How To Fix Printer Spooler

Clearing A Printer Spooler In Windows 8 And 10

FIX!!!! printer spooler problems on Windows 10

1 The start menu looks like 4 blue boxes. If you can’t find the start menu on your screen, press the button on your keyboard that looks like 4 black boxes and the S key at the same time to open the menu.XResearch source

2Search for Services.msc in the search box. The search box should be located in the menu that popped up when you clicked start. After you type Services.msc into the search box, press the Enter key on your keyboard.XResearch sourceAdvertisement

3Select Print spooler in the window that pops up. The window should say Services at the top. On the right side of the window, scroll through the list of services until you find the one labeled Print spooler. The services should be in alphabetical order. Click on Print spooler so the column is highlighted in blue.XResearch source

4 Look for this button on the left side of the Services window. You’ll find it below the Stop the service button, and above Description.XResearch source

5Try printing your document again. Go back into the program you were printing from and pull up the document you were working on. Click the Print button in the program. The document should now print.XResearch sourceAdvertisement

What Is Printer Spooler And Why Does It Stop Running

The print spooler is the primary component of the printing interface on all the Microsofts Windows versions. Its nothing but an executable file that takes care of all the printing process in Windows OSs. From scheduling printing jobs to retrieving the correct printer driver the printer spooler is what operates all the printing related tasks on your computer. While checking the current status of a printing job, size of the print job or deleting or suspending a print job we take help of the printer spooler.

There can be multiple reasons why the print spooler on your PC stops working. Check them out below,

The print spooler is overloaded with tasks.
Print spooler process is in conflict with some other process already running on your computer.
Your printer is using an outdated device driver.
There is a bug on the current version of your Windows OS which is stopping the print spooler from working.

What Causes The Print Spooler To Stop Running

The print spooler is a part of the Windows 11 operating system that organizes printing tasks and queues them up for being sent to connected printers or printing services. Errors can occur when the print spooler is overloaded with tasks, is conflicting with other aspects of the operating system, or is simply being affected by a glitch or bug caused by an out-of-date driver, app, or version of Windows 11.

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Ruling Out Other Issues

1Make sure your printer is plugged in and has power. Look at your printer. If all the lights are off, it may not have power, which could be why your print jobs aren’t going through. Check to see if the printer cord is plugged in. If it’s not, plug it in and try printing again to see if the problem is resolved.XResearch source

2Check if your printer has any errors. Look on the printer for any flashing lights or error messages. A paper jam or low ink may be why your printer isn’t working. Take care of any error messages before you clear the printer spooler. Once the error messages are gone, try printing something to see if the problem is resolved.XResearch source

3Save your work in the program you’re trying to print from. Once you’re certain it’s nothing else causing your print jobs to fail, you should clear the printer spooler. However, doing so will delete all your previous print jobs, so make sure you have all of your work saved before you proceed. When you’re finished clearing the printer spooler, you can pull up your saved work and try printing it again. Advertisement

Check With A New User Account

Print spooler service is not running (How To Fix)

Also You may create a new user account and check if the issue occurs in the new user account.

Press Windows key + X and click on Control Panel.
Once this is done, log in to the new user account and check if the issue occurs in the new user account.

Did these solutions help to fix print spooler service problems on windows 10? Let us know on comments below, also read:

Take Ownership Of Spoolsv

Taking ownership of the executable file that runs the Print Spooler can also help stop crashes and other issues with the service.

1. Open File Explorer and go to Local Disk > Windows > System32.

2. Right-click the file labeled spoolsv and select Properties.

3. Switch to the Security tab and select Advanced.

4. Select Change.

5. Type in your Windows username and select Check Names. If you typed it correctly, you should see the path to your user account listed automatically.

6. Select OK.

7. Confirm that you see your username next to Owner. Then, select Apply, then OK.

8. Restart your computer.

Delete Files From Printers And Drivers Folders

Users reported that restarting the Print Spooler service doesnt always fix the issue, therefore you should also try deleting all files from the

C:\Windows\system32\spooler\printers

and

C:\windows\system32\spooler\folders

After deleting these files, disconnect your printers from your PC and connect them again after a couple of seconds. Lastly, start the Spooler Service and check if the error is resolved.

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To Start The Service Manually

Click or tap Start the service.

Windows will attempt to start the service.

Once the Print Spooler status is Running .The Print Spooler service is started

How to Stop the Print Spooler service

Scroll down the list of services and click on Print Spooler.

At the top-left of the window, click on Stop the service.

Windows will attempt to stop the service.

The Print Spooler service is then stopped this can be confirmed by checking the status is blank.

The Print Spooler service is now stopped.

How to start the Print Spooler

To automatically start the Print Spooler restart the computer – for this to work, the Startup Type should be set to Automatic .

The Startup Type is listed in Services .

What Can I Do To Troubleshoot The Print Spooler Service

Windows 10: fix print spooler problems

Before reinstalling the print spooler service you must try to troubleshoot the print spooler service.

Here are the Print Spooler Service Troubleshooting Steps for windows 10:

Then select Settings.
Under Windows Update, select Check for updates. If updates are available, click Install updates.
Once installed, restart your computer if prompted.

This should fix the issue with the Print Spooler service.

If not, you may try to uninstall the print spooler service.

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Turn Off The Print Spooler Service Policy Using Group Policy Editor

If you need to use the printer, youll need to connect it to your Windows computer to print locally. But first, you need to disable a printer policy that bars all incoming remote connections using the Group Policy Editor.

Note: This method wont work if youre running Windows 10 Home because you cant access the Group Policy Editor.

Click Start, type gpedit in the search box, and press Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.

Select Computer Configuration from the left pane.

Select Administrative Templates under that section.

Next, select Printers.

On the right pane, scroll down to select the policy titled Allow Print Spooler to Accept Client Connections and double-click on it to open its settings.

Select Disabled from the policy window and select the Okay button.

Close the Group Policy Editor. After this, you need to restart the Print Spooler service for the changes to take effect.

If youre concerned about your PCs security, use your preferred antivirus application to run a scan to find and fix any problems on your computer.

Remove The Driver And Driver Entries From The Registry

Some users are also suggesting removing all entries from the registry that are related to your printer.

This can be a complicated and potentially dangerous process, so be extra cautious. After deleting all entries related to your printer, make sure that all its drivers are removed from your PC.

Finally, reinstall the printer drivers and the issue should be fixed.

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Reset The Registry Keys Of Print Spooler

The registry is the hierarchical archives of your computer which stores the reference to all the settings on your PC. A reset of these keys would help to repair print spooler in Windows 10. Follow these steps:

Press Windows + R and type regedit in the Run box followed by Enter key.
Navigate to the following path in your Windows Registry.

For 32 bit architecture, use-

//HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Print/Environments/Windows NT x86/Print Processors/ for 32 bit Windows

or for 64 bit, use this

//HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Print/Environments/Windows NT x64/Print Processors/ for 64 bit Windows.

Delete all the folders present in this location except the WINPRINT entry.
Restart your computer and try to print a new document.

Uninstalling And Reinstalling The Printer Drivers

Press the Windows + X key and click Device Manager.

Expand the Printer Drivers section.

Right-click on the printer drivers and click Uninstall.

Now install the latest Windows 10 printer drivers from the manufacturers website.

Expand the print queues.

Right-click on each queue and select Update.

After updating both versions, restart your computer, reconnect the printer, and make sure it works properly.

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How To Repair Printer Spooler Using Print Spooler Repair Tool

To repair the Printer spooler using a Print spooler repair tool, you have to follow the below steps,

Now click on the Repair button which will start the repairing process which might take a few minutes

Once completed you will receive a message saying Successfully finished. Click on OK

Restart your printer and try printing something

The print spooler is now repaired. Restart your computer and the printer and try printing the pages once again.

Troubleshooting Common Issues With The Printer Spooler

Western Sydney University

Wichita Technical Institute

Raspberry Pi

This guide will walk you through a number of proven solutions for how to fix print spooler errors and problems in Windows 11 PCs, laptops, and Microsoft Surface devices. These tips are designed to work around or solve any Windows 11 printing problems preventing tasks from being sent to a printer.

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Delete Content From Spool Folder

In this method, we will delete content from two folders, including folder PRINTERS and folder drivers. We will show you how to do it using Windows 10 1703 version. Also, this method is compatible with another operating system, from Windows XP to Windows 8.1. These two folders are located within Windows\System32\spool.

Hold Windows logo and press E to open Windows Explorer or File Explorer

On the left side click on This PC or My Computer

Navigate to following location C:\Windows\System32\spool

Open folder drivers and delete all files and folders

Delete content from folder Printers and restart Print Spooler service using tool available on this LINK

Restart your Windows machine

Enjoy printing on your machine

How To Reinstall Print Spooler Service Windows 10

How to Clear Print Spooler and Fix Forever Printing Problem in Windows 10

by Belayet H. |

Windows 10 is known for its simplicity, but sometimes uninstalling or reinstalling the print spooler service may be necessary. If you are experiencing issues with your printer, sometimes just restart or reinstall print spooler service windows 10 and get the issues resolved.

How to reinstall print spooler service windows 10?

6 Last words

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Fix The Printer Spooler Dependencies

The next solution is to fix the Spooler service dependency information. You can do this by following the steps below

Open Command Prompt or PowerShell as an administrator.
Now type the following command and press Enter to execute it

CMD /K SC CONFIG SPOOLER DEPEND= RPCSS

After running the above command, see if it solves the error code

What Is A Print Spooler

Handling documents is an important aspect of a business. A printer is slow and has low memory, this will make the process much more complicated and unproductive. To ensure an efficient process, suitable print management software is needed. This software comes with features to notify the user about the status of their document printing, distributing print jobs to several printers available, and assigning priorities to each job.

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Install The Latest Print Driver And Software

The printer spooler can also fail due to outdated printer drivers . Look for a new printer driver on your printer manufacturers website, which is an upgraded version of the software, and install the most recent driver on your PC. Many printer troubles can be resolved this way.

On your Android device, tap the settings icon and choose the Apps or Programs button.
In this section, select Show System Apps.
Scroll down to the Print Spooler area and pick it. Until you can do so, you must first click Storage on some devices.
Press the Clear Cache& Clear Data buttons at the same time.
Locate the documents or images users want to print and open.
Press the print button after selecting the menu icon.
A devices and printers screen will open, allowing you to choose your preferred printer

Fix : Fix Print Spooler Services

Another thing that you can try doing is fixing the Print Spooler Services. To do so, follow the steps given below-

Press the Windows + R key combo on your keyboard. In the run dialog box, type services.msc and hit Enter.
This will open Services windows on your PC.
Here search for Print Spooler services. Right-click on it, and then click on the Properties option.

Head to the General tab in the properties, and then click on Stop.
After doing so, press the Windows + R key combo, and type C:\Windows\System32\spool\printers, and hit Enter.
Now select everything in the printers folder, and delete them.

Now head back to the Print Spooler Properties window in the Services.
Now click on the start button to start the service again. Once done, click on OK.

Now try printing from the printer, and you should now not encounter the Printer Spooler errors in Windows 11.

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How To Fix Hp Printer Spooler Error

HP printers are being used everywhere inthe world, and they are one of the biggest brands in the printing industry. HPproduces quality printers for both home and commercial use. You can alwaystrust an HP printer when you are in a hurry for your work.

But, there are times when you get intotrouble with HP printers. One of the problems could be that your HP printspooler service is not running. So, what can you do when you find this problemwith your computer?

Well, today, we are going to provide youall the details about the HP printer spooler and how you can solve the problem.

First, we must look at what is printspooler and how it is used in a computer.

WhatIs Print Spooler?

inwindows helps your computer interact with the printer and send in the printcommand to the printer. It is a process that manages the printing service onthe computer. It accepts the print jobs from the computer and makes sure thatprinting resources are available. It manages printing in the background andmaintains the order in which the document will be printed. It also reschedulesthe printing job if the resources are not available at the moment.

Commonerrors with Printer Spooler

If a document that has been sent to theprinter for printing has some issue and has been added to the print queue bythe spooler, it will make all the print jobsstop. Other problems faced related to print spoolerinclude:

Howto solve the Print Spooler error on your HP printer?

Option : Restart Print Spooler Via Command Prompt

Alternatively, you can also restart print spooler Windows 10 in Command Prompt.

Step 1: Press Windows + R to open Run window. Then, input cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run Command Prompt as an administrator.

Step 2: When you receive a User Account Control window, click OK to confirm the operation.

Step 3: In the command console, input net stop spooler and press Enter key to stop print spooler.

Step 4: To resolve print or print spooler problems, you can navigate to the directory C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Printers and delete all the contents in the Printers folder to remove the print jobs.

Step 5: Now, you can go back to Command Prompt, type net start spooler, and press Enter to start print spooler.

After that, you can start your print tasks again and they should be completed properly.

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Print Spooler Repair Tool

There used to be a Fix-It as well as a Print Spooler Cleanup Diagnostic Tool from Microsoft but that is now not available. The is the closest you have.

You may try this free 3rd-party tool called Fix Print Spooler from sordum.org and see if that helps you.

Hope something from these fixes helps you. If it does not, you may need to consider Reset This PC option.

How To Fix Print Spooler Service Using Print Spooler Repair Tool

How To Fix Print Spooler Error In Windows 10

In order to fix print spooler service, follow the below steps.

Download the . It is a free utility to quickly fix the print spooler error. It will reset print spooler service as default.

Run the print spooler repair tool.

Click on Repair Button to start repair process. It will take few minutes to repair whole print spooler service.

After finishing the task it will show a finish message . Now print spooler should be working.

Step by step guide with screenshots

for Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista & XP

After finished, please Restart your computer, and then try to printout something, your print spooler problem will be fixed.

Refer to this page to see if you are getting an issue, the . And if you are totally missing a print spooler service from the lost, then refer to this article to get rid of the issue .

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