Change location of the print spooler directory
There can be different reasons for changing the directory for the Print Spooler Service on a print server:
- There is not enough room at the default location (%systemroot%\system32\spool\printers) causing the large print jobs to fail
- There is a faster HDD available which can improve the performance of the printing
- There is a need to distribute the print jobs for different printers on different HDDs
One can change the default location of the spool folder:
- Control Panel -> Printers
- File-menu -> Server Properties
- Select the Advanced-tab and change the “Spool Folder”
One can also change the default location in the registry:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet \Control \Print \Printers]
DefaultSpoolDirectory =
One can change it for a specific printer:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet \Control \Print \Printers \{Specific Printer Id}]
SpoolDirectory =
Note if the contents of the spool directory becomes corrupted then it can keep the Print Spooler Service from starting. Solve this by deleting/moving the contents of the printers spool directory. More Info MS KB250038
More Info MS KB123747
More Info MS KB314105