Do you want to stop the print spooler service? Windows runs a print spooler service to keep your printing and faxing jobs running smoothly. But due to some reason, if you want to disable or stop on your Windows 11/10 PC, it is possible through the services manager. In this gearupwindows article, we will learn to disable or block the print spooler service on Windows 11/10.
If you don’t want to allow any users on your PC to print a document or don’t want to save any document or webpage as PDF, you can disable the print spooler service. This is the quickest and easiest way on Windows PC to stop printing jobs.
The other reason to disable this service may be the PrintNightmare vulnerability on Windows that lets hackers take remote control of your PCs. While Microsoft has shared a security advisory for this exploit that works on a proper patch, you might want to disable the vulnerable service if not in use.
If you don’t want to that your PC should be affected with PrintNightmare vulnerability and decided to disable the print spooler on Windows 11/10 PC, you can use the following methods:-
- Disable print spooler using Windows Services Panel
- Turn off print spooler through Group Policy Editor
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How to Disable or Enable Print Spooler Service from Windows Services Panel?
Once you stop the print spooler service, you can not take a printout or use the fax. You need to start this service to allow print and fax services.
Step 1. Press the
After performing the above steps, the Services panel will open.
Step 2. Please scroll down to find the
Step 3. When the Print Spooler Properties dialog opens, click on the drop-down next to Startup Type and choose the
Step 4. Then, click on the
Step 5. Now Windows will stop Print Spooler service. Finally, click on
That’s it. Now Print Spooler service is disabled and stopped on your PC. Fax and print will no longer work. When you want to start it, repeat the above steps, and in step 3, select the Automatic option, then Start the service.
How to Turn off Print Spooler through Group Policy Editor?
If you want to keep using the printer, you need to connect it to your Windows computer to print locally. Then, configure the printer policy to stop all incoming remote connections using the Group Policy Editor. This way, you can use your printer locally, and your PC will not accept any incoming remote connections. Resulting, you can safely use your printer.
Note: Group Policy is not a part of Windows 11/10 Home edition, so that you can use the alternate method.
Step 1. Press
Step 2. In the box, type
Step 3. From the left side pane of the Local Group Policy Editor window, navigate or browse for the following path:-
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Printers
Step 4. On the right side window of the Printers folder, look for the policy name
Step 5. Choose the
Step 6. Click
Step 7. Click
Step 8. Reboot your computer to apply the policy.