Fix Print Spooler keeps stopping Not Running on Windows 10

By Gaurav P Last updated Jun 22, 2023 0

Printing a Document is very easy, But sometimes users report Issues While printing documents, or while tried to install a printer, at some point in time, you might have faced the print spooler service not running or The local print service is not running. please restart the spooler or restart the machine. If you Restart the service from the windows service console It stops again and again. So if you are also suffering from this problem and looking for a solution to fix Print Spooler keeps stopping print spooler service not running on Windows 10. Here we have some tips to fix this error permanently.

A print spooler is a software/service that temporarily stores print jobs on the computer hard disk or in memory until the printer is ready to print them. This is a very important service On Windows 10 computers for printing purposes. It should run smoothly in order to add a new printer to your computer or print/send your documents to the printer. But sometimes due to driver misconfiguration, Virus infection or some other reasons this Print Spooler keeps stopping not running properly to complete the print job. Also if you have installed multiple printers and the issue might be with one of the printers that causing the print spooler service to stop. Here follow the below steps to fix this problem.

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1 Print Spooler keeps stopping

Print Spooler keeps stopping

So If you are also suffering from this problem print spooler keeps stopping, Not running, and looking for a solution here follow the below steps. Start with basic troubleshooting Perform clean boot windows 10. Click on Start, search for msconfig.

Select System Configuration from the search results. On the Services tab of the System Configuration dialog box, tap or click to select the Hide all Microsoft services check box, and then tap or click Disable all. Restart the windows. Now follow the same steps to Re-enable the services and check the spooler problem is fixed. otherwise, follow the next steps.

Uninstall unnecessary printers

Only keep the required printer which is in use. If you have two or more printers installed that can sometimes cause issues with Print Spooler and printing. If Print Spooler keeps stopping on your Windows 10 PC, then uninstalling the unused printers might be able to fix this problem. To do this

On the Start menu Search type device and printer and select it from search results. This will open the Devices and printer window. Here look at the unused printers simply Right-click on it and click Remove as shown below image.

When the confirmation popup opens select Yes. Do the same for other unused printers, Also Remove the Installed driver from the Control panel -> uninstall a program below programs -> Select the installed printer driver and click uninstall. Now simply restart your PC.

Clear Printer Spooler Files

Sometimes Print Spooler service can keep stopping due to corrupt Print Spooler files, You can remove those files to fix this problem. To do this first we have to stop the printer spooler service on windows Services If it’s running. Here is how to do

Press Windows key + R, type services.msc, and hit the enter key.
This will open the Windows Services console, Scroll down and look for the print spooler service.
Right-click on it and click stop.
Now Minimize the services windows by press win + D.

Make sure you are login with administrative privileges And windows set to show hidden files. Also, disconnect / Unplug the printer if you have installed a local printer. Now move to the following path.

This PC -> C drive -> Windows -> System32 -> Spool -> Printers

Open the printer folder and Delete all files inside the printer’s folder by press ctrl + a to select all and Right-click select Delete as shown below image.

Now Go back to the Services window, again right-click Print Spooler, and select Start. Connect the unplugged printer or add the network printer and check this time it will work without any problem. Also once restart the windows and check print spooler keeps stopping problem may this time get fixed. If still getting problem fallow next step.

Make sure Print Spooler service is set to Automatic

Also, this is the most important point that makes sure the print spooler service is set to start automatically on Windows startup. You can check this on windows services.

First press Win + R on run type services.msc and hit the enter key.
When the windows services open scroll down and look for print spooler service.
Right-click on it and select properties,
Here in the Startup type section make sure that the Automatic option is selected.
Click Apply to save changes.
Now Move to the Recovery tab, Locate the Subsequent failures setting and set it to Restart the Service
Click Apply and OK to save changes.

Close services windows and Once Restart the computer and check print spooler keeps stopping or not running problem may get solved. still getting problems to follow the next step.

Reinstall The Printer Driver

Sometimes outdated corrupted Installed printer drivers can cause different errors. And may this print spooler keeps stopping is one of them. So we recommend visiting the Installed printer manufacturer website and download the latest driver. Then after Remove the currently installed printer driver from the control panel -> programs and features -> select and uninstall the currently installed printer driver software. Now simply Restart your system then install the latest download printer, driver. After installing the latest driver check if the problem is resolved.

Fix using registry Tweak

If all of the above methods are unable to fix the print spooler keeps stopping the problem simply tweaking the registry can fix this for you. here fallow bellow to do this.

Note: Before making any changes to the windows registry we recommend to create a system Restore point. So that if any things go wrong while making changes on the registry we can revert back to the previous working state using system restore.

Now Press Windows Key + R On Run type Regedit and press Enter or click OK. This will open the Windows registry now navigate to the following key :

For 32 bit windows version :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86\Print Processors

for 64-bit Windows version :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows x64\Print Processors

Here Delete all keys except winprint. Simply right-click the key you want to remove and choose Delete from the menu. Now Close Registry Editor and Restart windows. After that open windows services and restart the print spooler service. this time Print Spooler should start and without any problems.