Print Jobs stuck with the status of “Printing”

“Help! I’m a print server administrator and we’re seeing reports that print jobs will fail to print, and when we look at the Windows print queue the last two jobs seems to be stuck with a status of “Printing” and “Paused - Spooling”. Why does this happen and how can we prevent it?”

Why are print jobs stuck “Printing” and “Paused - Spooling”?

We have heard of cases where users will attempt to release print jobs but nothing will print. When the admin checks the Windows print queue, they see the job will appear to be duplicated, and each stuck with a status of “Printing” and ‘“Paused - Spooling”.

So far we have only seen this happening under a very narrow set of circumstances, and when all of the following conditions have been met:

• The user prints a document from a Windows 10 Store apps like the Edge browser, Microsoft Reader, Maps, or Photos.
• The print queue on the server is not configured to use Client-side rendering.
• A print driver with built-in authentication is configured (like the Toshiba Universal Printer 2 driver)
• The print job is redirected from a Find-Me print queue to a destination print queue.

TMI: We know this happens because when users print from a Windows 10 Store app and Client-Side Rendering is not enabled, Windows will render the print job with a two-spool file rendering method called XPS2GDI. Normally this is not a problem, but when a print driver is configured to display an authentication prompt this will go unseen by the user and the print job will not be sent to the printer.

Thankfully, there are two ways that we know of to resolve this.

Solution A: Force Client Side Rendering

Follow our recommended steps to force Client Side Rendering using Group Policy or PowerShell.

You should know that prior to Windows 8, Client Side Rendering could be enabled by checking the box “Render print jobs on client computers” in on your Windows print queue, but newer Windows laptops and tablets (anything with a battery) will deliberately ignore this setting unless it has been forced via Group Policy or PowerShell.

Solution B: Disable the built-in authentication on the print driver

Alternatively, you can follow your print manufacturer’s driver documentation to disable user authentication and rely on PaperCut’s Authentication instead. For most print drivers this setting is usually managed by opening printmanagement.msc, right click on the specific printer, then look on the Device Settings tab.

Still have questions?

Let us know! We love chatting about what’s going on under the hood. Feel free to leave a comment below or visit our Support Portal for further assistance.