“Printer Offline” errors could be caused by Microsoft Update
If you are experiencing issues where printing to network printers seems to have suddenly stopped working, this may have been caused by a Microsoft update designed to address the PrintNightmare vulnerability in Windows 10.
The updates associated with the new PrintNightmare security update and the subsequent network printing problems are:
- KB5005568 (Windows Server 2019)
- KB5005613 (Windows Server 2012 R2)
- KB5005627 (Windows Server 2012 R2)
- KB5005623 (Windows Server 2012)
- KB5005607 (Windows Server 2012)
- KB5005606 (Windows Server 2008)
- KB5005618 (Windows Server 2008)
- KB5005565 (Windows 10 2004, 20H2, and 21H1)
- KB5005566 (Windows 10 1909)
- KB5005615 (Windows 7 Windows Server 2008 R2)
Our recommendation is to speak to an IT company to resolve this issue for you. Some people have simply rolled back the update, but whilst this does fix the issue, it leaves your network unprotected from a known vulnerability. Microsoft are still working on a solution to this but, as it stands, it appears the current workarounds would need to be performed by qualified IT personnel.