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What IT needs to know about Windows 10 Print Management

With the Windows 10 Print Management utility, Windows administrators can make the most of printing settings and avoid errors leading to lost productivity.

Gary Olsen
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Published: 17 Dec 2024

Modern organizations rely far less on paper than they used to, but when workers do need paper, they can't afford any delays or errors.

IT departments need to be able to resolve printing failures quickly to prevent major errors, troubleshoot any problems that might occur and ensure a smooth process.

This is why IT staff must understand how Windows 10 handles printing, how to use the Print Management utility and where to find various tasks and operations.

The Print Management utility in Windows 10 is a little different than other versions of Windows but still consists of the following:

  • Print Management utility that manages the print queue, printer and document properties, and troubleshooting functions.
  • Printer driver for each printer that interfaces with Windows and the physical printers.
  • Printer spooler service that stores print jobs until the printer completes them and manages multiuser access to printers and other tasks.

With each of these different components comes different management and troubleshooting needs, and IT administrators should keep all of them in mind when approaching print management.

Learning the features of Windows 10 Print Management

To open the Print Management dialog, go to the Windows search bar, and type Printer. Then, click on the Printers & scanners icon to navigate to the Printers & scanners dialog, as shown in Figure 1. To create a shortcut, click on the Settings icon or the Printer & scanners icon from the search bar to pin to the Windows taskbar.

The Windows 10 Printer & scanners menu.
Figure 1. The basic Printers & scanners settings showing available printers to connect to

In the Printers & scanners dialog, there are several key management tasks to assist in managing printers, print jobs and troubleshooting. Figure 1 shows not only the networked HP printer, but the Microsoft Print to PDF utility. This shows up in a document's print dialog as a printer, which converts the document to a PDF file for saving. There is also a OneNote printer icon that shows up as a printer option and enables printing directly to the OneNote application as a page in a notebook.

To add a new printer to the network -- assuming the printer is properly configured on the local network with an IP address and powered on -- click the Refresh button under Add a printer or scanner. Windows finds the printer and adds it.

If it doesn't show up, click on the The printer that I want isn't listed link. This may be required for older printers or a local printer. Administrators can add printers to the utility via a shared printer name, an explicit IP address, Bluetooth or wireless network or by adding a downloaded device driver from the manufacturer.

If the printer doesn't show up in the search, it is not accessible through Windows. Printers can be duplicated, so make sure there is only one instance per printer.

To manage documents in print queues and printers themselves, click on the installed printer icon (Figure 2).

The Windows 10 options called Open queue, Manage, and Remove device.
Figure 2. The dialog box shown when selecting a specific printer in the Printers & scanners menu

There are options to do the following:

  • Open the print queue.
  • Manage the printer device.
  • Remove the device.

Click on Open queue

The print queue shows the documents in the queue printing or waiting to print (Figure 3). This utility enables admins to view printing errors, number of pages to be printed, owner and other relevant information.

Three documents in the Windows 10 print queue.
Figure 3. The Windows 10 print queue showing three print jobs

Under the Document menu, admins can pause, resume, restart and cancel document print jobs. The printer menu permits important printer management actions, such as the following:

  • Setting the default printer. This is important if there are multiple printers available to users. The default printer is the one that shows up first in a print dialog. If users access Quick Print from an app, it goes to the default printer.
  • Manage printing preferences. Administrators can manage fundamental print settings, such as black and white vs. color, paper size and the level of quality.
  • Update driver. This setting enables the printer driver to be updated when new drivers are recommended by the manufacturer.
  • Pause printing. This pauses the queue and stops all print jobs.
  • Cancel all documents. This clears the queue of print jobs.
  • Sharing. This enables the printer to be shared.
  • Printer properties. This views and sets printer properties.

Click on Manage

Manage is a dialog that permits some additional important functions:

  • Print a test page. This is a great troubleshooting tool to make sure the printer and Windows are talking to each other.
  • Run the troubleshooter. When things aren't working, this built-in tool might be able to diagnose the problem.
  • Printer properties. This includes device settings, sharing and security preferences.
  • Printing preferences. This includes the setting paper type, tray, layout and other relevant default settings.
  • Hardware properties. This reviews the basic settings for the device itself.

Click on Remove device

Just as it sounds, the Remove device command enables admins to delete the printer device from Windows. When there is corruption of the driver or other software, admins should delete the device and reinstall it.

In addition, the Printers & scanners dialog is present on the right pane of the page. There is quick access to Print Server properties -- including names of all print drivers installed -- the Run the Troubleshooter link and quick links for additional help from the web, such as downloading print drivers.

Admins can install scanners and manage them from the Printers & scanners dialog as well.

Windows 10 Print Management troubleshooting

There are several reasons a print job might produce an error and not print. If a user submits a print job -- by clicking Print in an application -- and the document does not print, there are some universal questions and steps for troubleshooting the issue. When troubleshooting a printing issue, it is helpful to have the print queue open to monitor the print jobs. Then, go through the following steps:

  1. Is the printer powered on? This may seem obvious, but it's important to establish this first.
  2. Open the Printers & scanners page, and check the printer icon. Does it say Offline, or does it have an error message?
  3. If the printer is powered on, follow these steps:
    1. Open the printer queue, and delete the print job. It may or may not show an error.
    2. Cycle the printer power by turning it off and back on.
    3. Try printing again.
    4. If it still says offline, run the troubleshooter.
    5. Try clearing the queue, turning the printer off, rebooting the PC and then turning the printer on.
  4. Make sure the spooler service is running by doing the following:
    1. Open Task Manager by right-clicking the taskbar and click Task Manager.
    2. Click on the Services tab. Scroll to and right-click on the Spooler service (Figure 4).
      1. If it is not running, start it.
      2. If it is running, click on Stop. Wait 15 seconds, and then restart.

        A screenshot of the Spooler service in Task Manager for Windows printing.
        Figure 4. Windows 10 Task Manager showing the Spooler service as Running and active
  5. If the job still fails to print and a number of attempts have been made, consider deleting and readding the device or updating the printer driver.

        If the printer device is missing in the Printers & scanners dialog, click on Add a printer or scanner, and install the printer as described previously.

        Windows 10 Print Management tips and best practices

        While the troubleshooting process takes care of many issues, there are some additional best practices that can help the troubleshooting process:

        1. There is a Print Management snap-in that admins can use for some status reporting tasks, such as viewing all printers and drivers installed in the network. Admins can open it by entering "printmanagement.msc" in the Windows search bar. The snap-in is shown in Figure 5.

          A screenshot of the Print Management snap-in for Window desktops.
          Figure 5. Windows 10's Print Management showing all available printers and their status
        2. Make sure the printer is on the local network with the correct IP address.
        3. If there are multiple printers, give descriptive names and locations -- not just HP Printer but HP Envy 7640 Sales Office room B. This helps users find the right printer and prevents some support calls and tickets.
        4. Define a specific default printer for each user, department and location for convenience.
        5. Print a test page from Print Management to test after config changes or in troubleshooting.
        6. Users should see the printer available in applications when selecting a print option. If not, the printer may be misconfigured. See the previous troubleshooting steps.
        7. Help from the web via the right pane of Printers & scanners is useful.

        Gary Olsen has worked in the IT industry since 1983 and holds a Master of Science in computer-aided manufacturing from Brigham Young University. He was on Microsoft's Windows 2000 beta support team for Active Directory from 1998 to 2000 and has written two books on Active Directory and numerous technical articles for magazines and websites.

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