Xerox Printer Showing Offline? Start Here

"Offline" is one of the more misleading words in Windows. It doesn't mean the printer is switched off. It means Windows asked for a status update and either got no reply or got one it didn't trust, so even a perfectly healthy Xerox can show up that way.

The trouble usually sits in one of three places: the connection (Wi-Fi, Ethernet or USB), a setting inside Windows, or the way Windows talks to the printer, meaning the port it uses and the status checks that run over it. The fixes below take those in order. They work on Windows 10 and Windows 11, and there's a Mac answer in the FAQs.

Basic Fixes

These take a few minutes each, and none of them change anything you can't undo.

Fix 1: Check the printer and its connection

Start with the printer's own screen. If it's asleep, tap the screen or press the power button. A paper jam, an open door or a toner warning can stop it answering Windows, so clear whatever it's complaining about.

Then look at how it's connected:

• USB: Use one cable, plugged straight into the computer instead of a hub. Xerox warns that hubs can cause communication problems, and for its B210 model it recommends a single cable under 12 feet. Try a different USB port while you're at it.
• Ethernet: Try a different cable and a different port on your router or switch.
• Wi-Fi: Make sure the printer is on the same network as your computer. Print a Configuration Report from the printer's menu (Device, then Information Pages; on some models it sits under About) and check the network name listed there. Some models, including the Xerox B215, only connect to 2.4 GHz networks, so a router that broadcasts only 5 GHz will never see them.

Here's a quick test that tells you a lot. Type the printer's IP address (it's on that same Configuration Report) into a web browser on your computer. If the printer's built-in web page opens, the connection works and the fault is more likely a Windows setting, port or driver, so keep going with the next fixes. Xerox calls that page the Embedded Web Server, and older models call it CentreWare Internet Services. If nothing loads, the problem is the connection itself, so sort that out first.

Fix 2: Restart the printer, router and computer in order

Turn the printer off and unplug it. If it's on Wi-Fi or Ethernet, restart your router too. Wait about 30 seconds, power the router back on and give it a couple of minutes to settle. Then plug the printer in and wait until its screen says it's ready. Restart your computer last.

The order matters a little. It lets the printer get a fresh connection to the network before Windows goes looking for it.

Fix 3: Turn off the "Use Printer Offline" setting

Xerox's own offline articles start here because it's fast, and when this setting is on, Windows will show the printer as offline no matter how healthy it is.

1. Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners. On Windows 10 it's Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners.
2. Select your Xerox printer and choose Open print queue.
3. Click the Printer menu at the top of the queue window.
4. If Use Printer Offline has a check mark, click it to clear it. If the menu shows Use Printer Online instead, click that.
5. While you're in the menu, make sure Pause Printing isn't checked either.

Fix 4: Clear stuck jobs and restart the Print Spooler

One stuck job can hold up everything behind it. In the same print queue window, select each waiting document, open the Document menu and choose Cancel. Then restart the Windows service that manages printing:

1. Press the Windows key, type Services and open the app.
2. Scroll to Print Spooler, right-click it and choose Restart.
3. Send a test page.

If jobs keep getting stuck, our guide to a Xerox printer job stuck in the queue goes deeper. Windows also includes an automated printer troubleshooter in the Get Help app, which can catch simple problems for you.

If the printer prints, you're done. If it prints today and drops offline again tomorrow, keep reading.

Advanced Fixes

If your Xerox keeps slipping back offline, or the basics didn't help, the cause is usually in how Windows is set up to reach the printer. These fixes go after that directly. Most of them start in Printer properties, so here's the way in.

Open Printer properties. On Windows 11, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners, select your Xerox and click Printer properties. On Windows 10, select the printer, choose Manage, then Printer properties. Prefer the classic route? Open Control Panel > Devices and Printers, right-click the printer and choose Printer properties. Then click the Ports tab.

Look at the checked port. If its name starts with WSD, begin with Fix 1. If it says Standard TCP/IP Port, Fixes 2 and 3 are your best bets.

Fix 1: Replace a WSD port with a Standard TCP/IP port

WSD (Web Services for Devices) lets Windows find a network printer on its own instead of pointing at a fixed address. That's handy during setup and flaky later, because Windows can lose track of the printer when the network shifts. Xerox lists swapping it out as the first fix in its offline article for the VersaLink C7000 series, and it's a fix people commonly report working on Windows help forums.

1. On the Ports tab, click Add Port, choose Standard TCP/IP Port and click New Port.
2. Click Next, type the printer's current IP address, click Next again, then Finish.
3. Make sure the new port is checked, click Apply and print a test page.

If Add Port is grayed out, an administrator has locked those settings and you'll need them to make the change. A few Xerox models are documented to work better with LPR than the default Raw setting (the WorkCentre 7800 series is one), so if a test page won't go through, check the guide for your model at support.xerox.com.

Then do Fix 2, so this port can't be knocked out again.

Fix 2: Give your Xerox printer a permanent IP address

Most routers hand out addresses on a lease, so a printer's address can change after a power cut or a router restart. When it does, any port aimed at the old address goes quiet, and Windows shows the printer as offline. There are two ways to stop that:

• Reserve the address in your router. Open the router's settings and find the DHCP or address reservation page (the name varies by brand). Most routers let you pick the printer from a list of connected devices. Nothing changes on the printer itself.
• Set a static IP on the printer. On VersaLink models, go to Device > Network/Ports, pick Wireless or Ethernet, tap IPv4, turn off DHCP, and enter an IP address, subnet mask and gateway. Print a network report afterward to confirm the change stuck.

Xerox recommends doing both, meaning you reserve the address in the router whenever you set a static one. Pick an address that fits your network but sits outside the range the router hands out automatically. Xerox's own example uses the high end of the range, around .200 to .254.

Fix 3: Turn off SNMP status checks

For a printer on a Standard TCP/IP port, Windows uses a protocol called SNMP to ask how the printer is doing. Xerox documents that this check can occasionally report the printer as offline when it isn't, and Windows then stops sending jobs. It's one of the fixes that turns up most often across Xerox's support library.

1. Open Printer properties and click the Ports tab.
2. Select the checked port and click Configure Port.
3. Clear the box next to SNMP Status Enabled.
4. Click OK twice.

Xerox says this option isn't available on WSD, USB or Mac ports. If you don't see the SNMP box, go back to Fix 1. The trade-off is that Windows may no longer show live printer status, such as toner levels, though printing itself carries on as normal.

Fix 4: Remove the printer and reinstall it cleanly

If the printer still drops offline, the driver install itself may be damaged or mismatched. Start over:

1. Go to Printers & scanners, select the Xerox printer and choose Remove.
2. Restart your computer.
3. Download the current driver for your exact model from Xerox Website.
4. Run the installer. If it offers a choice, pick the option that uses the printer's IP address rather than automatic discovery.

Prefer to add it by hand? Go to Printers & scanners > Add device > Add manually, choose Add a printer using an IP address or hostname, set the device type to TCP/IP Device and enter the printer's IP address. Windows will detect the model and offer to install the driver. If you're not sure which driver you need, our Xerox printer driver guide can help.

Fix 5: Rule out your network and security software

When the printer and Windows both look fine on their own, something between them may be getting in the way.

• Network profile. Windows labels each network Public or Private. Private makes your PC discoverable and allows printer sharing, while Public hides it, which can break printers that Windows found through WSD. On a home or office network you trust, open Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi > Manage known networks, select your network and set Network profile type to Private. Ethernet users will find the same option under Settings > Network & internet > Ethernet.
• Antivirus and firewall. Security software can block the traffic between your computer and the printer. To test it, pause the firewall or web protection for a few minutes on a network you trust, send a test page, then turn protection back on right away. If printing worked, don't leave it off. Add the printer's IP address, or the Xerox software, to the program's exceptions instead.
• VPN. Some VPN apps hide your PC from local devices. NordVPN's "Stay invisible on LAN" option is one example, and its own support team points to it when a Wi-Fi printer stops working. Disconnect the VPN and try again. If that fixes it, look for a local network (LAN) access setting or split tunneling in the app.
• Router isolation and guest networks. With AP isolation (also called client isolation) turned on, devices on the same Wi-Fi can't talk to each other, and printer access stops working. A printer that has joined a guest network is cut off from your main network in much the same way. Put the printer and computer on your main network, and turn AP isolation off for it.