Outside of the regular schedule, Microsoft is now rolling out the update KB5004945 to fix the “PrintNightmare” vulnerability on Windows 10 21H1 , 20H2, and 2004.

Recently, the software giant acknowledged a critical vulnerability described as CVE-2021-34527 that affects the Windows Print Spooler service, and it allows attackers to execute malicious code to create new administrator accounts, install programs, and access data without the user’s consent.

Immediately after confirming the vulnerability, Microsoft provided two workarounds to mitigate the issue, including the steps to disable the service temporarily and another set of instructions to set a Group Policy Object to block incoming connections to a print server.

The company has now released the update KB5004945 to permanently fix the PrintNightmare vulnerability on Windows 10 21H1, 20H2, 2004, and older versions that bumps the version number to 19041.1083, 19042.1083, and 19043.1083, respectively.

According to the documentation , after installing the update, “users who are not administrators can only install signed print drivers to a print server” to patch the vulnerability. “By default, administrators can install signed and unsigned printer drivers to a print server. The installed root certificates in the system’s Trusted Root Certification Authorities trusts signed drivers.”

Microsoft categorizes this problem as severe, and it’s recommending installing the update on all affected systems (clients and servers), starting with devices acting as print servers.

The same update is also available as KB5004946 for windows 10 version 1909. For version 1809, the update is KB5004947, and for the initial release of the operating system, the update is described as KB5004950.

You can install this out-of-band patch from Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update , and clicking the Check for updates button.

You can also get the standalone version of the update from the Microsoft Update Catalog website .

UPDATED 1/14/2025: On Windows 10 , trying to print and getting the document stuck in the queue can be frustrating. Also, if you try to cancel the job, it could stay stuck deleting forever.

Although there could be many reasons you cannot print, including connection problems or physical issues with the printer, it’s usually an issue with the Windows 10 “print spooler.” This service spools print jobs and handles the interactions with the printer, and sometimes, it will stop working, even after restarting your device and printer.

If you experience this problem, you can fix this printer issue by resetting the print spooler on the computer using the Services console or Command Prompt .

This guide will teach you how to fix the print spooler on Windows 10 to fix a printer.

  • Fix print spooler from Services
  • Fix print spooler from Command Prompt

Fix print spooler from Services

To fix the print spooler service to continue printing on Windows 10, use these steps:

  1. Open Start on Windows 10.
  2. Search for services.msc and click the top result to open the Services console.
  3. Right-click the Print Spooler service and select the Properties option.
  4. Click the General tab.
  5. Click the Stop button.
  6. Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
  7. Type the following path to the printers folder and press Enter :
  8. C:\Windows\System32\spool\printers
  9. Click the Continue button (if applicable).
  10. Select everything in the “ printers” folder ( “Ctrl + A” ) and hit the Delete button to remove the contents.
  11. On the “Printer Spooler Properties” page, click the General tab.
  12. Click the Start button to restart the service.
  13. Click the OK button.

Once you complete the steps, you can try to print a document one more time, and the printer should work as expected.

Fix print spooler from Command Prompt

To fix print spooler problems from Command Prompt, use these steps:

  1. Open Start .
  2. Search for Command Prompt , right-click the top result, and select the Run as Administrator option.
  3. Type the following commands (one line at a time) to stop the print spooler, delete the printers folder content, restart the printer spooler, and press Enter : net stop spooler del /Q /F /S “%systemroot%\System32\Spool\Printers*.*” net start spooler

After you complete the steps, you should be able to send a print job to the printer, and this time the printer should work.

While this guide focuses on Windows 10, the ability to reset the “Print Spooler” has existed for a long time, so you should be able to follow the same steps on Windows 8.1, Windows 7, and older versions.

Update January 14, 2025: This guide has been revised to ensure accurate steps.