Printer Goes Offline With VPN? How to Fix It

If you read our articles, you will know that a VPN encrypts the network traffic and routes it through a remote server. This blinds your PC to local devices on your home Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, your computer can no longer “see” your wireless printer. Windows drops the job and flips the status to offline. Flipping on split tunneling or toggling the “allow local network access” setting inside your VPN client fixes this by letting local data bypass the encrypted tunnel.

Sii Ling from BestVPNListing.com will share insights on why printer goes offline with VPN and how to fix it.

Why Your VPN Cuts Off Your Printer

Home Wi-Fi printers live on local IP addresses assigned by your router, usually starting with 192.168. The moment you launch a VPN client, it creates a virtual network card that overrides your actual physical adapter. Under default settings, the VPN claims ownership of all outgoing traffic.

When you send a document to your printer’s local address, the VPN grabs those data packets and shoves them down the encrypted pipe toward corporate or commercial servers. The remote network on the other end has no idea what your living room printer is, so it discards the request. On top of that, corporate IT security policies actively block local subnet communications to prevent infected home hardware from sniffing corporate traffic. The result is a printer that suddenly acts dead until you kill the VPN session.

Quick Fixes That Actually Work

Try these in order. Don’t overcomplicate it:

• Enable Split Tunneling. Go into your VPN settings. Look for split tunneling. Turn it on. Set it to exclude local traffic or exclude your print spooler app.
• Allow Local Network Access. Settings > Connection. Check the box that says “Allow LAN traffic” or “Allow access to local network devices.” Click save. Done.
• Direct USB cable. Dirt cheap. Never fails. Plug a USB-A or USB-C cable directly from your laptop to the back of the printer. Bypass network routing entirely.
• Add printer by static IP address. Delete your printer from Windows Settings. Re-add it using the exact local IP address instead of relying on auto-discovery protocols like WSD or Bonjour, which VPNs aggressively kill.
• Check private network profile settings. Make sure your Wi-Fi network in Windows is set to Private, not Public. Public networks isolate your machine completely.

Configuring Split Tunneling Across Major VPNs

Every VPN vendor names this setting something slightly different, which makes finding it annoying. I will give you examples of how to do it:

Cisco AnyConnect / Secure Client

You probably can’t change this yourself if it’s managed by enterprise admin. But if you have access: Preferences > Settings. Check “Allow local (LAN) access when using VPN (if configured).” If it’s greyed out, your IT team explicitly blocked it at the profile level on the ASA/FTD firewall.

NordVPN

Open the settings of NordVPN. Click Split Tunneling. Toggle it ON. Choose “Disable VPN for selected apps” or select “Enable for selected apps only.” Or go to Settings > Connection and flip “Invisibility on LAN” to OFF.

Surfshark VPN

In Surfshark, go to Settings > VPN Settings > Bypasser. Turn ON Bypass VPN, then add the printer’s local IP address under Websites / IP addresses. Also check Discover on LAN in the VPN settings, since this controls whether your device can be discovered by other devices on your local network.

ProtonVPN

Navigate to Proton Settings > Advanced > Split Tunneling. Turn it ON. Add IP addresses or applications you want to bypass the VPN tunnel.

Advanced Workarounds for Strict Corporate VPNs

If your company locked down VPN settings completely, split tunneling won’t be an option. You still need to print.

Use a secondary device. Email the file to your personal laptop or phone, or dump it on a USB flash drive. Print from the non-VPN device. Takes 20 seconds.

Or use Wi-Fi Direct. Most modern HP, Canon, and Epson printers broadcast their own tiny Wi-Fi network. Connect your laptop Wi-Fi card to the printer’s direct SSID when you need to print. It bypasses your router and local subnet routing rules completely.