When attempting to install a printer in Microsoft Windows, I was greeted with an error that said:
“Unable to install printer. Another printer or printers share with this name already exists. please use another name for the printer.”
I received this error despite the fact that there was no other printer using the name I specified.
For me, this message appeared because somewhere in the Windows Registry was a reference to that printer name. I had to remove the registry entry using these steps.
- Hold the Windows Key and press “R“.
- Type “regedit“, then press “Enter“.
- Navigate to the following location:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
- SYSTEM
- CurrentControlSet
- Control
- Printers
- Look for the registry key that has the value of the printer name you were trying to use. Right-click the key, then delete it.
- Close the “Registry Editor“.
- Select “Start“, type “services.msc“, then press “Enter“.
- Stop and restart the “Print Spooler“.
Now attempt to add the printer again. You should be able to use the name you desired without the error message appearing.
Patrick Corcoran says
Hello all you Cyber Apple Heads,
This fix worked for me! Now, highlight the
steps to this fix and print it, or save it to your
computer because we know this problem
will happen again, thank you Mitch Bartlett.
Daniel says
Thank you for advice, its working 100%.
Alex says
LOVE how straight forward and easy this advice is. It fixed my problem in less than 20 seconds!
Katty Rios says
Hi all , I did this and now i have my printer added but when I sent files to print it stuck in queue and the status says Error- Printing . Do you know how can I fix this?
Alexander Hagerty says
Thank you; this worked like a charm.
XX says
I had to expand your scope to include Keys and Data as well as Values.
jawad says
it works thanks bro!!!!!!
Krista says
Thank You!
Matt says
Worked great!
Thanks so much!
Linda Barrette says
Tried this….didn’t work. Still can’t get my printer to print. Had a printer jam….after trying to delete my printer and reinstall….no luck. Actually I’m pretty sure I fixed this before but for some reasons these ‘fixes’ are not working this time.
dev says
it worked!
thanks a lot :)
Werner Lieske says
Sigh.
There’s so many registry hacks and things to fix basic windows issues, I wish Microsoft would stop and take a breath for the next 5 years and get Windows 10 working perfectly before they even CONSIDER regurgitating a new version of Windows. Couldn’t they find other projects to pre-occupy themselves with in the meantime? Like sorting out their Hololens issues?
I have this exact problem on Windows 10 where if you’ve deleted a printer, and re-install it, you can’t use the original printer name. Thanks for the solution anyway. Pretty sure this would apply to Windows 10 as well.