Troubleshooting Offline Print

Use this guide to diagnose and resolve common Offline Print issues. For background on how Offline Print works, see Offline Print Administrator Guide.

How to Confirm a Workstation is in Offline Print Mode

In the Pharos Print app, verify the user is shown an Offline Print or failover notification when viewing jobs or submitting a print.

The Offline Print tab in the Pharos Print app displays the user's most recently used printers (up to 3), based on locally cached data (release targets). Submit a test print job and confirm it either prints to a selected offline printer or remains visible locally for later release.

Issue: No Printers Available During Offline Print Mode

If no printers are available during Offline Print, the workstation does not have any cached release targets for that user. This is expected behaviour in certain scenarios.

Common reasons include:

  • The user has never released a print job on this workstation while connected to Pharos Cloud.
  • This is the user's first time using the workstation.
  • The workstation did not complete a nightly refresh while online.
  • The user is highly mobile, and cached printers reflect a previous location.

Because release targets are cached per user, Offline Print cannot offer printer choices without prior successful releases. To ensure printers are available for Offline Print in the future:

  • Have the user print and release at least one job while online. This allows printers to be captured and cached as release targets.
  • For shared or new workstations, ensure users complete an initial successful print while online before relying on Offline Print.

Issue: Workstation Stays Offline After Connectivity is Restored

Because recovery checks are triggered by user activity (such as submitting a print job or viewing print jobs), a workstation can remain offline while idle even after connectivity is restored.

Ask the user to open the Pharos Print app or submit a test print. This forces an immediate connectivity re-check and typically returns the workstation to online mode.

Issue: Admin Enables "Switch All Users to Offline Print" but Workstations Don't Transition

  • Trigger an immediate check by having a user submit a test print.
  • Allow up to a few minutes for workstations to pick up the change (typically 0–2 minutes), depending on when each workstation next checks in.

If the workstation appears stuck, restart the Pharos Systems Print Scout Spooler Service (requires admin privileges) or restart the workstation.