Your printer won't print

"Offline" almost never means broken

A printer showing offline while sitting powered-on in front of you means Windows can't reach it, not that anything has failed. On a wireless printer, the usual cause is that the router restarted and handed the printer a different address, while Windows keeps trying the old one.

Power-cycling the printer fixes this surprisingly often. If it recurs every few weeks, the proper fix is giving the printer a fixed address on your network so it stops moving.

The stuck queue

One failed job blocks everything behind it, and Windows keeps accepting new documents into a queue that's going nowhere. People then print the same page five more times, which makes it worse.

Open the printer from Settings, cancel all documents, and try a single test page. If the queue refuses to clear, the print spooler service needs restarting. A two-minute fix we can do over remote support.

Work out where the fault is

• Can another device print? If your phone can, the printer and network are fine and the problem is that computer.
• Can the printer copy? On an all-in-one, if copying works the hardware is fine and it's a connection problem.
• Does a self-test page print? Most printers can print one from their own menu without a computer involved. If that works, the printer is healthy.
• Did it stop after a Windows update? Common. The driver usually needs reinstalling.

Quality problems

Streaks or missing colours on inkjets: usually dried ink in the print head. Run the printer's own cleaning cycle, twice if needed. Printers used rarely suffer from this most; printing something in colour once a fortnight genuinely helps.

Faded or streaky laser output: toner low, or the cartridge needs a gentle horizontal rock to redistribute it. That buys you a bit more life.

Repeating marks down the page: something on a roller or drum, at the interval of that roller's circumference.

Paper jams

Pull jammed paper in the direction it was travelling, slowly and evenly. Pulling backwards can damage the rollers. Then check for the torn corner everyone leaves behind: a scrap left inside causes the next jam, and the one after that.

Repeated jams from the same tray usually mean worn pickup rollers or paper that's absorbed humidity.

When to replace rather than repair

We'll be blunt: cheap inkjets are often not worth repairing. Manufacturers sell the hardware at or below cost and make the money on cartridges, so a mechanical fault frequently costs more to fix than a new unit.

Business laser printers are a different matter: they're built to be serviced and worth maintaining. For office printing that keeps failing, or shared printers that repeatedly drop off the network, on-site support at $130/hr can fix it properly at the network level rather than one desk at a time.

Work through it yourself

Our free troubleshooter asks a few questions and narrows down the likely cause, then gives you steps to try. At the end you can copy the summary, email it, or share the link with your own technician or a family member. Nothing to install, and no email required.