Printer not working in Windows
On this page
Symptom
Section titled “Symptom”The document does not print: the job goes to the queue and hangs with the status “Printing” or with an error, the printer appears offline, and deleting jobs from the queue does not help. Printing does not work from any application, and reconnecting the printer does not change the situation.
Typical causes
Section titled “Typical causes”- Most often, printing services are disabled — Spooler, PrintNotify, PrintWorkflowUserSvc and related ones: they are disabled by Windows optimizers, tweakers and manual instructions, including the corresponding setting in BoosterX.
- Less often, the cause is the printer driver after an update, a broken connection (USB, network) or the device itself — paper, cartridge, jam.
Fix in BoosterX
Section titled “Fix in BoosterX”Open BoosterX, in the left menu select the “Fixes” section, type “Printer” in the search, open the “Printer” card and click “Fix”. Then restart Windows. The fix rolls back the related BoosterX setting to its default value — printing services return to their default startup state if they were disabled. BoosterX can be downloaded from the official website boosterx.org.
How to verify
Section titled “How to verify”Send any document to print: the job should quickly pass through the queue, and the printer should print the page. To be sure, print something from another application — printing should work everywhere.
Manual alternative without BoosterX
Section titled “Manual alternative without BoosterX”Press Win + R, type services.msc and press Enter. Find the Spooler service — it is the print spooler; to search by short names, add the “Service name” column: right-click on the column headers → “Add/remove columns”. Right-click → “Properties” → “Startup type” → “Automatic” → “Apply”, then right-click → “Restart”. Also check PrintNotify and PrintWorkflowUserSvc (displayed with a numeric suffix). If printing still does not work — restart Windows.
If it did not help
Section titled “If it did not help”If the services are enabled but printing does not work, the printer driver or the device itself is likely the problem: check the connection, paper and cartridge. Printing errors that coincide in time with the problem are convenient to view in EventX; the diagnostic procedure is in the “Troubleshooting” section. If it did not help — write to support.
Last checked: 2026-09-20. Full catalog of fixes.