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Printer Not Working / Shows Offline

Jobs stuck in the queue, printer shows "Offline," or nothing prints at all? Work through these steps in order — most print issues are fixed by step 2.

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Printer Not Working / Shows Offline

Print jobs stuck in queue, printer offline, or nothing prints

⚠ Common symptoms

  • Printer status shows "Offline" in Devices & Printers even when powered on
  • Jobs pile up in the queue but nothing comes out
  • "Driver unavailable" or "Error" status next to the printer
  • The printer responds to a direct test page from its own control panel but not from the PC
  • 1

    Verify cables, power, and a self-test page

    Confirm printer's on, cables seated firmly (or correct Wi-Fi network) → print a test page from the printer's own menu. Prints fine? Hardware's healthy — fix is software-side on your PC.

  • 2

    Clear the stuck print queue

    Win + R → type services.msc → Enter → find Print Spooler → right-click → Stop. Then open File Explorer and delete everything inside this folder (not the folder itself):

    C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS

    Return to Services, find Print Spooler, and click Start.

  • 3

    Bring the printer back online

    Control Panel → Devices and Printers → right-click printer → See what's printing → Printer menu (top). If Use Printer Offline is checked, click to uncheck and force it online.

  • 4

    Reinstall with fresh manufacturer drivers

    Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners (Windows 10: Settings → Devices → Printers & scanners) → select printer → Remove device. Download the latest driver for your exact model + Windows version from the manufacturer's site (HP, Canon, Epson, Brother) → install → add the printer again.

  • 1

    Verify cables, power, and print a self-test page

    Confirm printer's on, cables firmly connected (or correct Wi-Fi network) → print a test page from the printer's own control panel. Prints fine? Hardware's healthy — fix is on the Mac side.

  • 2

    Cancel all stuck print jobs

    System Settings → Printers & Scanners → click printer → Open Print Queue → select all (⌘A) → Delete (or click ✕ next to each). Still stuck? Move to the next step to reset the printing system.

  • 3

    Reset the macOS printing system

    System Settings → Printers & Scanners → right-click (or Control-click) anywhere in the list → Reset printing system… → confirm.

    Clears all stuck jobs, corrupted driver data, and printer configs in one step — the macOS equivalent of stopping Print Spooler, and the most reliable fix for a permanently offline printer. You'll re-add it next.

  • 4

    Re-add the printer with a fresh driver

    Download the latest driver for your exact model from the manufacturer's site (HP, Canon, Epson, Brother) → install the driver package.

    Then System Settings → Printers & Scanners → + to add the printer. Installing the manufacturer driver first ensures macOS uses the full-featured driver instead of generic AirPrint, which can miss features and cause offline errors.

  • 1

    Check CUPS printer status

    # List all printers and their status
    lpstat -p -d

    # Check the CUPS service is running
    systemctl status cups
  • 2

    Clear the print queue

    # Cancel all jobs for a specific printer
    cancel -a PrinterName

    # Or cancel all jobs for all printers
    cancel -a -x

    # Check remaining jobs
    lpq

    Replace PrinterName with the name shown in lpstat -p.

  • 3

    Restart the CUPS service

    # Restart CUPS printing service
    sudo systemctl restart cups

    # Re-enable printer if it was disabled
    sudo cupsenable PrinterName

    # Accept new jobs
    sudo cupsaccept PrinterName
  • 4

    Reinstall the printer driver via CUPS web UI

    # Open the CUPS admin interface in browser
    xdg-open http://localhost:631/admin

    # Or install the printer using CUPS CLI
    sudo apt install printer-driver-gutenprint -y

    CUPS admin page → Printers → Delete Printer → Add Printer to re-add with the correct driver.

⚠️

Delete only the files inside the PRINTERS spool folder — never the folder itself. Removing the folder prevents the Print Spooler service from starting, which breaks printing for all printers on your PC.

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Related Questions

Quick answers for this issue

Stop the Print Spooler service, delete all files inside C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS, restart the service, then uncheck Use Printer Offline from the Printer menu in Control Panel → Devices and Printers. This fixes the vast majority of "offline" statuses where the hardware itself is working fine.
This usually means the Print Spooler service has stalled on a corrupted job. Stop the Print Spooler, clear the spool folder, and restart the service. If a test page prints directly from the printer's own menu, the hardware is fine and the fix is entirely software-side.
This is almost always a network printer whose IP address changes after a router restart, leaving your PC pointed at the old address. The permanent fix is a DHCP reservation (static IP) for the printer — see our Printer Connectivity guide for the full walkthrough.
🧑‍💻

Printer still offline? Let a technician diagnose it.

Driver conflicts, spooler corruption, and hardware faults often need more than a guide to resolve. Connect with a verified IT technician for remote or on-site support.

Talk to a Technician
Related

Printer trouble often overlaps with these.

📡

Printer Connectivity Issue

Printer keeps disappearing or losing connection.

Fix it →
🌐

No Internet / Network Down

Network printer needs a working network first.

Fix it →
🔑

Authentication Errors

Driver install blocked by a credential or policy error.

Fix it →
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