Network printer offline - what to do?
Your network printer is turned on and still reports that it is offline. You cannot print with this at first. In this practical tip, you can read what you can do about this annoying mistake.
Network printer offline - what to do?
- Some printers automatically go offline when paper or ink is missing. So check these two points first. Fill up ink and paper. Also clear any paper jam.
- If the printer still shows "Offline", restart your computer and the printer once.
- The IP address is often the trigger. Your router constantly assigns a new IP address to the printer. This can lead to your PC not recognizing this and therefore no longer controlling the printer. Here it is advisable to assign a fixed IP address. This makes the problem a thing of the past.
Network printer offline: Assign fixed IP address
Before you set up the fixed address, make sure that your PC and the printer are registered in the same network.
- Open your browser and log in with your access data in the menu of the router.
- In the menu item like "DHCPv4 Server" you can find out in which area your IP addresses are assigned. If you see, for example, "192.172.0.100", your devices in the network will be assigned endings from 0-100. This could make your printer accessible under "192.172.0.85".
- However, you must be careful to assign an IP that is not already in use by other PCs, printers or scanners.
- It is best to look under "Network" in the list, which IP your printer currently has and copy the MAC address.
- Now enter this address in the "DHCPv4 Server" menu under "MAC address" and then save the settings.
- You have now assigned a fixed IP address to your printer.
Your PC cannot find the network printer? In the next article, we will show you how to solve the problem.