[HP, Canon, Brother, Epson] Printer Not Responding or Offline

Jul. 12, 2023 / Updated by Eloise to Windows 10

Although we frequently use printers in our everyday business and personal lives, occasionally we may run into printer connection and printing issues, such as printer not responding, printer showing offline, poor printing quality, printer not recognized etc. Depending on the model of your printer, particular troubleshooting approaches may differ, but if you are familiar with certain typical fixes, you can quickly resolve the issue with your device. Manufacturers provide online tools to help you work through your most difficult printer issues, and we've got some fundamental advice for you when your printer lose connection at a sudden.

Check out these solutions to fix other common printer issues：

Method 1: Run the automatic printer troubleshooter

Method 2: Update the printer driver

Method 3: Check the printer power and connection

Method 4: Clear and reset the print spooler

Method 5: Change the printer status to online

Method 1: Run the automatic printer troubleshooter

Windows system provides an automatic printer troubleshooter, which can automatically detect and fix some common printer problems. You can run it by following these steps:

Step 1: Search troubleshoot in the search bar and open Troubleshoot settings.

Step 2: On the right panel, scroll to find Printer under Get up and running.

Step 3: Click Run the Troubleshooter and wait the process to finish. Once it's done, Windows will automatically repair existing problems.

Method 2: Update the printer driver

You may prevent issues brought on by old drivers and preserve your printer's optimum performance by updating or reinstalling its drivers. Going to the manufacturer's website to manually download the latest printer driver requires a clear understanding of the printer's model number to ensure that the downloaded driver is suitable, which is not an easy task for computer novices! But don't worry, Driver Talent will help. As a professional driver management tool, it can detect, download, install and update your printer driver in simple clicks.

Step 1: Download and install Driver Talent.

Download Driver Talent

Step 2: Run Driver Talent, click Peripheral Drivers>Printer, select your printer and let it automatically detect your computer and printer driver status.

Step 3: If Driver Talent finds any problem with your printer driver, it will give you corresponding prompts and suggestions. You can click the Up to date button, and let it automatically download and install the latest driver.

Step 4: Restart your computer and printer, and try to print again.

Method 3: Check the printer power and connection

Sometimes, printer connection and printing problems may be caused by unstable power or connection. You'd better check the peripheral hardware.

Step 1: Make sure that the printer is plugged into the power outlet correctly and that the power switch is turned on.

Step 2: If you use a wired connection printer, check whether the USB cable or other cable is intact and firmly plugged into the printer and computer ports.

Step 3: If you use a wireless connection printer, check whether your computer and printer are connected to the same wireless network and whether the wireless signal is strong.

Step 4: If you use a Bluetooth connection printer, check whether your computer and printer are paired and whether the Bluetooth function is turned on.

Step 5: Restart your computer and printer and try to print again.

Method 4: Clear and reset the print spooler

The print spooler is a temporary folder that stores your print jobs. If the print spooler has errors or jams, it may cause the printer to not respond or print slowly. You can clear and reset your print spooler by following these steps:

Step 1: Open Services , locate and right-click the Print Spooler service, select Stop.

Step 2: Launch File Explorer, enter "%windir%\System32\spool\PRINTERS" in the address bar and press Enter key.

Step 3: Delete all files in that folder, then close File Explorer.

Step 4: Reopen Services window, find and right-click the Print Spooler service, select Start.

Step 5: Restart your computer and printer, then try to print again.

Method 5: Change the printer status to online

Sometimes, your printer may show as "offline", which means it cannot communicate with your computer. This may be due to your computer or printer settings, network connection or other reasons. You can change your printer status to "online" by following these steps:

Step 1: Open the Control Panel, select Hardware and Sound, then click Devices and printers.

Step 2: Find and right-click your printer device, select See what's printing.

Step 3: In the pop-up window, click the Printer tab, uncheck the Use Printer offline option.

Step 4: If this option is already unchecked, or you still cannot change your printer status to "online", please try these two operations:

Right-click your printer device, select Set as default printer, and make sure no other device is set as the default printer.
Right-click your printer device, select Properties, and check and modify your port, security, sharing and other settings in the pop-up window.

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