Quick answer
Go to Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners, open your printer, then Open print queue. In the Printer menu, make sure Use Printer Offline is unticked and clear any stuck jobs. If that doesn't do it, restart the Print Spooler service and power-cycle the printer.
THE FIX
Work through these in order.
- Power-cycle the printerTurn the printer fully off, wait 30 seconds, and turn it back on. Check the printer's own screen for any error (paper jam, cover open, offline mode) and clear it.
- Untick "Use Printer Offline"Open Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners, click your printer, then Open print queue. In the Printer menu at the top, if Use Printer Offline has a tick, click it to switch it off.
- Clear stuck print jobsIn that same queue, cancel any old or failed jobs. One jammed job can hold the whole queue — and the printer — in an offline state.
- Restart the Print SpoolerPress Windows + R, type services.msc and press Enter. Find Print Spooler, right-click it and choose Restart. Then try printing again.
- Check you're printing to the right printerWindows often keeps duplicate copies (e.g. "Printer (Copy 1)"). Set the correct one as default and print a test page to it.
- For network printers: check the IP addressPrint a network/config page from the printer's own menu and note its IP. If it differs from the address Windows uses, the printer's IP has changed — re-add the printer using the correct IP.
- Reinstall the printerStill offline? Remove the printer in Printers & scanners, then Add device to re-add it (and let Windows fetch a fresh driver). Restart the PC and test.
If a shared or network printer keeps dropping offline for multiple people, the cause is almost always the printer's IP address changing each time it restarts. The permanent fix is a fixed IP or DHCP reservation on your router — a five-minute job for your IT provider that ends the problem for good.
