(Solved) How to Fix Print Spooler Service not Running Error? | Quick Fix.

Guide to Fix ‘Print Spooler’ service errors.

Print Spooler Service is a Windows service which helps to give command to the printer for printing. It manages all the print queues. Sometimes it gets stopped / stuck and starts showing the printing errors. Most of the printing issues are caused by this service. Let’s learn more about it.

About Print Spooler Service

Print spooler service manages multiple print requests and sends them to the printer one by one for printing. As we all know, printers take a bit of time to print, so print spooler service keeps all the pending documents in the queue and then send them to the printer one by one when the first document is printed.

In Windows, the print spooler service works with two main files – spoolss.dll and spoolsv.exe. Printer spooler service is not a stand alone service; it works depending on its dependencies services as well. Its dependencies services are: Dcom and RPC services. If one of these services get stopped, it means print spooler service will also be stopped automatically. That’s why these are called dependency services. So, to fix ‘print spooler not working issue’, we’ll have to work around on these things. Please follow instructions given here.

Symptoms

If you are getting one of the following errors, then it means the there must be problem in your print spooler service or its dependency services.

• Local print spooler is not running. please restart the service.
• Print spooler is not working.
• Print spooler won’t start.
• Printer spooler service can’t start.
• Print Spooler service getting the error message while printing.
• Says, start the print spooler service first, then try to print again.

And even sometimes it does not display any error but printer not printing too.

How to Fix Print Spooler Service is not working

There are two methods to fix print spooler service, by applying the step by step manual steps and through using a print spooler repair tool (freeware) utility.

• How to Fix print spooler service using manual steps
• How to Fix print spooler service using print spooler repair tool

Method 1: How to Fix “Print Spooler Service” using Manual Steps

To fix this problem in your Windows you have to do two things:

1) Make sure that Print Spooler service is running.

2) Make sure that Print Spooler dependencies are running.

Check the Print Spooler Service is Running

Follow the below mentioned steps in the correct order to check the Print Spooler service:

1. Open the run dialog box by pressing ‘Windows’ + ‘R’ together. Then type ‘services.msc’ and click ‘OK’.

a) If Print Spooler is NOT RUNNING.

1. In the Services window, right click ‘Print Spooler’ and select ‘Properties’.

2. In Properties, select ‘Automatic’ from the drop down list.

3. Click ‘Apply’.

4. Click ‘Start’.

5. Wait for Print Spooler to start.

6. Click ‘OK’ to close the Window.

b) If Print Spooler is ALREADY RUNNING.

1. In the Services window, right click ‘Print Spooler’ and select ‘Restart’. After that, print spooler service will be restarted.

2. Wait for Print Spooler to restart.

Method  2: Check Print Spooler Dependencies are Running

Execute the steps given below in their right order to verify if Printer Spooler dependencies are running properly:

1. Open run dialog box by pressing ‘Windows key’ + ‘R’. Then type ‘services.msc’ and click ‘OK’.

2. In the Services window, locate ‘Print Spooler’ right click it and select ‘Properties’.

3. In the Properties window click on ‘Dependencies’ tab.

4. Expand ‘Remote Procedure Call (RPC)’ option. In this case there are two dependencies, namely ‘DCOM Server Process Launcher’ and ‘RPC Endpoint Mapper’. Note down the name of these dependencies. Then, close this window.

5. In the Services window, locate ‘DCOM Server Process Launcher’ right click it and select ‘Properties’.

6. In the Properties window, choose ‘Automatic’ from the drop down, click ‘Apply’, then click ‘Start’ and finally click on ‘OK’.

7. In the Services window, locate ‘RPC Endpoint Mapper’ right click it and select ‘Properties’.

6. In the Properties window, from the drop down select ‘Automatic’, click ‘Apply’, click ‘Start’ and then click on ‘OK’.

That’s it now both Print Spooler Service and Print Spooler Dependencies are running on your computer. Restart your computer and your Print Spooler should work properly.

How to Fix “Print Spooler Service” using Print Spooler Repair Tool

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

1. Download the Print Spooler Repair Tool. It is a free utility to quickly fix the print spooler error. It will reset print spooler service as default.
2. Run the print spooler repair tool.
3. Click on Repair Button to start repair process. It will take few minutes to repair whole print spooler service.
4. After finishing the task it will show a finish message (Successfully Finished). Now print spooler should be working.

Step by step guide with screenshots

Download: Print Spooler Repair Tool.exe

(Freeware) 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 print spooler keeps stopping automatically. And if you are totally missing a print spooler service from the lost, then refer to this article to get rid of the issue print spooler service is missing.

How it works

The Print Spooler service provides print job carrier service for computers. It is supposed to manage print jobs and when it starts malfunctioning then it becomes impossible to print documents. One such sign of malfunctioning is ‘Print Spooler service not running’ error. Are you stuck in the dilemma that your Windows Print Spooler service is not working? Then don’t worry because we are here to help you. In this tutorial, we will explain in easy to follow steps on how to solve this problem.

What is the cause of the problem?

There are lots of causes for “print spooler is not working” issue. Actually, most of the viruses and trojans target the “print spooler service” to corrupt it. They can also corrupt the registry of print spooler service because print spooler service is the service which will effect most of the users who use the printer. Users wants to take print out however they getting the error message “Print spooler service has stopped please restart the service, the local print spooler is not running. please restart the spooler” etc. So it is advised to protect your PC with a good antivirus software. See here free antivirus for Windows 10.

FAQs

Q: Does this fix work for all Windows.  My print spooler service is not running in Windows XP?
A: Yes, this quick fix utility works fine in Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and Windows 10.

Q: Does it able to fix the issue “Spooler SubSystem App error“?
A: It is supposed to fix it. Please let us know if it is not working for you. Q: Why is my print spooler is crashing again and again? A:If it is crashing again & again chances are some virus or malware is doing this. So it is better to scan the system with a good malware removal tool and then run this utility.

Q: I am getting the error : CAN NOT ADD PRINTER: Print spool service not listed in service list. How do I fix it?
A: This utility is designed to fix mostly all type of spooler related issues like ‘Printer spooler missing’, ‘Printer spooler terminated unexpectedly’ , ‘Unable to uninstall the printer because spooler is not running’, ‘Start the spooler and then install the printer manually’ etc.

Q: I Can’t add printer, error messages comes “print spooler service had stopped please start the print spooler service”.
A: Just run this utility and your problem should be fixed. All of the spooler problems will be repaired automatically. It restore the spooler service and fix every spooler issues quickly and automatically. Please download this tool, it will fix all the corruption of  print spooler. you just need to run this repair tool (Freeware) and restart the computer once, after restart your spooler problem will be solved.

If after restarting your computer you find that the Print Spooler service is stopping again, then most probably your printer drivers have gotten corrupted. The best option in that case is to reinstall your printer driver.