Windows not communicating with printer

Question

Windows is reporting my printer is offline, but my laptop is directly connected to my HP laserjet printer. I ran the Windows Troubleshooter, but it was unable to find problem !!??

I went into Settings/Printers to see how to put printer "online", but cannot find this setting. Frustrating...please help!

PS: my Word document shows up in printer queue, but has not printed after at least 5 minutes

PSS: Solved problem. AFter much searching online, and selecting printer in Settings and clicking on Open Queue, I discovered the next step was to left-click on Printer and uncheck "Set as default printer" and "Use printer offline".

I do not know how these two selections ever came to be checked...was unaware of them. Also do not understand why Troubleshooter could not identify that my printer was "offline" and tell me what to do about it!

Answer 1

Thanks for your reply, May....will check this out.

Obviously I'm still on the learning curve re Windows...It's great to have a resource like Microsoft Comm to assist in making progress!

Answer 2

Hi hfindley，

Thank you for posting in the community and share the experience with us.

May I know are you referring to the Windows troubleshooter?

If so, according to this article: Use a fix-it tool with Windows 10 (microsoft.com)

We noticed that it is a fix-it tool to help solve problems with your PC. However, your issue is due to your printer settings, it is nothing to do with your PC. So, it didn’t identify that your printer was "offline".

Moreover, according to this article:

Change a printer’s status from “offline” to “online” (microsoft.com)

We noticed that your printer might appear offline if it can't communicate with your PC.

If I have any misunderstanding, feel free to contact me.

Thank you for your understanding and efforts.

Best Regards,

May