Windows computers utilize a special print service called Print Spooler to communicate with the printer.
Sometimes, while adding a printer, you may encounter an error mentioning that the print spooler service is not running and requesting a restart of the spooler. It mostly happens when the spooler service crashes or fails to respond due to stuck print jobs or a corrupted spooler cache.
Upon restarting the spooler, you may encounter another error message “Print Spooler Service Error 1068.” It is a service dependency error that occurs due to faults in other services.
In this article, I have compiled common fixes for most of the printer spooler errors. Let’s get straight into them.
Restarting the spooler service is often an effective solution for resolving various printer errors. In fact, whenever you encounter the print spooler error, the error window itself prompts you to restart the service.
Restarting thespooler servicehelps fix errors by re-initializing the connection between your computer and printer.
So, before doing anything else, I recommend restarting this service. Here’re the steps.
Try adding the printer. If you are still facing the error, try restarting your PC as well and see if that solves the problem.
Clear Spooler Cache and Restart the Spooler
Sometimes the print jobs stuck in the print queue may not let you restart the print spooler service using the standard method. In such cases, you should first clear the spooler cache and then restart the spooler.
Here’re a few commands toclear the spooler cacheand restart the spooler using the command prompt.
Try adding the printer now. If this doesn’t work, check other advanced fixes below.
Check Status of Dependencies Services
Windows services generally have dependencies on other services—meaning one service requires components and resources from other services to function correctly.
When it comes to the print spooler, this service depends on the HTTP and Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service.
