Would you like to learn how to disable the print spooler service? In this tutorial, we will show you how to disable the print spooler service using a GPO.
• Windows 2012 R2
• Windows 2016
• Windows 2019
• Windows 10
• Windows 7
Equipment list
The following section presents the list of equipment used to create this tutorial.
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Tutorial GPO – Disable the print spooler service
On the domain controller, open the group policy management tool.
![Windows 2012 – Group Policy Management Windows 2012 - Group Policy Management](https://d1ny9casiyy5u5.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Windows-2012-Group-Policy-Management.webp)
Create a new group policy.
![Windows 2012 – Group Policy Objects Windows 2012 - Group Policy Objects](https://d1ny9casiyy5u5.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Windows-2012-Group-Policy-Objects.webp)
Enter a name for the new group policy.
![Windows – Add GPO Windows - Add GPO](https://d1ny9casiyy5u5.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Windows-Add-GPO.webp)
In our example, the new GPO was named: MY-GPO.
On the Group Policy Management screen, expand the folder named Group Policy Objects.
Right-click your new Group Policy Object and select the Edit option.
![Windows – Edit GPO Windows - Edit GPO](https://d1ny9casiyy5u5.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Windows-Edit-GPO.webp)
On the group policy editor screen, expand the Computer configuration folder and locate the following item.
Access the folder named System services.
![GPO Configure Service Windows GPO Configure Service Windows](https://d1ny9casiyy5u5.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GPO-Configure-Service-Windows.webp)
Disable the print spooler service.
![GPO – Disable Print Spooler](https://d1ny9casiyy5u5.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GPO-Disable-Print-Spooler.webp)
On the group policy editor screen, expand the Computer configuration folder and locate the following item.
Access the folder named Printers.
![GPO – Printers GPO - Printers](https://d1ny9casiyy5u5.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GPO-Printers.webp)
Disable the option named Allow print spooler to accept client connections.
![GPO – Disable Print Spooler client connections GPO - Disable Print Spooler client connections](https://d1ny9casiyy5u5.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GPO-Disable-Print-Spooler-client-connections.webp)
To save the group policy configuration, you need to close the Group Policy editor.
Congratulations! You have finished the GPO creation.
Tutorial – Disabling the print spooler service
On the Group policy management screen, you need to right-click the Organizational Unit desired and select the option to link an existent GPO.
![Windows-2012-Applocker application Windows-2012-Applocker application](https://d1ny9casiyy5u5.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Windows-2012-Applocker-application.webp)
In our example, we are going to link the group policy named MY-GPO to the root of the domain.
![GPO- tutorial linking GPO- tutorial linking](https://d1ny9casiyy5u5.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/GPO-tutorial-linking.webp)
After applying the GPO you need to wait for 10 or 20 minutes.
During this time the GPO will be replicated to other domain controllers.
On a remote computer, verify the print spooler service configuration.
![Windows – Print spooler disabled Windows - Print spooler disabled](https://d1ny9casiyy5u5.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Windows-Print-spooler-disabled.webp)
In our example, we disabled the print spooler service using a GPO.