How to Disable Print Spooler Service in Windows 10 & 11

Both Windows 10 and Windows 11 have a dedicated service called ‘print spooler’ to manage the print job. Specifically, stores print jobs on disk and queues them in order until the printer is ready to print. In general, like with many Windows services, you don’t need to worry about this service running in the background. However, there might be situations when you need to disable the print spooler service manually. For example, maybe it is causing high CPU/disk usage, need to fix undeletable ghost print jobs, or want to protect your system from vulnerabilities such as PrintNightmare (KB5004945).

Whatever your specific use case or scenario is, when needed, you can easily disable the print spooler service with just a few clicks. In this quick and easy guide, I will show you three simple methods. You can follow the one you like to get the job done. Let’s get started.

Before You Start

• Disabling the print spooler service stops all printing activity. You won’t be able to print to any printer, whether it’s connected locally or over the network. Additionally, ‘Print to PDF’ also stops working.

PowerShell Command To Disable the Print Spooler Service

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Search for “PowerShell“.
3. Right-click on it and select “Run as administrator“.
4. Run the following commands one after another.
   Stop-Service -Name Spooler -Force
Set-Service -Name Spooler -StartupType Disabled
5. Close the PowerShell window.
6. Restart the computer.
7. With that, the print spooler service is stopped and disabled.

Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)

First, we need to open PowerShell as an admin. To do that, open the Start menu by clicking the “Windows” icon on the taskbar. Next, search for “Windows PowerShell” and select the “Run as administrator” option.

Note: On Windows 11, you can right-click the “Windows” icon on the taskbar and select “Terminal (Admin)”.

In the PowerShell window, paste the command below and press the “Enter” button. It will stop the running Print Spooler service.

Stop-Service -Name Spooler -Force

Next, run the following command. It disables the Print Spooler service.

Set-Service -Name Spooler -StartupType Disabled

Finally, close the PowerShell window and restart your computer. With that, you have completely disabled the Print Spooler service.

To enable the Print Spooler service again, execute the commands below one after the other. The first command changes the Startup type from Disabled to Automatic, and the second command will start the Print Spooler service. Next, restart your computer, and you are done.

Set-Service -Name Spooler -StartupType Automatic

Start-Service -Name Spooler

Disable Print Spooler Service Using Group Policy (GPO)

Note: Group Policy Editor is only available in Pro and Enterprise editions of Windows.

1. Press “Windows key + R” to open the Run dialog.
2. Type “gpedit.msc” and click “OK“.
3. Go to the “Computer Configuration” > “Administrative Templates” > “Printers” folder.
4. Double-click the “Allow Print Spooler to accept client connections” policy.
5. Select “Disabled” and click “OK“.
6. Close the Group Policy Editor.
7. Restart your computer.
8. With that, you’ve disabled the print spooler service.

Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)

First, press the “Windows key + R” shortcut to open the Run dialog box. In the empty field, type “gpedit.msc” and press the “Enter” button. You can also search for “Edit Group Policy” in the Start menu and click “Open”. This action will open the Group Policy Editor.

After opening the Group Policy Editor, go to the following folder.

“Computer Configuration” > “Administrative Templates” > “Printers“

In this folder, find and double-click the “Allow Print Spooler to accept client connections” policy.

Select the “Disabled” option and click the “OK” button to save the changes.

Finally, close the Group Policy Editor and restart the computer to apply the policy changes. With that, you have successfully disabled the Print Spooler service.

To turn it back on, select the “Not Configured” option in the policy properties window and save the changes.

Turn Off the Print Spooler from System Configuration

The System Configuration tool provides a simple way to stop the Print Spooler service. Here is how.

1. Open the Run dialog by pressing “Windows key + R“.
2. Type “msconfig” in the blank field and click “OK“.
3. Go to the “Services” tab.
4. Uncheck the “Print Spooler” checkbox.
5. Click the “OK” button.
6. Restart the computer.
7. This stops the print spooler service, and it won’t start automatically.

After restarting, the Print Spooler service will not run automatically. Do keep in mind that some programs might automatically start the service because you haven’t fully disabled it. This is especially true if your system is connected to a printer. If you don’t want that happening, I recommend you follow one of the first two methods.

To turn the service back on, follow the same steps, but select the “Print Spooler” checkbox and click “OK”.

That is all. It is that simple to disable the Print Spooler service in Windows.

If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.