How To Fix “Windows Cannot Connect To The Printer” Error

The Windows Cannot Connect To The Printer is an error message that pops up when a Windows device cannot establish a connection with the selected printer. This error is accompanied by various error codes, the most common of which are 0x00000002, 0x00000709, 0x0000007c, and 0x000006e4. This error terminates the printing process initiated by the user. 

When the printer’s physical connection (wired or wireless) with the computer is not set up correctly or, the printer is not shared and is inaccessible through the network, this error becomes pretty apparent. The same error is also seen if the print queue is stuck. There are other reasons too, which we will discuss in detail and suggest appropriate fixes for this printer issue.

What causes “Windows Cannot Connect To The Printer” Error

Fixes For “Windows Cannot Connect To The Printer” Error

First of all, start by checking the physical connections with the printer. Ensure that the cables are connected well. For wireless printers, ensure that the wireless options are enabled and available.  Finally, power cycle the printer (Turn it off and then on) and see if the connection is established with it. 

If these basic troubleshooting methods do not work, try these suggested fixes.

Use Printer Troubleshooter

There is a Windows utility known as the Troubleshooters that can be used to solve the issues pertaining to the connectivity problems on the Printer. Using the troubleshooter in both host and client computers (in the case of shared printers) can bring better results. 

Here’s how to use it. 

1. Press Windows + I to open the Windows Settings.
2. Go to System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters. 
3. Navigate to the Printer and click on Run to launch the troubleshooter. 
4. Follow the prompts to see if it fixes the issue. 

Restart the Printer Spooler 

If you are getting the error code 0x0000011b along with the “Windows Cannot Connect To The Printer”, this fix can do wonders for you.  

This process needs to be performed on the host computer where the printer is installed. In this step, we will restart the Printer Spooler, which establishes communication between Windows and the printer. We will also make some minor changes to the registry. 

1. Press Windows Key + R, type regedit, and hit enter. 
2. Now, go to this Registry location.
   Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print
   
3. Right-click on the Print Folder.
4. Select New > DWORD(32-bit) value. 
5. Set the name of the Value as RpcAuthnLevelPrivacyEnabled
6. Now, right-click on the Value and select Modify. 
7. Set the value Data to 0 and click on Ok to save the changes. 
8. Now, again return to the Run box. Type services.msc and hit enter. 
9. Find a Service named Printer Spooler and Right-click on it. 
10. Select Restart. 
11. Check if the client’s computer can connect to the shared printer. 

NOTE: Make sure to backup your registry before making any changes to it.

Create A New Local Port For The Printer

 If the error message pops up with an error code 0x00000002 this method could help you. 

Creating a new Local port for the Printer will create a new destination manually. This will cause the Windows to recognize the printer with a fresh address, and the issue can get solved. 

1. Press Windows Key + I to open up Settings.
2. Go to Bluetooth & devices > Printers & Scanners. 
3. Click on Add device Button.
4. If Windows fails to recognize the printer, Click on Add Manually. 
5. Choose the option to Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings.  
6. Choose the Create a new port option and select the Standard TCP/IP Port as the Type of port. 
7. Enter the Hostname or IP address and click on Next.
8. Wait for a while and choose the Device type to Standard.
9. Click on Finish to complete the process.

Select the Printer as Default

Windows might have a problem getting connected to a printer; if it is set to default. This usually occurs when a computer is connected to multiple printers, but only one of them is set to be the default.

To overcome this, you can change the default printer to the one you are having the issue with. 

1. Press Windows Key + I to open up the Windows settings. 
2. Go to Bluetooth & devices >  Printers & scanners. 
3. Turn on the option Let Windows manage my default printer. 
4. Find the name of the Printer having the issue and open it. 
5. Click on More devices and printers settings.
6. From the Printers section, select your desired printer and right-click on it 
7. Click on Set as default printer. 

Delete Conflicting Printer Driver

If the operating system has multiple printer drivers operating, this can generate driver conflict and bring issues as such.You can fix this by uninstalling the incompatible printer driver. Here’s how to do it. 

1. Press Windows Key + R to open Run. 
2. Type printmanagement.msc and hit enter. 
3. From the Left panel, go to All Drivers Section. 
4. You will find the list of printer drivers available on your device. 
5. Find the Driver that you have identified as unnecessary for your printer. 
6. Right-click on it and select Remove Driver Package. 

Update the Printer Driver 

Updating the drivers is sometimes useful in fixing a printer’s functional glitches and connectivity issues. With newer updates, users can also notice some performance improvements as well. Here’s how to update the printer driver on Windows devices. 

1. Press Windows Key + X and open the Device Manager. 
2. Navigate to the Print queues and expand the list of devices under it. 
3. Right-click on the printer and select Update driver.
4. Choose Search Automatically for drivers to make the WIndows search for the latest available drivers for the Printer. 
5. Follow the prompts and install the updates for the printer. 

Uninstall the Windows Feature Updates

Many users have reported encountering this issue after installing Windows security updates. In this case, uninstalling the recently installed update package resolves the issue.

1. Press Windows Key + I to go to the Windows settings. 
2. Go to Windows Updates > Update history > Uninstall updates.
3. Select the recently installed update that you think is the culprit and click on Uninstall.