Why Is My HP Printer Offline? How to Make It Online?

Finding your printer offline in a time of hurry can be frustrating. An offline printer means it can’t communicate with your computer; thus, it is unable to function when you press print.

So, screaming, ‘Why is my HP Printer Offline? How to make it Online?’ won’t do you any good. You got to solve it.

Apparently, this is a frequent issue with printers, and more than half of the time, you can resolve it by checking the printer status and setting it as a default device. Other times you might have to go through some troubleshooting steps.

This article presents an in-depth analysis of why this happens and how you can resolve it. Depending on your HP printer model, the procedure more or less should work. Also, you can check out why is your HP Officejet 3830, not printing.

Why Is My HP Printer Offline?

The offline printer is basically a connectivity issue. You probably have seen an error message saying- your printer is offline while trying to print a document.

The error message shows when your computer and printer can’t communicate for cable connection issues, firmware problems, or outdated drivers.

And when this happens, your printer can’t process any command, i.e., you can’t print until you resolve the issues and get your machine back online. And in order to solve the problem, you must know about what causes it.

Also, to know more about the offline printer issues, you can go through what does printer offline means.

So, let’s see some of the common problems for which your Hp printer might be offline.

When your printer is paper jammed. Paper jamming occurs when you use a type of paper incompatible with your device or insert sheets incorrectly
You might have set it offline earlier to save and print a document while not connected or prevent others, such as children, from mistakenly using it
If the cables are not connected properly

If you haven’t updated the Hp printer drivers or if the firmware has essential update lackings
If the Hp printer is not your default printer, you would probably see the offline error message while trying to print with it
If you have network problems or if there are other settings errors

Whatever the reason is, you have to find it and know the easy fix technique to solve it. Trust us; you don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you have to print an official document in less than 2 minutes and discovered that your printer is showing offline.

How to Make My HP Printer Online?

Below are some valuable tips to help you make your printer online. You don’t have to follow through with all the steps. You can stop at the stage when your issues are resolved.

Also, it is better to follow them in order.

Check the Cartridges and Paper Tray

One of the persistent causes of offline printer problems is paper jams. So, open your printer and look if there’s any paper stuck inside. Also, put sufficient sheets in the paper tray before beginning any operation.

Low ink levels on the cartridges can cause this problem too. In that case, check the ink level and dismiss the software-generated warnings.

And if you are facing frequent cartridge problems, you can look for a quality product among the 10 best printers with long-lasting ink cartridges.

Look for Connectivity Problems

If there are no paper jams or cartridge problems, chances are there might be some connectivity issues.

So, check whether the power cord has gone loose or not. And if your printer is connected via USB cables, make sure the connections are secure at both ends.

For a wireless printer, make sure there are no issues with your network and your printer is showing that it’s connected.

Oftentimes, the device may go into an idle mode for being online for a long time. Although it shouldn’t cause your printer to go offline, it’s plausible. In that case, turn off the printer for 1 minute before attempting to turn it back on.

Remove Pending Jobs and Get It Online Manually

Pending print jobs may prevent your printer from being online. And you have to remove the pending jobs and then get the device online manually.

To do so-

Open the control panel from the windows start icon
Find and open Devices

Right-click on your Hp printer and choose “See what’s printing”
If there are any pending jobs, right-click and cancel them
Then click on the option “Use Printer Online”

If there were any offline left-over jobs, then your problem should be resolved. But if not, move on to the next step.

Run HP Printer Scan Doctor

Hp has created an application to resolve the problems that cause your printer to go offline frequently. And to run it-

First, download the HP Print and Scan Doctor from the Hp support center.

Open the downloaded application. Sometimes you might have to run it as administrator and click Yes when you see the allow HPPSdr.exe to makes changes in your computer.
When it is launched, click on Start.
Choose your printer from the listed product models. But if you don’t find yours, try restarting your printer before clicking on Retry.

The application will start troubleshooting automatically.
You might see prompts asking to turn on updates or to make your printer the default option. Click yes on seeing the prompts.

By this time, your device should be back online. Continue following the steps below, if not.

Set the Printer as Default

Go to Printers and Scanners from the settings
Diable the windows to manage your default printer.
From the list of devices, click on your target printer

Click on Manage and then choose to set the device as default.

Reinstall Or Update

Sometimes you need to remove the printer and add it again to get it online. For re-installation,

Once again, go to Printers and Scanners

Choose the target device and click on Remove device
After it is removed, connect the printer again
Click on Add printers and reinstall the Hp

Restart your pc and see if the problem has been solved or not

Alternatively, you can try updating the device driver following the steps below.

Open the Device Manager

Expand printers and right-click on the printer you need to update
Choose Update driver and wait for the updates to be installed
Finally, restart your computer, and there shouldn’t be any more problems

How to Fix HP Printer Offline Problems in Windows 10?

Apart from the process described above, there are some additional steps that you can follow to resolve offline printer problems in Windows 10.

Printer Spooler Troubleshooting

Checking the printer spooler settings can help fix your Hp printer offline problem when other means have failed you.

But if you don’t know what the spooler setting is about, learn all about it in the printer status Spooling: what does it mean and how to fix it?

So, to check the settings:
Open ‘Services’ and look for ‘Print Spooler’
Right-click on it, and select ‘Stop’

Next, open the ‘Windows File Explorer’ and search for the address ‘C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Printer’
Clear the folder and start the Print Spooler again.
Finally, reboot your computer

Verify the Windows Service Status and Confirm Port

You might have to confirm the port type and check the windows service status to make your printer online. For this, you need to follow the steps below. Also, check out the video to choose the correct port easily.

Select ‘View Devices and Printers’ from the control panel

Right-click on the target printer and go to ‘Printer Properties’
Open ‘Ports’ and check whether the HP printer is using a WSD port or not. If not, you can skip the next steps.
Now go to ‘Services’ from the windows search bar and look for ‘Function Discovery Resource Publication’ and ‘Function Discovery Provider Host.’

Confirm that the startup type is ‘Automatic’ and status is ‘Running’
Go to ‘Devices and Printers’ from your settings, press ‘F5’, and check your printer’s status

According to your network configuration report, if your printer still shows offline, you need to configure a new port.

Wrap up

To sum up, if your printer shows offline, there’s no need to worry. It doesn’t mean the device is broken or unusable. And with some easy-fix procedures that we have described above, you can resolve the problem within minutes.

Remember, you don’t have to follow all the steps. Follow them in the given order and figure out what works for you. We guess you won’t be screaming, ‘Why is my HP Printer Offline? How to make it Online?’ from now on, LOL.

Inksaver Editor

We're a group of people who love printers and scanners. We want to share our knowledge with you, so you can spend less time researching and more time printing and scanning!

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