How do we resolve an Excel Printing issue post W11 upgrade?

Hello patrick mcdevitt,

Thank you for reaching out. I understand how frustrating it can be when Excel freezes during printing after your upgrade to Windows 11. The good news is that this behavior is usually not a fault in Excel itself, but rather linked to printer drivers, cached spooler files, or certain add‑ins that may not be fully compatible after the upgrade.

To help resolve this, please try the following steps:

• Update or reinstall your printer driver using the latest version from the manufacturer’s website.
• Clear the print spooler cache: stop the Print Spooler service, delete the files in C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS, then restart the service.
• Run Excel in Safe Mode (excel /safe) to check if an add‑in is causing the issue.
• Switch your default printer temporarily to “Microsoft Print to PDF” and test printing again.
• Repair Office via Settings → Apps → Microsoft Office → Modify → Quick Repair.

Please avoid force‑closing Excel through Task Manager while testing, as this can risk file corruption. If you notice that Word or PowerPoint also freeze when printing, that confirms the issue lies with the printer driver or spooler rather than Excel itself.

We hope these steps help you get back up and running smoothly.

If this guidance proves helpful, please kindly help to click “Accept Answer” so we know we’re heading in the right direction 😊. And of course, I’m here if you need further clarification or support.

Domic Vo.

Option 1, 2, 5 and 6 have already been done/checked. If it's caused by 3, 4 or 7 what would be the solution? I was told this is a known issue with W11 and Excel, and that there is a Fix for it. I just haven't come across it yet.

Is there a known resolution to this issue?