Windows Server 2022 Unable to Connect to HP Printer

Pause the printer queues on both Windows Server 2022 and the computer sharing the HP printer, then trace one test job to identify exactly where printing stops.

1. Trace the print job

1. On Windows Server 2022, open Print Management (printmanagement.msc).
2. Open Print Servers → local server → Printers.
3. Right-click the affected shared printer and select Pause Printing.
4. On the print server or PC sharing the HP printer, pause its corresponding queue as well.
5. From Server 2022, print a short Notepad document.
6. Check the Server 2022 queue:
   • Job does not appear: the issue is on Server 2022, commonly the application, queue, driver, or spooler.
   • Job appears: resume the Server 2022 queue and watch whether the job reaches the sharing computer.
7. Check the sharing computer’s queue:
   • Job never arrives: troubleshoot the shared-printer connection, credentials, permissions, or network path.
   • Job arrives but remains queued: troubleshoot the sharing computer’s spooler, driver, or connection to the physical HP printer.
   • Job disappears without physical output: test the printer directly from the sharing computer and investigate its driver and port.

Microsoft recommends this pause-queue method to determine whether a job is spooled locally, transferred to the print server, and sent to the physical device.^1^

2. Apply the fix at the failing stage

If the job is stuck on Windows Server 2022

1. Open the printer’s Printer properties → Advanced.
2. Clear Enable advanced printing features, select Apply, and test again.
3. Restart the local Print Spooler from an elevated PowerShell window:

Restart-Service -Name spooler

4. If that does not help, install the latest Server 2022-compatible driver for the exact HP model. If the latest HP driver is already installed, test a compatible Windows in-box driver using a separate temporary queue.

Disabling advanced printing, testing a new queue, restarting the spooler, and changing the driver are Microsoft’s recommended steps for no-print-output cases.^1^

If the job is stuck on the sharing computer

1. Restart Print Spooler on that computer—not only on Server 2022.
2. Print a Windows test page directly from the sharing computer:
   • If it also fails, the fault is between that computer and the HP printer.
   • If it succeeds, focus on the shared queue’s permissions and driver.
3. Open Printer properties → Security and verify that the affected user or group has Print permission.
4. Check Event Viewer → Applications and Services Logs → Microsoft → Windows → PrintService → Operational for the event recorded at the test time.

A spooler restart can clear stuck jobs, while driver, Group Policy, resource, and antivirus issues should be investigated if the service stops or becomes unresponsive.^2^

3. Clear stale spool files only if jobs remain stuck

This interrupts printing for every queue using that spooler, so perform it during a maintenance window.

1. Cancel pending jobs where possible.
2. Stop Print Spooler.
3. Move—not permanently delete—old .SPL and .SHD files from: %systemroot%\System32\Spool\Printers
4. Start Print Spooler and submit a new Notepad test.

Corrupted or orphaned files in the spool folder can prevent jobs from processing; Microsoft recommends moving them while the spooler is stopped.^1^

If the issue persists, capture the exact queue behavior, PrintService event ID/error text, HP model and driver name, and whether a local test page from the sharing computer succeeds. Those details distinguish a share/permissions problem from a driver, spooler, port, or physical-printer problem.

References

1. Troubleshooting scenarios for printing
2. Troubleshoot printing issues caused by Print Spooler service not running