Print Spooler Service not running, Windows can't Add or Connect to printer

The Print Spooler Service is responsible for managing print jobs which are in turn meant for the printer to handle. If this service ceases to work, the printer won’t print documents and it might be that the system won’t detect it either. In such a situation, users can see any one of the following error messages, depending on the circumstances:

Windows can’t open Add printer, The local print spooler service is not running, Please restart the spooler or restart the machine
Windows cannot connect to the printer, The Local Print Spooler service is not running
The Local Print Spooler service is not running, Please restart the Spooler or restart the machine.

Windows can’t Add or Connect to printer, Local Print Spooler Service is not running

This can happen if the Print Spooler related-file has become corrupted or gone missing. It could also happen if the concerned Windows Services are not functioning as they should. So to fix the issue, you can try the following suggestions:

Restart Print Spooler Service
Update or reinstall the Printer drivers
Run the Printer Troubleshooter.

1] Restart Print Spooler Service

Open the Services Manager. Locate the Print Spooler Service, right-click on it and select Properties.

This service spools print jobs and handles interaction with the printer. If you turn off this service, you won’t be able to print or see your printers.

Change the Startup Type to Automatic and click on Start.

Click on Apply and then on OK to save the settings.

Now try and see if you can print.

2] Update the Printer drivers

To update drivers, press Win+R to open the Run window and type the command appwiz.cpl. Press Enter to open the Programs and features window.

Locate the previously installed Printer drivers. Right-click and select Uninstall for them.

Restart the system to complete the uninstall process.

Connect to the Internet and then plug in the Printer to your computer now. The system will install the drivers automatically.

If the system doesn’t install the printer drivers automatically, use the Add a printer wizard and the drivers can be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website.

Read: Spooler subsystem app has encountered an error and needs to close.

3] Run the Printer Troubleshooter

Running the Printer Troubleshooter can help solve most print issues. To do so, click on the Start button and then on the gear-like symbol to open the Settings menu.

Select Updates & Security > Troubleshoot. Choose the Printer troubleshooter from the list and run it.

This Printer troubleshooter will check if:

You have the latest Printer drivers, and fix and or update them
If you have connectivity issues
If the Print Spooler and required Services are running fine
Any other Printer related issues.

Once the process is done, restart the system and check if it helps resolve the problem.

NOTE: There used to be a Print Spooler Cleanup Diagnostic Tool available from Microsoft that removed non-Microsoft print processors and monitors. The tool had the following execution modes:

Express Cleanup – Removes all non-Microsoft print monitors and processors from print spooler.
Selective Cleanup – Allows you to select which non-Microsoft print monitors and processors to disable.
Express Restore – Re-enables all non-Microsoft print monitors and processors disabled by a previous execution.
Selective cleanup/restore – This lets you select which third-party print monitors or print processors you want to re-enable or disable.

It does the work by changing information in the registry as follows:

It removes non-Microsoft print monitors from {PrintRootKey}\Monitors, and moves them to {PrintRootKey}\Disabled Monitors.
It scans all printer drivers in the printer’s key, and updates all print drivers that are using one of the disabled monitors and disabled them.
It removes non-Microsoft print processors {PrintRootKey}\Environments\{Architecture}\Print Processors, and moves them to {PrintRootKey}\Environments\{Architecture}\Disable d Print Processors.
It scans all printers in the printer’s key, updates all print drivers that are using one of the disabled print processors, and moves them to “WinPrint.” The old print processor configuration is stored on a registry value named “Disabled Print Processor.”

Unfortunately, Microsoft has taken it down.

Read: How to Repair Print Spooler in Windows.

How do I start the local print spooler service?

To start the Print Spooler service, you need to open the Services panel on your PC. Then, find the Print Spooler service in the list and double-click on it to open. Following that, click on the Start button to start the service. The process is the same for Windows 11, Windows 10, and some other older versions of Windows.

How to fix local print spooler service not running in Windows?

To fix the Print Spooler service not running issue in Windows 11/10, you need to follow the aforementioned solutions. First, you need to restart the corresponding service. If it does nothing, you can reinstall the printer drivers. Finally, you can run the Print Troubleshooter to get the job done.

Hope this helps!