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

  • December 23, 2022
  • Written by:
  • James
  • Reading Time: 9 minutes

My HP printer is offline, is the most reported problem by customers worldwide. Initially, it seems an easy problem to deal with but eventually becomes too difficult to tackle due to the involvement of multiple reasons. When a printer goes offline, it behaves abnormally such as an offline notification appears below the HP Printer icon or it won’t respond or print even after connected to the internet.

So, why the problem has occurred, how to fix it, and how to prevent it from occurring! Here you will learn all the tips and tricks. Let’s go ahead, get your offline and non-responding HP printer back online.

Why My HP Printer is Offline?

There can be a lot of reasons which trigger an offline HP printer problem. Sometimes, you might see no reason for printer offline problem as the internet is connected well, printer lights are illuminating correctly or printer was just delivering good printouts. But suddenly, the printer icon in the control panel starts displaying the offline error. Here are some of the possible reasons.

  • HP Printer is not set as the default device.
  • The network is slow.
  • Print Queue is jammed or accumulated.
  • Print Spooler service is not working optimally.
  • Redundant printers in the list.

Also Read: HP Printer Offline Windows 10

How Do I Fix the Hp Printer Not Responding Problem (Windows)

Troubleshooting steps for printer not responding or going offline is identical. Both the issues appear due to distorted communication between printer and computer. Here is how to fix it for Windows PC.

Step 1. Ensure Printer is Ready

  1. Verify printer connections are secured and connected.
  2. Make sure your printer is not in sleep mode.
  3. Check the correct paper type in the feeder tray and genuine ink cartridge installed in the printer.
  4. There shouldn’t be any error message displaying on the Control Panel.
  5. Finally, restart the printer to fix minor technical problems.

Step 2. Power Cycle Your Printer

  1. Unplug the power cable from your printer.
  2. Press and hold the power button for a few seconds.
  3. After 30 minutes, reconnect the power cable back to the printer.
  4. Print a test page to see if it prints or not.

Step 3. Set Your Printer as the Default

  1. Click the Start icon.
  2. Go to Settings, click Devices.
  3. Click Printers and Scanners.
  4. Select your HP printer, click Open Print Queues.
  5. A new window opens, click the Printer tab.
  6. Select Set as default printer
  7. Uncheck Use Printer Offline option.
  8. Once the message appears, Windows will stop managing the default printer for you, click OK.

Step 4. Clear the Print Queues

  1. Again, visit the Printers and Scanners section.
  2. Click over your HP printer.
  3. Select Open Queue.
  4. Select the pending documents and erase them by clicking Cancel.
  5. After following these steps, simply restart your Windows 10 PC as this will refresh the component needed for good communication between printer and computer.

How Do I Fix Hp Printer Offline Mac Computers?

Those who prefer using Mac over Windows should use the following troubleshooting steps to retain printer status online.

Step 1. Check Printer Connection

Just like with Windows, you should also check that Mac connects properly to the printer. If you found any frayed or loose wire, then either replace them or reconnect them to the printer. Most of the time, we found that USB cables are not connected properly to the printer causing trouble.

Step 2. Fix the Wireless Connection Problems

  1. Restart your printer.
  2. Let it respond, if it denies responding then restart the router and disconnect the power cord thereafter.
  3. After 10 seconds, connect the power cord back to the printer.
  4. Let the router connect to the Mac PC.
  5. Further, click the Apple icon.
  6. Click preferences.
  7. Click Printers and Scanners.
  8. Scroll the list, locate your HP printer and click over it.

Step 3. Delete the Unnecessary Printer From Mac

  1. Having too many useless printers added to the Mac may result in printer offline problems. Follow the below steps to resolve the issue.
  2. Navigate to the Printers and Scanners.
  3. Here you might see too many redundant printers.
  4. Tap on each one-by-one and click the Minus button to remove the printer from the list.
  5. Choose one of those as a Default printer.
  6. Print a test page and your printer should get back to the responsive state.

Step 4. Reset Printing Ecosystem

Resetting the printer ecosystem will remove all errors, delete the pending print job including print preferences. Here is how to reset it.

  1. Go to the Apple menu.
  2. Click System Preferences.
  3. Click Print and fax / Print and Scan / Printers and Scanners.
  4. Now right-click on the black space and click Reset printing system.
  5. Click Reset on the confirmation window.
  6. Enter the Administrator’s name and password, click OK.

Also Read: 123.hp.com/setup – A Complete Overview

Final Words

After using these steps you should be able to resolve the offline printer problem in Mac and Windows. Reconnecting the printer cables, resetting the printer environment, and deleting the redundant printers work wonders here. If still your HP printer is offline and refusing to get back online, then you must get in touch with the printer experts at the HP tech support number. We will be happy to assist.

Written By

  • James
  • My name is David Wayne, and I work as a technical support specialist for the online industry. In the last 7 years, I have fixed a variety of email issues, such as Outlook server errors, Outlook send receive errors, Outlook working offline problems and etc. So if you are facing these types of problems, please do not hesitate to contact us without any hesitation.

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