Office printer not showing up on the network
Printers drop off the network for two reasons: the printer itself lost connection to WiFi or ethernet, or your computer lost the connection to find it. Restart the printer and your computer, and 90% of the time it comes back immediately. If it still doesn't show up, the printer needs to be on the same network as your computer.
When a printer disappears from the network, it's almost always because the connection between the printer and the network broke. The printer can still be on, but it's not talking to the router. Restarting both the printer and your computer fixes most cases. If that doesn't work, you need to check that the printer is connected to the right network and can reach your computer.
Fix-IT-Bot will walk you through each step — just tap, no typing needed.
Skip — I just want a technicianCommon mistakes to avoid
- Assuming the printer is broken when it's just lost the WiFi connection. A restart fixes it in most cases
- Trying to add the printer to the computer without first checking that the printer itself is on the network
- Connecting the printer to guest WiFi when it should be on the corporate network. Check the printer's display to see which network it's on
Signs you need professional help
- After restart and network checks, the printer still doesn't show up. Give us a call and we'll check the printer's IP address The printer shows up on one computer but not others. We need to check if those computers are on the same network The printer keeps dropping offline every few hours. There's a deeper network issue we need to investigate
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