Fixpath

Windows

The printer shows offline

Most of the time the queue is stuck, or Windows marked the printer offline. Start with the queue, not with a cleaner downloaded from the web.

  1. Check paper, the cover, and whether the printer's own error light is on. If the printer reports a jam or ink problem, fix that before touching Windows.
  2. Open Settings, Bluetooth and devices, Printers and scanners. Open that printer's queue.
  3. On the queue's Printer menu, clear Use Printer Offline if it is checked. Cancel documents that have been sitting there.
  4. Restart the queue service. In PowerShell opened as administrator: Restart-Service Spooler.
  5. For a network printer, power the printer and the router off for thirty seconds. In Windows, remove the printer and add it again if the old port was WSD and the queue stayed silent.

Stop if a cable or power brick is hot, if the printer will not turn on, or if its network address does not answer. That is no longer a stuck queue.