Printer Cannot Be Contacted Over the Network

By
Nolan Ryan
-

You may have issues whenever trying to print from the device after adding it as a network printer. If you run Windows’s troubleshooter for your printer and it fails to resolve the problem, you’ll get the notice “Printer cannot be contacted via the network” afterward.

The question now is how to fix the printer so that it functions normally again. Consider these options if you’re dealing with a similar issue and haven’t found a satisfactory answer yet. Let’s take a look at each one individually.

Printer Cannot Be Contacted Over the Network

Contents

Method 1: Reconnect the Printer.

It’s the simplest way to fix printer issues. If you’re having trouble printing from your computer and the printer is linked to your computer, you can disconnect the printer and reconnect it. This short article will show you how to do that.

  1. To open the Control Panel, press the Windows key plus S, type “control panel,” and then select the first result.
  2. In Step 2, select Devices and Printers under the Hardware and Sound heading.
  3. Third, in the Printers tab, select the troublesome printer using the right mouse button, then click Remove device.
  4. Select Add a printer, and the system will begin looking for connected printers. Click Next after selecting the printer you just deactivated.

After installing the printer in accordance with the on-screen prompts, you can verify its functionality.

Method 2: Set Up the Required Services.

In reality though, there are a few Windows services needed for a network printer to function properly. There will be problems with the printer if these essential services are suddenly turned off. You should thus make sure the resolved services are enabled and set them to start automatically if Windows 10’s printer cannot be connected over the network.

That goal can be attained if you:

  1. First, open the Services app by pressing the Windows key plus R, then typing services.msc and clicking the OK button.
  2. To proceed, go to your service manager, find the Remote Access Auto Connection Manager service, and double-click it to bring up its settings.
  3. The third step is to choose Automatic from the Startup type drop-down menu, then press the Start button. To commit your changes, select Apply and then OK.
  4. The fourth step is to repeat the third for each of the following services:
  • The Routing and Remote Access Service
  • using Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol
  • and Remote Access
  • Connection Manager

Once you’ve done so, you may use the printer to print some test pages to see if the problem persists.

Method 3: Give the Printer a Permanent IP Address

A network node’s IP address is typically temporary. Some customers find that assigning a static IP address to a printer that isn’t being reached over the network solves the problem.

This is the procedure:

  1. Step one: Obtain the printer’s IP address. In order to learn various techniques, read this manual.
  2. Second, with your newfound IP address in hand, open your preferred web browser and hit the Enter key.
  3. Enter the printer’s name and password and then click OK to enter the network configurations.

Lastly, navigate to the IP Address Configuration (or TCP/IP, depending on your operating system) by clicking IP Configuration in the Networking submenu. Select Manual IP, then type in the printer’s new IP address and hit Apply to save the adjustments.

After that is finished, restart your computer to see if the “printer cannot be contacted over the network” problem has been fixed.