Introduction
You might have been in this frustrating situation of your HP printer not being online. One of the most common problems faced by users nowadays when they use an HP printer is whether it is at home or at their offices. This error message, “HP printer not online,” may arise from a variety of issues. This could be connectivity issues, old drivers, or improper configuration of the setup. It doesn’t matter whether it’s some minor malfunction; it’s just not going to make things worse. Happily, there is some pretty straightforward troubleshooting that you can use so as to get your HP printer up and running again.
These are some of the most excellent troubleshooting steps in fixing the problem that gets your HP printer online.
1. Check Your Printer’s Power and Connectivity
It goes without saying that if your HP printer does not go online, the first thing to look for is whether it is powered on and connected. People are often forgetful of looking at things in their obvious state.
- Power Status: HP printer has to be powered on. It could be a cause if the printer would not go online with a blinking power light or with an error message that will be shown in the display of your printer.
- Connection Status: The connection of your printer to the computer or network has to be proper since it has to connect your computer. When it is a USB connection, ensure the printer connection and computer connections are inserted tightly. The wireless printer must have the printer associated with the Wi-Fi network using your device or computer. Network disconnection often is the culprit behind incorrect communication between devices, causing HP printers not to print online.
2. Reset Computer and Printer
Sometimes, the HP printer not online issue might be that just software or communication is down for the minute. It’s easily sorted through by having the two: that’s both the computer and printer reboot.
- Reset Printer: Disconnect the HP printer, wait for 30 seconds, and then turn the printer back on. This merely gets a printer to restart its processes sometimes in a way that fixes the connectivity problem within it.
- Restart Computer: If this won’t restart the printer itself, then try restarting your computer. Chances are good this will flush out any communication problems between the HP printer and your computer, and you should be printing once again in a hurry.
These couple of steps should be pretty easy to use in troubleshooting to fix the “HP printer not online” issue and have you printing again in no time.
3. HP Printer Offline Error Troubleshooting
The moment the HP printer fails to connect and goes online for its operations, it is high time to dig deep into the issues.
Windows:
Control Panel > Devices and Printers.
Your HP printer should be right-clicked upon, and the ‘see what’s printing’ options activated.
From the window of the print queue, go to Printer and unselect the check box next to Use Printer Offline. Sometimes, unknowingly, the option gets selected, and the printer goes out of sight.
For the Mac Users:
System Preferences > Printers & Scanners
Open Print Queue with the check marked by HP printer.
Resume if it appears offline, and check on it to bring it back to life.
Ensure under Use Printer Offline that nothing is checked here for an easy solution to the HP printer not online problem.
4. Update the Printer Drivers
Your old or corrupted printer driver is also one of the major causes of the HP printer not online error. When a printer driver becomes old, your computer fails to communicate appropriately with the printer.
For Windows Users: Open Device Manager, then find HP printer and right-click it. From there, you are to select an update driver option for your printer or else log into HP website support for a direct downloading link for updating the precise model of HP printer drivers.
For Mac Users: Go to System Preferences > Printers & Scanners and select your HP printer. If Update Driver is available, click on it. Updating the driver may solve the issue that will not allow your HP printer to connect online.
5. Empty Print Queue
Sometimes, the HP printer is marked as offline because of blockage in the print queue. Too many jobs in a queue can stop your printer.
For Windows Users
You will find the option to right-click on the HP printer in Devices and Printers. Now click See what’s printing and cancel the pending print jobs.
For Mac Users
You can select your HP printer in the Printers & Scanners list and clear the stuck print jobs in the print queue.
Ensure to delete all queued prints to ensure your printer is not waiting on any previous print jobs, which would keep it from going online.
6. Change Network Settings
This could mean your HP printer may be offline due to networks. Ensure your computer and HP printer are on the same network.
Reset Router: Even the networks might cause trouble with your HP printer not being online. Try to reset your router and refresh the network connection.
Check Printer’s IP Address: Check your printer’s network settings and see if it is properly connected to the Wi-Fi network. If necessary, re-enter the Wi-Fi credentials to make a fresh connection.
This should ensure your printer has a stable network connection, hence eliminating the problem of the HP printer not being online.
7. Run HP Print and Scan Doctor
HP Print and Scan Doctor is free software developed by HP. It automatically detects common problems of printers and then solves those problems. In case the first step does not help, make your HP printer go online; it is worth trying the next software mentioned above.
Download the HP Print and Scan Doctor from its official website or printernotworking.com. Follow the instructions from your computer screen, and this tool should automatically detect and fix that issue that is preventing your HP printer from getting online.
The HP Print and Scan Doctor is one of the most straightforward ways in which the HP printer not online problem may be solved.
8. Factory Reset Your Printer
Try a factory reset on your HP printer if everything else fails. A factory reset deletes custom settings and restores the device to its default configuration. Sometimes, a factory reset can fix persistent issues like this HP printer not being online error.
Factory Reset Instructions: See your printer’s manual or HP support website for step-by-step instructions to reset your printer.
This is the last item: factory reset, since all prior settings, including Wi-Fi credentials and custom configurations, will be erased.