer Offline and Pause Printing are unticked.
4. Set the printer as default (Settings › Printers & scanners › your printer › Set as default) and print a test page from the same screen.
5. If still offline, restart the PC and the router too, then retry.

Why Windows says the printer is offline

Windows does not ask the printer "are you online?" in a single way. Depending on how the printer was added, it checks a WSD (Web Services for Devices) port, a Standard TCP/IP port with SNMP polling, a USB port, or an IPP connection managed by the Microsoft IPP Class Driver that Windows 11 now installs by default. Each can fail separately:

• WSD ports rely on network discovery broadcasts. They work on day one and then break after a router reboot, a Windows feature update, or when the PC wakes from sleep. "Printer appears offline Windows 11" threads are overwhelmingly WSD problems.
• SNMP status on TCP/IP ports asks the printer for its status. If the printer's firmware does not answer SNMP properly, or a firewall blocks UDP 161, Windows marks it offline even though it prints fine when you force it.
• IP address changes. The router handed the printer a new DHCP address and the port still points at the old one. This is the reason for "printer works after reboot, goes offline the next day". If it keeps recurring, see printer keeps going offline.
• Sleep mode. Some printers (Brother deep sleep, Epson power-off timer) drop their Wi-Fi session to save power and do not answer until woken at the panel.
• The Use Printer Offline flag gets set automatically when Windows cannot reach the printer for a while, and it stays set until you clear it.

Fix 1: Untick Use Printer Offline (and why it may re-tick itself)

Windows 11 has two queue windows. The modern one opened from Settings shows jobs but hides the Printer menu on some builds. If you do not see it, open the classic queue: press Win+R, type control printers, press Enter, right-click the printer and choose See what's printing. In that window, open the Printer menu and untick Use Printer Offline. If the option is greyed out or re-ticks itself within a minute, Windows genuinely cannot reach the printer and you need the port fixes below. "Use printer offline unchecked, still offline" is not a bug in the checkbox; it is the port.

Fix 2: Confirm the printer's IP address

Print a network configuration page from the printer (HP: Settings › Reports › Network Configuration; Canon: Setup › Device settings › LAN settings › Print LAN details; Epson: Settings › Network Settings › Network Status › Print Status Sheet; Brother: Print Reports › Network Configuration). Note the IPv4 address. A 169.254.x.x address means the printer never got an address from the router; reconnect it to Wi-Fi using our printer won't connect to Wi-Fi guide. Then on the PC open Command Prompt and type ping 192.168.1.50 (use your printer's address). If the ping replies, the network is fine and Windows is the problem. If it times out, the printer and PC are on different networks, the PC's network profile is Public, or the printer is asleep.

Fix 3: Disable SNMP status on the port

1. Press Win+R, type control printers, right-click the printer and choose Printer properties.
2. Open the Ports tab. The ticked port is the one in use. Click Configure Port.
3. Untick SNMP Status Enabled, click OK, then Apply.
4. Close and reopen the queue. The status should change from Offline to Ready within a few seconds.

If Configure Port is greyed out, the printer is on a WSD port, which has no SNMP option. Move on to Fix 4.

Fix 4: Replace the WSD port with a Standard TCP/IP port

This is the single most effective fix for "printer offline Windows 11" on a wireless printer.

1. In Printer properties › Ports, click Add Port, choose Standard TCP/IP Port, then New Port.
2. Enter the printer's IP address from Fix 2. Leave the port name as suggested and finish the wizard. If it asks for a device type, choose Generic Network Card.
3. Make sure the new port is ticked, Apply, and print a test page.

Alternatively remove the printer entirely (Settings › Printers & scanners › printer › Remove) and add it manually: Add device › Add manually › Add a printer using an IP address or hostname › Device type: TCP/IP Device, tick "Query the printer and automatically select the driver". Windows 11 will usually assign the Microsoft IPP Class Driver, which is fine for printing; install the vendor driver afterwards only if you need duplex, tray or scan options that are missing.

Fix 5: Restart the Print Spooler and clear stuck jobs

1. Press Win+R, type services.msc, press Enter.
2. Find Print Spooler, right-click it and choose Stop.
3. Open File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS. Delete everything inside (not the folder itself). Approve the administrator prompt.
4. Back in Services, right-click Print Spooler › Start, and confirm Startup type is Automatic.

If the spooler stops again by itself, that is a separate fault: see Print Spooler keeps stopping.

Fix 6: Run the Windows printer troubleshooter

On Windows 11 open Settings › System › Troubleshoot › Other troubleshooters and run Printer; on recent builds this opens the Get Help app, which walks through the same checks. On Windows 10 it is Settings › Update & Security › Troubleshoot › Printer. It fixes the offline flag and a stopped spooler automatically, but it will not fix a wrong IP address, so do Fix 4 yourself if the troubleshooter reports "printer is offline" again.

Fix 7: Check the network profile and firewall

Settings › Network & internet › Wi-Fi (or Ethernet) › your network › Network profile type must be Private. A Public profile blocks the discovery and SNMP traffic Windows uses for status. Third-party security suites (Norton, McAfee, Bitdefender, Kaspersky) sometimes mark the home network as untrusted after an update; open the suite's firewall settings and set the network to trusted or home. Disable a VPN client if one is running.

Fix 8: Wake the printer and stop it sleeping so deeply

Wake the printer at its panel and check status in Windows again. If it comes back every time you wake it, lengthen the sleep timer or disable the deepest sleep mode: Brother General Setup › Ecology › Sleep Time and Auto Power Off; Epson Settings › General Settings › Basic Settings › Sleep Timer and Power Off Timer; HP Settings › Power Management › Sleep Mode; Canon Setup › Device settings › ECO settings › Auto power off. Printers that power fully off after a few hours need to be switched on by hand; set Auto Power Off to Never.

Fix 9: Reinstall the driver

If the printer shows Ready but a test page fails, or status flips every few seconds, the driver package is damaged. Remove the printer, then press Win+R, type printui /s /t2, select the printer's driver and remove the driver and package. Reboot, then install the latest package from the manufacturer or let Windows add the printer with its built-in IPP Class Driver. Our driver is unavailable guide covers the details.

Which fix for which symptom

Brand notes

HP: HP Print and Scan Doctor has a dedicated "printer offline" fix that does Fix 1, 3 and 5 in one click, and it is the quickest first step on any HP. Canon: if the Canon driver installed a "Canon IJ Network" port, it behaves like TCP/IP and rarely goes offline; WSD copies of the same printer are the usual culprit, so delete duplicates. Epson: the Epson driver adds an EpsonNet port; turn off Power Off Timer in the printer settings. Brother: disable Deep Sleep via the printer's web page (Administrator › General › Sleep Time) and make sure Wi-Fi stays on in sleep.

If nothing worked

A printer that is pingable, prints its own test page, and still cannot be brought online in Windows after a port rebuild almost always has a corrupted driver store or a Windows print policy left behind by a previous IT setup, and fixing that by hand involves registry work. If the printer cannot even be pinged from a PC on the same network while its panel says it is connected, the printer's network module may have failed, which is not economical to repair on a consumer model. For anything in between, you can get help from a printer specialist who will connect to your PC and fix the port and driver with you in one session.