The print spooler lets your Windows computer interact with the printer, and orders print jobs in the queue. If you..
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The print spooler lets your Windows computer interact with the printer, and orders print jobs in the queue. If you see an error message about the print spooler, this tool has been damaged or failing to interact properly with other software. You may need to try more than one method to resolve the spooler.
Measurements
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Method 1
Changing Print Spooler Properties
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@@Open your properties printer spooler. You can’t fix all print spooler issues just by changing the options, but it’s a quick and safe way to get started. These methods should work on any version of Windows from XP onward (and may work on an older OS):
- Press the Windows R key to open the Run dialog box. Type services.msc and press the ? Enter. Double-click Print Spooler.
- If not, click Start? Control panel ? Administration Tools? Services ? Print Spooler
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@@Stop and restart the spooler. The Stop and Start buttons are located in the Print Spooler Properties window that opens, under the General tab. Some errors are corrected by stopping and then starting the print spooler again. Leave the window open, as we have a couple other changes to make.
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@@Set the Spooler to start automatically. Select the next drop down menu ‘Startup type.’ Select Automatic to ensure the spooler starts every time your computer does, so it doesn’t miss any print jobs. Hit Apply in the bottom right to save your changes.[1]
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@@Change recovery options. Next, click on the Recovery tab. It controls how the spooler responds to its own errors. A few tweaks will maximize the spooler’s chance of fixing its own problems, and minimize the risk of causing a crash. Change the settings to match the following:[2]
- First Failure: Restart Service
- Second Failure: Restart Service
- following failures: Take No Action
- Reset total failure after: 1 days
- Restart service after: 1 minutes
< li>When finished, click Apply.
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@@Prohibit interaction with desktop computer. Click the Connection tab. If the ‘Allow interaction with desktop computer’ checkbox is checked, uncheck the box.[3] Keeping this box checked can cause problems, and should not be needed for any fairly modern install.[4] As always, click Apply.
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@@Restart and try again. At this point, you can try printing again. You may need to close the Properties window and/or restart your computer for the changes to take effect. If you still get an error message, continue to the next step.
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@@Check dependencies. Return to the Print Spooler’s Properties window, as described above, if you closed it. Click on the Dependencies tab and look at the top of the box, titled ‘This service depends on the following system components.’[5] view the status of each of the services listed in this panel:
- Return to the Services window. If you closed it, open it again, as described in the first step of this method.
- Find the name of one of the services you saw at the top of the Dependencies pane, listed under Column Name.
- Confirm that the word ‘Route’ is in the Status column for this file.
- Confirm that the word ‘Automatic’ in the Type column Startup for the file.
- If one of the services you searched for does not have these values, Stop and Start the service. You can do this with the icons in the Services window, or by double-clicking the service name and using the buttons in its Properties window.
- If the Stop and Start icons are grayed out, or if shutdown and startup don’t change the values for ‘Start’ and ‘Automatic’, try reinstalling the drivers as described below.[6] If that doesn’t work, you may need a troubleshooting guide for this service, which may involve high-risk registry editing.[7]
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Method 2
Restoring Printer Default State
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@@Clear Print Queue. This is often to solve the problem on its own. This is also a requirement before proceeding with the steps below.[8]
- Open the Services window (Windows R key, type services.msc, press on enter).
- Select Print Spooler and click the Stop icon, if it is not already stopped.
- Go to C:\Windows\system32\ spool\PRINTERS and open this file. You may need to show hidden files and/or enter an administrator password.
- Delete all content inside the folder . Do not delete the PRINTERS folder. Note that this will delete any current print jobs, so make sure it’s not on your network using the printer.
- Return to the Services window, select Print Spooler, then click Start.
2
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@@updating printer drivers. Your printer driver may be damaged, causing the spooler to have problems when it attempts to handle faulty printer data. Try updating your drivers first. If that doesn’t solve the problem, continue to the next step.
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@@Delete from your printer. Your printer software may be damaged. This quick process, you remove it so you can start again with a fresh install:[9]
- Unplug your printer or disconnect from a printer without fil.
- Search for ‘Devices and Printers’ in the search bar, then click to open it.
- Right-click the printer icon that does not work in print. Click ‘Delete’ on the drop-down menu.
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@@Delete the printer driver. The driver must be uninstalled separately. Leave your Devices and Printers window open, and make these changes:
- Left over another printer icon, then click Print Server Properties on the top menu bar .
- In the Properties window, click the Drivers tab.
- Select the driver for the removed printer, then click Remove.
- If you choose ‘Delete driver and driver package,’ the installation package will be deleted. Do this only if you know where to find a new installation package for this driver.
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@@Reinstall your printer. Plug in your printer and follow the onscreen instructions to reinstall the printer. If you deleted the driver package, you will also need to download a replacement. Look for this on the website of the printer manufacturer.
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@@Suppress respawning printers with Print Management. If your printer or driver keep reappearing, or fail to uninstall it, this tool can sometimes do the trick. It is only available for Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate/Enterprise and Windows 8 Pro/Enterprise. Use it as follows:[10][11]
- Go to Start? Administration Tools? Print management, and login with an administrator password. If you can’t find that, try Start? Control panel ? Security system ? Administration Tools? Print Management.
- In the left pane, click the arrow next to Print Servers to expand the list.
- Click the arrow next to your computer (Local marked).
7< br/>@@_
@@Click Printers in the left pane. Find the printer you are having trouble in the right pane, right-click it, and select ‘Remove’.
- Click Drivers in the left pane. Right-click each driver used by the printer, then select ‘Remove’ to uninstall it. (You won’t be able to uninstall it if another printer.)
- If not, right-click the driver and select ‘Remove Driver Package.’ This will uninstall the driver and remove the installer package. This is sometimes necessary, but you will not be able to reinstall the driver until you download a new installation package.
- Connect to the printer to reinstall it. Download a new driver if you removed the driver software.
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Method 3
File System Check< br/>
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@@Restart your computer in Safe Mode. Not everything is always necessary, which increases the chance that the scan will succeed.
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@@Open the Command Prompt with administrator privileges. Search for ‘Command Prompt’ with the search bar. Right-click Command Prompt and select ‘Run as administrator’. Enter your administrator password.
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@@Enter the command scan. In the window that opens, type sfc /scannow and press ? Enter. You must type exactly as it appears. This tells System File Checker to scan your corrupt files, and attempt to repair them.
- This will restore your file system back to the default state. If you have intentionally modded, backup your computer before starting the scan.[12]
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@@Wait for the scan to complete. Leave the Command Prompt window open while the scan checks your files. Read the message once it’s done:
- If it says ‘Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and repaired them successfully,’ restart your computer in normal mode, then try to print.
- If it says ‘Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files, but was unable to resolve some of them’, continue to the next step.
- For all other messages, try another solution listed on this page.
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@@Find the corrupted file. If the scan identifies issues but failed to fix them, you’ll need to fix them yourself. Find more information as follows:[13]
- In Command Prompt, type findstr /c:'[SR]’ %windir%\Logs \CBS\CBS.journal >’%userprofile%\Desktop\sfcdetails.txt’ and press the ? Enter.
- Find Sfcdetails.txt on your desktop and open it.
- Find the report with today’s date. Find the name of this file is damaged or missing.
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@@Find a new copy. Find this file on another computer with the same version of Windows, and transfer to yours. You can also download a fresh copy from online, but be sure to do so from a reputable website.
- It is also possible to extract the file from from a Windows installation disc.[14]
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@@Install the new copy. Here’s how to replace the corrupted file with a new one:[15]
- In Command Prompt, type takeown /f followed by a space and the path to access and filename of the corrupted file. It should look something like this: takeown /f C:\windows\system32\oldfile. Press on ? Enter.
- Then enter the command icacls (path to corrupted file) /grant to administrators:F —replace ‘(path to corrupted file)’, with the same path and name file you used above.
- Transfer the new file by entering copy (path to new file) (path to corrupt file), replacing the words in parentheses with the paths and filenames.
@@_@@Method 1Changing Print Spooler Properties@@_@@Method 2Restoring Default Printer Status@@_@@Method 3Check File System
How to Fix a Print Spooler
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The print spooler lets your Windows computer interact with the printer, and orders print jobs in the queue. If you see an error message about the print spooler, this tool has been damaged or failing to interact properly with other software. You may need to try more than one method to resolve the spooler.
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On Windows 10, it can be frustrating when trying to print and the document stucks in queue, and if you try to cancel the job, it’ll stay deleting forever.
Although there could be a lot of reasons why you can’t print, including connection problems or issues with the printer itself, typically, it’s a problem with the “print spooler” on Windows 10. This is a service that spools print jobs and handles interactions with the printer, and sometimes it’ll stop working, even after restarting your device and printer.
Open Start on Windows 10.
Search for services.msc and click the top result to open the Services console.
Right-click the Print Spooler service and select the Properties option.
Click the General tab.
Click the Stop button.
Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
Type the following path and press Enter:
C:\\Windows\\System32\\spool\\printers
Click the Continue button (if applicable)
Select everything in the printers folder (Ctrl + A keyboard shortcut) and hit the Delete button to remove all its content.
In the General tab, click the Start button to restart the spooler.
Click the OK button.
Once you complete the steps, you can try to print a document one more time, and the printer should work as expected.
How to fix print spooler using Command Prompt
Use these steps to quickly fix print spooler problems using Command Prompt:Open Start.
Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as Administrator option.
Type the following commands to stop the print spooler, delete the printers folder content, and restart the printer spooler, and press Enter (on each line):
net stop spooler
del /Q /F /S “%systemroot%\\System32\\Spool\\Printers\\*.*”
net start spoolerAfter you complete the steps, you should be able to print a document one more time, and your printer should work now.
While this guide focuses on Windows 10, the ability to reset the “Print Spooler” has been around for a long time, which means that you can use the steps on Windows 8.1, Windows 7, and older versions.
If you’re still having issues printing, you can submit your questions in the comment sections.
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