Why is my printer offline issue_dell printer setup issue

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Dell Printer Offline

 

The user faces many error with their printer some of them are technical nature and some of the error are because of non-technical nature, when the printer error arrives the user like to remove the error as soon as they can now for the user it is important that they know the cause of the error because when the user knows the cause then it becomes much easier for the user to solve the error as the user will be able to take the exact steps of solving the error as compare to the situation where the user does not know what steps they need to take in order to remove the error from their printer. When the error arrives there are many reasons which can be held responsible for the printer to not print the user’s command.

Dell printer users also facing the issue with their printer and one of the common printer issues which is faced by the printer user is that their printer is shown as offline. Now when the user’s printer is shown as offline then there are lots of reasons behind there can be some kind of technical fault in the printer or there might be some silly mistake from the user’s side. Like if one of the parts of the printer is damaged then in that case the printer won’t turn on and thus the printer status will be shown as offline. But if the user has forgotten to turn on the printer, then the printer is off and the device of the user will show the printer as offline. Now to help the user we are mentioning a few of the common printer errors which can be faced by the user.

 

Dell Printer Connection- the most important aspect at the time of setting up the printer is the connection of the printer with the user’s device and with the electric socket. Now when the user is setting up the printer then in that case the user needs to make sure that they are connecting the printer very well with their device. because if the connection between the two devices is not there then in that case the printer won’t print the user’s command.

 

Printer Driver of Dell- Printer drivers are the most important thing in the user’s device when they are looking to use the printer on their device. When the user is setting up their Dell printer the user has to make sure that they have the printer driver installed into their device, because the printer driver will help the user’s device to recognize the attached printer and when the driver is missing from the device then in that case the device won’t recognize the error.

 

Printer not set as Default- For the printer to print the user’s command the printer needs to be the default printer otherwise the print command will go to another printer. This happens when the user is using more than one printer on their device.

 

 

How to fix Dell Printer Offline Issue

If you want to fix the Dell printer offline issue, you have to find out all the reasons that are causing this offline error.

This is where the main problem lies. Dell printers showing offline error could be due to many reasons. It could be connection issues, faulty drivers, or it could be due to the wrong window's settings.

You have to follow a step by step process to detect the possible cause of this error and then you have to take all the necessary steps to correct it.

 

No connection between your Dell printer and the computer

A printer can be connected to a computer via USB cable or through a wireless network, if the connection is interrupted for any reason, your computer will not be able to communicate with the printer and consequently marks it as Offline.

• Make sure that all the connections between the printer and the computer are connected properly.
• If the printer is connected via a USB cable, make sure that the USB cable is correctly inserted and is free from any defect or a tear.
• If the Dell printer is on a wireless network make sure that the network to which the Dell printer is connected is not turned off or has suffered a temporary drop.

Restart the stopped print services to fix the Dell printer offline issue

After checking that the printer is actually turned on and that it is properly connected to the computer, another possible cause may be the spooler service which for some reason may have stopped.

It should be noted that Windows spooler service is in charge of managing the prints and therefore its malfunction certainly involves a failure to print.

If the print service is stopped, your printer will not print, and the computer will show the printer as offline.

Start the print service via command prompt

• Click the Start button and select Run. Once the run dialog box opens type prompt and click OK to display the command prompt.
• For stopping the print spooler service in the system, open the command prompt box and in that box type net stop spooler and then press Enter.
• Now to again start the print spooler service, type net start spooler in the command prompt, and press Enter.
• Close the command prompt and check if the printer is online or not.

Change Printer set to offline in windows settings

For some reason, the printer can be set to Offline even if it has never actually been disconnected from the computer or the network. If that's the case you may get the printer offline error.

Check the printer status in the Windows Control Panel, if it's not set to offline

• Go to Control Panel, find Hardware and Sound, click on it and then navigate to Devices and Printers
• In the device and printers window find your printer icon. Right-click it and then select See what's printing option.
• In the window that appears, click on the " Printer " tab, a drop-down menu will open where there will be the " Use offline printer " item, make sure it is NOT selected.
• If it is selected, and you see a tick mark click on it to disable the setting.
• In the same menu enable the set as a default printer option

 

Reinstall Dell printer's drivers

Outdated or faulty printer drivers can hinder the communication between the printer and the computer. This may cause the Dell printer offline issue. Completely uninstalling and then reinstalling the latest drivers for your Dell printer is likely to sort out the error.

• To uninstall the printer's driver go to the start menu and open the run window.
• Now type printui /s /t2 and press enter.
• The Print Server Properties window will open up, click on the drivers' tab.
• Select your Dell printer drivers and click on remove.
• If prompted for, choose the option Remove drivers and driver package and then click on delete.

Now download the latest drivers for your Dell printer and install them.

• Open the Dell webpage and go to the Dell Drivers page.
• You have to enter the printer's service tag.
• In case you don't have the tag, you can click on the view products tab and then select your printer's model.
• Every printer has its model number printed on it, so you can easily find the model number of your Dell printer.
• Now select the operating system installed on your computer.
• After this, you will find the list of all the available software utilities and drivers for your printer's model.
• Download the drivers and then install them.
• It's done. Print something to check if the issue is resolved.

Check the printer port for error

If nothing has worked so far, the problem is probably related to the port configuration.

If your Dell printer is on a network, which has an IP address the most likely cause for the offline status is that the printer's IP address has changed, but the port configuration still refers to the old IP address.

• Print a network configuration page to first obtain the printer's IP address.
• On the printer's menu navigate to system setup and then to reports.
• Now select configuration and press OK.
• Press OK again to print the configuration page.
• Once you have the IP address go to Control Panel and then to Devices and Printers.
• Right-click on the printer and select printers properties.
• In the printer properties window select the port tab.
• This will show you the selected printer's port, now press the configure port.
• The next window will show you the printer's IP address which the windows think it has.
• If the IP address differs from the one you obtain through the network configuration page update the IP address.
• If you see an error message you have to add a new TCP/IP port.
• Once again open the printer properties windows as mentioned above.
• Press the port tab and then click on add port.
• In the next window choose the Standard TCP/IP port option and click on the new port.
• Once in the Standard TCP/IP port wizard, click on Next.
• Enter the printer's IP address you have obtained from the network configuration page and click on Next.