Samsung Printer Shows Offline: Fixes

An "Offline" label on a Samsung printer doesn't mean it's broken. It means your computer asked the printer for its status and didn't hear back. The printer might have gone to sleep, picked up a new IP address or dropped off Wi-Fi. Or a setting on your computer might be keeping it offline.

It also helps to know who looks after these printers now. HP bought Samsung's printer business in November 2017, so Samsung drivers, user guides and tools like Easy Printer Manager and Samsung Printer Diagnostics are now downloaded from HP's support site. Everything this guide asks you to download comes from there.

Start at the top and send a test print after each fix. Once one works, you can stop.

Why Your Samsung Printer Shows Offline

The cause almost always sits in one of three places.

The printer

• It's in power save and didn't wake up. Samsung laser printers go into power save after they've been idle for a set time. A new print job should wake them. When it doesn't, Windows reports the printer as offline. HP has a fix aimed at this exact problem (Advanced Solution 3).
• Something has stopped it. A paper jam, an open cover or an empty tray will hold everything up until you deal with it.
• Someone held the WPS button. On Xpress models with a WPS button, holding it for more than two seconds while the printer is connected disconnects it from Wi-Fi. It's easy to do by accident when you're only trying to wake the printer up.

The network

• The printer's IP address changed. Samsung printers get their address from your router by default, and it can change after a power cut or a router restart. Your computer keeps sending jobs to the old address.
• The printer isn't on your network anymore. A new router, a changed Wi-Fi password or a network the printer can't use will leave it stranded. HP's support notes say Samsung printers only work with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi.
• An Ethernet cable is plugged in. Samsung printers can't use a wired and a wireless connection at the same time, so a cable left in the network port can stop Wi-Fi from working.
• Your computer joined the printer's Wi-Fi Direct network. Wi-Fi Direct gives a Samsung printer a separate address (192.168.3.1 by default). If your laptop connects to that instead of your router, the printer you set up over your home network will show as offline.

Your computer

• "Use Printer Offline" or "Pause Printing" is turned on in Windows.
• A stuck job or a stalled Print Spooler is blocking the queue.
• The printer port points to the wrong place. HP says the Windows port and the printer need to have the same IP address. Ports that Windows creates automatically, called WSD ports, can also lose track of a printer.
• The Windows status check isn't getting an answer. Windows asks network printers how they're doing through a protocol called SNMP. If that check fails, the printer gets marked offline even though it could still print. That's why HP's fix for Samsung network printers includes turning the check off.
• The USB cable is too long or failing. HP warns that USB cables longer than 6 feet can cause the offline message on Samsung printers.
• Firewall software is in the way. Samsung's user guides list firewall software as one reason a computer can't find a networked printer.

Before You Start: Let the Printer Tell You What's Wrong

These three checks take a few minutes. By the end, you'll know whether the problem is the printer, the network or your computer.

Step 1: Look at the lights or the display

If your printer has a screen, read the message and clear any jam, paper or cover problem first.

Light-only models like the Xpress M2020W give you the same information through their lights:

• Status light solid green: online and ready to print.
• Status light off: the printer is offline or in power save. A blue Power light means it's in power save. Press the Power button briefly (don't hold it) to wake it.
• Status light solid red: a cover is open, the tray is empty or there's another error.
• Status light solid orange: paper jam.
• Wireless light (blue): solid means it's connected to Wi-Fi, blinking means it's trying to connect, and off means it isn't connected.

Other Samsung models use different light patterns. If yours doesn't match, check the user guide on HP's support page for your model.

A lit Wi-Fi light is a good sign, but it isn't proof. One Xpress M2070 owner on the HP Community described a printer whose blue Wi-Fi light stayed on while nothing on the network could reach it, until the printer was restarted. The report in the next step tells you more.

Step 2: Print a Network Configuration Report

This one-page report lists the printer's IP address, the network it joined and other connection details. How you print it depends on the control panel:

• No display, with a WPS button (Xpress M2020W and similar): press and hold WPS for more than 10 seconds. Don't let go early. Shorter presses do other things: two to four seconds starts WPS pairing, and on a printer that's already connected, anything over two seconds can take it off Wi-Fi.
• No display and no WPS button: hold Cancel (or Stop/Clear) for about 4 to 5 seconds.
• Two-line display (Xpress M2070W, M2070FW and similar): press Menu, then go to Network > Network Conf. On some models it's under System Setup > Report instead.
• Touchscreen models: look for Network Configuration under Setup > Network, or under Settings > Management > Report on newer models.

Find the IP address on the report and write it down. You'll need it more than once.

• It starts with 169.254: HP says this means the printer isn't connected to the network, has lost its connection, or couldn't get an address from the router. Restart the router, then the printer, and print the report again. If a Wi-Fi printer still shows 169.254, it needs to be reconnected. Our guide to a Samsung printer not connecting to Wi-Fi walks you through it.
• It looks like a normal address (192.168.1.40, for example): go to Step 3.
• The report won't print: the printer has a problem of its own to sort out first. See our guide to a Samsung printer in error state.

Step 3: Open SyncThru Web Service from the "offline" computer

Every network-connected Samsung printer has a built-in settings page called SyncThru Web Service. On the computer that says the printer is offline, type the printer's IP address into the browser's address bar (not the search box) and press Enter.

• SyncThru opens: your computer can reach the printer, so the network is working. The problem is a setting on the computer. On Windows, start at Basic Solution 4. On a Mac, go to the Mac section.
• SyncThru doesn't open: your computer can't reach the printer. Start with Basic Solutions 1 and 2.

If the printer is connected by USB, skip this step. SyncThru only works over a network.

Basic Solutions

Prefer to watch? Our video on the Samsung Xpress M2000 series offline issue covers the M2020, M2021 and M2022.

Basic Solution 1: Restart the printer, router and computer in order

Restarting in the right order gives every device a clean reconnection.

1. Turn the printer off. On models with a Power button, hold it for more than three seconds. Unplug the power cord and wait 30 seconds.
2. If the printer uses Wi-Fi or Ethernet, restart your router and wait until your internet is back.
3. Plug the printer in, turn it on and wait until the Status light is solid green or the display says it's ready.
4. Restart your computer and print a test page.

Basic Solution 2: Check the Wi-Fi connection

Work through these questions:

• Is the printer on the same network as the computer? The Network Configuration Report shows the network name (SSID) the printer joined. It needs to be your main network. Guest networks usually keep devices from seeing each other. Your computer can be on the router's 5 GHz band while the printer is on 2.4 GHz, as long as both are on the same router network.
• Is the signal strong enough? On display models, Menu > Network > Wireless > WLAN Signal shows the signal strength. Samsung's user guides recommend keeping the printer away from metal objects, walls, microwave ovens and Bluetooth devices, because they all interfere with the signal.
• Is there an Ethernet cable in the back? If you want to use Wi-Fi, unplug it and restart the printer.
• Did anything change on the router? A new router, a new network name or a new password means the printer has to be connected again. Remember that it needs a 2.4 GHz network.

To reconnect with WPS (your router needs a WPS button):

1. On printers without a display, hold WPS for 2 to 4 seconds until the Status light blinks quickly. On display models, hold WPS for more than 2 seconds.
2. Within 2 minutes, press the WPS button on your router.
3. When the Wireless light stays on, print a new Network Configuration Report to check the address.

Display models can also connect through Menu > Network > Wireless > WLAN Settings. Choose Wizard, pick your network and enter the password. If your router has no WPS button, Samsung Easy Wireless Setup or Samsung Printer Diagnostics can set up Wi-Fi through a temporary USB cable. HP lists both as free downloads for models like the Xpress M2070.

Model walkthroughs: connect the Xpress M2020W to Wi-Fi and connect the M2070FW to Wi-Fi.

Basic Solution 3: Check the USB connection

• Push the cable in firmly at both ends. If it goes through a hub, dock or monitor, plug it straight into the computer to rule those out.
• HP recommends a USB cable shorter than 6 feet for Samsung printers, because longer cables can bring up the offline message.
• Try a cable you know works. If the same cable works fine with another device and the printer still shows offline, the printer or its driver is the more likely problem.

Basic Solution 4: Turn off "Use Printer Offline" and "Pause Printing"

When this Windows setting is on, the printer stays offline no matter what it's actually doing. HP lists it as a standard check for Samsung printers.

Windows 11:

1. Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Devices, scroll down and click More devices and printers settings. On Windows 11, the old Control Panel link just redirects to Settings, so this is the easiest way to get to the classic printer window.
2. Right-click your Samsung printer and choose See what's printing.
3. Open the Printer menu. If Use Printer Offline has a check mark, click it to remove it. Do the same for Pause Printing.

Windows 10: open Control Panel, click View devices and printers under Hardware and Sound, right-click the printer, choose See what's printing and follow step 3.

If the printer goes back to offline soon after, Windows still can't reach it. Move on to the Advanced Solutions.

Basic Solution 5: Clear the queue and restart the Print Spooler

A job that won't print or cancel can hold up everything behind it, and Windows sometimes shows that as offline.

1. Windows 11: go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners, select the printer and click Open print queue. Click the ... menu and choose Cancel all. Windows 10: go to Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners, select the printer, click Open queue, then choose Printer > Cancel All Documents.
2. Type Services into the taskbar search box and open it.
3. Right-click Print Spooler and choose Restart.

If jobs keep getting stuck, our guide to a Samsung printer job stuck in the queue goes further.

Samsung Printer Keeps Going Offline? Make the Fix Last

If the printer comes back online today and drops off again later in the week, something is changing in the background. These fixes deal with the usual suspects.

Give the printer an address that doesn't change

HP's advice for Samsung printers is direct: they can take an automatic address, but most people should set a static IP for trouble-free printing. Either of these methods works, and you don't need both:

• Reserve the address in your router. Find the DHCP reservation (or address reservation) setting in your router and link the printer's MAC address, which is printed on the Network Configuration Report, to its current IP address.
• Fix the address on the printer. Log in to SyncThru, go to Network Settings > TCP/IPv4 and change IP Address Assignment Method from Automatically to Manually. The address that's already there becomes permanent. Click Apply. If you type in a different address instead, pick one outside the range your router hands out automatically.

On display models like the M2070W and M2070FW, you'll also find this setting on the printer itself under Menu > Network > TCP/IP (IPv4) > Static.

After that, update the Windows port to match (Advanced Solution 1) or remove and re-add the printer on your Mac.

Here's a real example of why it matters. An Xpress M2070 owner posted on the HP Community about a printer that lost its Wi-Fi connection whenever it sat unused for about a day, even though it already had a fixed address. The problem stopped after they did four things: moved the printer's address outside the router's automatic range, turned off the printer's power-off setting while leaving sleep on, installed fresh drivers from HP, and made sure Windows was printing to a TCP/IP port with that address.

If you see an "IP Conflict" message

It means another device on your network is using the printer's address. HP's fix is to give the printer a different static address using the SyncThru steps above.

Check the power settings

If the offline message mostly shows up after the printer has been sitting idle:

• Lengthen the power save timer. You can set it anywhere from 1 to 120 minutes. For a network printer, log in to SyncThru and go to Settings > Machine Settings > Power Save. For a USB printer, open Easy Printer Manager, switch to Advanced mode and look on the Device Settings tab. A longer timer means the printer sleeps less often and uses a bit more power.
• Turn off any power-off timer. Some Samsung models can switch themselves off completely after a while, which looks just like "offline" to your computer. If SyncThru shows a power-off option on your model, turn it off.
• Check wireless power save. On some models, SyncThru's wireless settings (under Network Settings > Wireless > Custom) include a power save option for the Wi-Fi itself. Setting it to Off can help keep the connection awake.
• On Windows, turn off bidirectional support if the printer ignores jobs while it's asleep (Advanced Solution 3).