Canon Printer Offline — Fix

What it means

A Canon printer showing offline in Windows is usually a Windows status error, not a hardware problem.
Right-click the printer in Windows Settings → See what's printing → click Printer → uncheck Use Printer Offline.

Affected Models

Canon PIXMA MG Series
Canon PIXMA MX Series
Canon PIXMA TS Series
Canon imageCLASS
Canon MAXIFY

Common Causes

Windows has flagged the printer offline after a connection interruption
Printer reconnected to Wi-Fi on a different IP address
USB cable disconnected or loose
Print Spooler service frozen or stopped
Printer in deep sleep mode not responding to Windows

How to Fix It

Uncheck Use Printer Offline in Windows.

Go to Settings → Bluetooth and devices → Printers and scanners.
Click your Canon printer → Open print queue.
In the print queue window click Printer in the menu bar and uncheck Use Printer Offline.
Restart the printer.

Switch the printer off, wait 30 seconds, and power it back on.
Wait for it to fully initialise and reconnect to Wi-Fi before sending a print job.
Restart the Print Spooler service.

Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
Find Print Spooler, right-click it, and click Restart.
Then try printing again.
Assign a static IP address.

Canon printers that repeatedly go offline are usually getting a new IP address from the router after each restart.
In the printer's Wi-Fi settings, assign a static IP address, or reserve the printer's address in the router DHCP settings.

When to Call a Professional

If the printer shows offline after every restart and the software fixes do not resolve it, the printer's network card may be faulty — contact Canon support.

Frequently Asked Questions

Canon printer is on and connected to Wi-Fi but still shows offline in Windows — why?

The printer is probably connected and working, but Windows has flagged it with an incorrect offline status. Uncheck Use Printer Offline in the print queue settings — this usually resolves it instantly without any hardware changes.

Canon printer goes offline every night — how do I stop this?

A Canon printer going offline overnight is almost always caused by the router assigning a new IP address when the printer wakes. Assign a static or reserved IP address for the printer in your router settings so the address never changes.