How to Connect a Printer to a Network in Windows 10 (Offline to Online)

When using the printer, you will encounter several errors. One of the most common errors when printing documents remotely is the “Printer Offline”error. With this error, your printer will not print any documents and the message “Printer Offline”will be displayed on the screen.

To resume remote document printing, you must reconnect the printer to the network. So, here we have covered some of the best methods you can use to get your printer online.

How to connect a printer to a network on a Windows PC?

Method 1: Check your network connection.

Before we start with any of the technical methods, let’s do some basic checks. A stable network connection is essential for the printer to stay online.

1. Connect your printer to the Internet.

Use an Ethernet wire to connect your printer to the printer. Also, make sure your internet connection is up and running.

2. Connect your computer and printer to the same network.

If you have a wireless printer, make sure your computer and printer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. If they are connected to different networks, your computer will not be able to communicate with your printer.

Method 2: Run a printer power cycle.

It has been observed that turning the printer power on and off brings it online. Follow the steps below to start the printer power cycle.

Step 1: Turn off the printer and unplug it.

Step 2: Wait 30 seconds before plugging it back in.

Step 3. Now turn on the printer.

After turning on the printer, check if it is connected to the network again. If not, move on to the next method.

Method 3: Clear the print queue.

If there are a lot of corrupted print requests in your PC print queue, then you might encounter this error on your PC. Follow the steps below to clear the print queue.

Step 1: Launch “Control Panel”on your Windows PC.

Step 2: Here, find the Devices and Printers option and click on it.

Step 3: In the Devices and Printers window, right-click on the printer whose queue you want to purge and select View What’s Printing from the drop-down list.

Step 4. You will get a list of all print requests in the queue. Right-click on each print request and select “Cancel”from the drop-down list.

Also, uncheck “Use Printer Offline”if it is checked in this window. Then check if your printer is connected to the network.

Method 4: Restart the print spooler.

Step 1: Launch Run on your Windows PC by pressing the Windows and R keys on your keyboard at the same time.

Step 2. Type “services.msc”into the text field and press Enter.

Step 3: A list will appear on the screen containing all the services on your Windows PC. Find “Print Spooler”and right-click it.

Step 4: Now select “Restart”from the dropdown list.

Check if your printer is connected to the network. If not, move on to the next method.

Method 5: Uninstall and reinstall the printer.

Step 1: Launch “Control Panel”on your Windows PC.

Step 2: Here, find the Devices and Printers option and click on it.

Step 3: In the Devices and Printers window, right-click the printer that is offline and select the Uninstall device option from the drop-down list.

Step 4. Now, click “Add Printer or Scanner”in the same window to reinstall the printer.

Now check if your printer is online again. If not, move on to the next method.

Method 6: Restart your computer.

If none of the above methods helped you connect the printer to the network, try restarting your computer. Check if your printer is online again after restarting your computer.

How to change the printer from offline to online

Step 1: Open Settings and go to Devices: Printers, Bluetooth, etc.

Step 2: Click Printers & Scanners.

Step 3: Now click “Offline Printer”and the “Printer”menu will appear.

Step 4: Click “Printer”in the menu bar and uncheck “Offline”.

Conclusion:

These are some of the most effective methods you can use to connect your printer to a network in Windows 10 and MacOS. The steps included in these methods are easy to follow.

We are sure that one of the above methods will help you connect the printer to the network. Start doing the methods at the top and work your way down the list until the error is fixed on your PC. If we have missed any such useful way to connect the printer to the network, please let us know in the comment section below.