A StartDocPrinter call was not issued on Windows 11/10

Some HP Printer users are unable to print as when they try to do the same, an error message that says A StartDocPrinter call was not issued pops up. This issue is obviously annoying and requires fixing, that is what, we are going to do in this article. We will be seeing some simple solutions to get rid of the issue and make your Printer start printing again.

Win32Exception was unhandled by user code, A StartDocPrinter call was not issued

What causes the StartDocPrinter issue?

There are various reasons why you can see the error code in question. Usually, the issue is nothing but a mere glitch that can occur due to numerous reasons. This glitch, sometimes, can be resolved automatically, whereas, in some instances, it requires some tweaking. Also, misconfiguration is another reason that can create this issue. This thing can be resolved by using the built-in troubleshooter. But, we wouldn’t recommend you just by reading the causes, instead, go to the troubleshooting guide and resolve the issue.

A StartDocPrinter call was not issued on Windows PC

If you are seeing A StartDocPrinter call was not issued message on Windows PC, try the following solutions.

Run Printer Troubleshooter
Restart Print Spooler
Repair Printer Spooler
Remove and Re-add Printer
Reinstall Printer Driver

Let us talk about them in detail.

1] Run Printer Troubleshooter

Let us first see if the built-in Windows utility, the troubleshooter, can identify and resolve the issue for you. To deploy it, follow the prescribed steps.

Windows 11

Open Settings from the Start Menu.
Click System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters.
Look for the Printer troubleshooter, and click on the Run button.

Windows 10

Open Settings.
Go to Update & Security > Additional troubleshooter.
Click Printer > Run the troubleshooter.

Then, follow the on-screen instructions to run the troubleshooter and then see if the issue persists.

2] Restart Print Spooler

If running the troubleshooter doesn’t work for you, then we need to restart the Print Spooler Service. This is a great option if your issue is caused by a glitch. Follow the given steps to do the same.

Open Services from the Start Menu.
Right-click on Print Spooler and select Properties.
Click on Stop.
Wait for 10 seconds, right-click on Properties, click on Start, and select Automatic from the drop-down menu.

Hopefully, this will do the job for you.

3] Repair Print Spooler

You may also see the error code in question if the Print Spooler is broken. However, the good news is, that you can easily repair the Print Spooler using Command Prompt.

To do the same, open Command Prompt as an administrator and then run the following commands.

cd\Windows\System32\spool

cacls.exe PRINTERS /E /G administrator:C

After executing these commands, restart your computer and check if the issue persists.

Also Read: How to enable or disable Print Spooler Service on Windows 11/10

4] Remove and Re-add Printer

Next up, we need to remove and then re-add your Printers and see if that works. This is meant to resolve any glitch that your printer may have. We are going to remove all the third-party printers and then add your current one, this should do the job for you.

First of all, open Registry Editor and navigate to the following location.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers

Now, delete all the third-party keys except the following keys.

Fax
Microsoft Print to PDF
Microsoft XPS Documents Writer
OneNote
Send To OneNote2016

These are the Microsoft Printers keys that are important for your computer.

Now, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanner > Printer server properties. Now, remove all the third-party printers. Then, uninstall the program related to the Printer that you have removed.

Again open the Registry Editor and move to the following location.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitor

Delete third-party Printer Monitor except for the following.

AppMon (released RS1/RS2 timeframe)
Local Port, LPR Port, Microsoft Shared Fax Monitor, Standard TCP/IP Port, USB Monitor & WSD Port

After removing everything, restart your computer, reattach the Printer and see if the issue persists.

5] Reinstall Printer Driver

Finally, we are going to reinstall the Driver of the Printer that is giving you trouble. To do the same, first, remove the Printer from your computer, then open Device Manager, expand Printer Queues, right-click on the Printer and select Uninstall device.

Finally, reattach the Printer, its drivers will automatically get installed.

What is a StartDocPrinter?

StartDocPrinter is a function that notifies Print Spooler that there is a document that needs to be spooled for printing. So, you can clearly see that the error is caused if the Print Spooler is broken or has some issues.

Print Spooler can be resolved by restarting the service or repairing the feature. You can check the second and third solutions mentioned in this article to resolve the issue. However, it would be better if you check our guide to repairing Print Spooler.

That’s it!