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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
