Are you getting the Printer settings could not be saved error on your Windows PC? This error is reported to occur when sharing a printer or performing some printer tasks on Windows 11/10.
There are different variants of this error reported by Windows users. In this post, we are going to discuss different kinds of Printer settings could not be saved errors and how you can fix them.
Fix Printer settings could not be saved error on Windows PC
If you are experiencing the “Printer settings could not be saved” error on Windows 11/10, you can use these generic fixes to resolve the error:
- Run the Printer troubleshooter.
- Check your File and Printer Sharing settings.
- Make sure the Server service is running.
- Restart the Print Spooler service.
- Check the Event log.
1] Run the Printer troubleshooter
The first thing you can do to fix this error is to run Windows built-in troubleshooter that scans and fixes printer issues. It is easy and is likely to resolve most printer errors and problems without putting in any effort.
Here’s how you can run the Printer troubleshooter on Windows 11/10:
- First, press the Win+I hotkey to open the Settings app.
- Now, go to the System > Troubleshoot option.
- Next, press the Other troubleshooters option.
- After that, click on the Run button associated with the Printer troubleshooter.
- Let the troubleshooter detect and address printer issues.
- When done, you can apply a recommended fix to resolve the issues.
You can now check if the error is resolved or not. If not, move on to the next fix to resolve it:
2] Check your File and Printer Sharing settings
A potential cause of this error could be poorly configured printer-sharing settings. You might have disabled Network discovery and file and printer sharing options in your settings. As a result, you keep getting this error. Now, if the scenario is applicable, change your printer settings. Just enable the Network discovery and File and printer sharing option in your Settings and it will resolve the error for you. Here are the steps to do that:
First, open Control Panel and click on the Network and Internet category.
Now, click on the Network and Sharing Center option and then choose the Change advanced sharing settings option present in the left pane. You will be navigated to the Advanced sharing settings page in the Settings app.
Alternatively, you can launch the Settings app using Win+I and then navigate to the Network & internet > Advanced network settings option. And then, click on the Advanced sharing settings option.
On the opened page, turn on the Network Discovery and File and printer sharing options for both Private and Public networks. Also, tick the Set up network connected devices automatically checkbox under the Private networks section.
Once done, check if the error is resolved or not. If this method gives you no luck, move on to the next solution to resolve it.
3] Make sure the Server service is running
The Server service is responsible for file, print, and named-pipe sharing over the network on your PC. If this service is stopped or disabled, you might face the Printer settings could not be saved error. So, make sure the Server service is running on your computer. You can check the status of this service and start/restart the service to fix the error. Here are the steps to do that:
First, open the Services app using the Windows search feature. Now, locate the Server service and right-click on it. From the appeared context menu, select the Properties option. After that, ensure that the Service status is Running and you have set the Startup type to Automatic. If not, do as required and press the OK button. Finally, you can check if the error is fixed or not.
Read: Fix Printer Error 0x8000fff, Catastrophic failure on Windows.
4] Restart the Print Spooler service
If the error still persists, you can try resetting the Print Spooler service. For that, you can stop the Print Spooler service, delete the pending files in the spool, and then restart the service. Here are the steps that you can use:
First, you can open the Services app from the Windows search and scroll down to the Print Spooler service. Then, right-click on the service and choose the Stop option to stop the service.
Now, press Win+R to evoke the Run command box and enter Spool in its Open box to quickly open the C:\Windows\System32\spool folder. Next, open the PRINTERS folder by double-clicking it and you will see a print queue sub-folder inside it. You need to delete all the pending files present inside this folder.
When done, go back to the Services app and select the Print Spooler service. Now, press the Start button to restart the Print Spooler service. Check if the error is now resolved.
The above fixes are some generic solutions to the Printer settings could not be saved error. This error is accompanied by different other error messages that vary based on the cause of the error. We will now share some common error messages that users have received with Printer settings could not be saved error. Let us check them out now.
Read: Fix Printer is in Error State on Windows.
Printer settings could not be saved. Operation could not be completed (error 0x000006d9)
One of the common errors that users have reported getting with the Printer settings could not be saved error is the error code 0x000006d9. Here is the specific error message and code that a lot of users have complained of getting on Windows 11/10:
Printer settings could not be saved.
Operation could not be completed (error 0x000006d9).
This particular error message when trying to share a printer is likely to occur when the Windows Firewall Service is stuck in a limbo state or is disabled on your computer. So, you can try enabling the Windows Firewall Service on your PC and then check if the error is resolved. Here’s how:
First, press Win+R to evoke the Run command box and enter services.msc in its Open box. This will launch the Services window.
Now, scroll down and locate the Windows Firewall service in the list, and then double-click on the service to open up its Properties window.
Inside the Properties window, make sure the service is running and the Startup type for the service is set to Automatic. If not, configure the settings accordingly and start the service by pressing the respective button. Lastly, press the OK button to save changes.
You can now try sharing the printer and check if the error 0x000006d9 is resolved or not.
If this fix doesn’t help, you can check your Network Discovery and Printer Sharing options and make sure they are enabled. We have discussed how to do that in fix #4.
Read: Error 0x00000c1, Unable to install Printer on Windows.
Printer settings could not be saved. Remote connections to the Print Spooler are blocked
Another error message associated with this kind of error is as follows:
Printer settings could not be saved.
Remote connections to the Print Spooler are blocked by a policy set on your machine.
As the error message suggests, it is likely to occur when the policy for remote connections to Print Spooler is set to Disabled. So, to fix the error, you can simply set this policy to Enabled and then see if the error is fixed.
To do that, open the Group Policy Editor on your PC and navigate to the Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Printers option. After that, double-click on the Allow Print Spooler to accept client connections policy and set it to Enabled. Next, press the Apply > OK button to save changes.
Once done, you need to restart the Print Spooler service to let the policy take place. For that, open the Services window and select the Print Spooler service. Now, click on the Restart the service button and then check if the error is resolved.
Tip: You can later disable this policy once the work is done as it can make your system vulnerable to remote attacks.
See: Wrong paper size, Paper mismatch error in Printer.
Printer settings could not be saved. This operation is not supported
Several Windows users have complained of getting an error prompt that reads the following:
Printer settings could not be saved.
This operation is not supported.
This error message is triggered when trying to change print drivers. It mainly occurs because of the fact that the printer is shared. Now, if you are also experiencing this error message, simply unshare your printer and then try changing the print driver. Here’s how:
First, open the Settings app using the Win+I hotkey and move to the Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners section. Now, select the printer that you want to unshare and then click on the Printer properties option. Inside the Printer Properties window, move to the Sharing tab and uncheck the option called Share this printer. You can now check whether or not the error is fixed.
Printer settings could not be saved. Access is denied Server 2012
The next error message associated with the Printer settings could not be saved error is the “Access is Denied” message. The error basically means that you are not authorized to access the printer. If this scenario is applicable, you need to request the computer administrator to delegate you as a print administrator. Here’s how it can be done:
First, open Server Manager and click on Tools > Print Management. Now, select the Print Servers option and right-click on the applicable print server. From the context menu, choose the Properties option and then navigate to the Security tab in the opened window.
After that, click on the Add button and enter the group or user name that you want to assign print permissions. You can use the domain name\username format to do so. Next, highlight the added user and press Allow for Manage Server permission in the Permissions for section. Also, set the Print, Manage Documents, Manage Printers, and other permissions to Allow. When done, press the Apply > OK button to save changes.
Hopefully, the error will be resolved now.
Read: We can’t install this printer right now, Error 740 on Windows.
Printer settings could not be saved. There are no more endpoints available
Are you receiving the following error message?
Printer settings could not be saved.
There are no more endpoints available from the endpoint mapper.
If so, you can try the following solutions to fix the error:
First, make sure that the Print Spooler service and other dependencies like DCOM Server Process Launcher and RPC Endpoint Mapper services are running on your computer. You can open the Services window, locate the aforementioned services, set their Startup type to Automatic, and start the services. Additionally, ensure that the Windows Defender Firewall service is also running.
The next thing you can do to fix the error is to update your printer driver. Or, simply run the Printer troubleshooter to address and fix printer issues that might be causing this error.
If the error still persists, you can modify the Print Spooler recovery options. For that, launch the Services window, right-click on the Print Spooler service, and choose Properties. Next, navigate to the Recovery tab and set the First failure, Second failure, and Subsequent failures options to Restart the Service. And, set Reset fail count after and Restart service after to 1. When done, click Apply > OK to save changes.
I hope this post helps you resolve the Printer settings could not be saved error on Windows 11/10.
What is error 0x000000040 on printer?
The printer error 0x000000040 says Operation could not be completed. It occurs when a third-party printer driver is installed on the print server. You can fix this error by running the Printer troubleshooter. If that doesn’t help, you can disable the Point and Print using Registry Editor, clear and reset the Printer Spooler, and update your printer driver.
How do I fix printer sharing error 0x00006d9?
To fix the error code 0x000006d9 that occurs while sharing a printer, make sure the Windows Firewall service is running on your PC. And, set its Startup type to Automatic. We have discussed how you can do that later in this post.
Now read: Printer Driver Error 0x000005b3, Operation could not be completed.
