I had always relied heavily on the Mail and Calendar apps that came pre-installed with Windows 11. They were convenient and straightforward, and they helped me keep track of my appointments and communications effortlessly. However, a couple of weeks ago, I encountered a frustrating issue: neither the Mail app nor the Calendar app would print anything. This problem arose out of the blue, and it was particularly inconvenient because I often needed to print out email confirmations and calendar schedules for meetings.
At first, I thought it might have been a simple glitch, so I tried restarting my computer. I also checked if there were any updates pending for Windows or the apps themselves. Despite these efforts, the problem persisted. I realized that this wasn’t a minor issue but something that needed a more systematic approach to solve.
I decided to delve deeper into the problem and began by verifying if other applications on my computer could print without issues. I tried printing from Microsoft Word and a PDF reader, and those worked just fine. This confirmed that the problem was specifically with the Mail and Calendar apps rather than a general printing issue with my computer.
My next step was to check the printer settings. I opened the “Devices and Printers” section in the Control Panel to ensure that my default printer was correctly set up. Everything seemed to be in order there, so I moved on to the next potential solution: checking the app settings. I navigated to the settings of both the Mail and Calendar apps to see if there were any specific configurations related to printing.
I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary in the app settings. So, I decided to look for more information online. It turned out that this issue had been reported by several other users as well. I discovered that some users had managed to resolve it by resetting the apps to their default settings. I figured it was worth a shot, so I went ahead and reset both the Mail and Calendar apps.
To reset the apps, I followed these steps: I went to “Settings” and selected “Apps,” then “Apps & features.” From there, I located the Mail and Calendar apps, clicked on each one, and chose “Advanced options.” In the next screen, I selected the “Reset” button. This action removed the app data and settings, but fortunately, my emails and calendar entries were still intact because they were synced with my Microsoft account.
After resetting the apps, I tried printing again, but the issue remained unresolved. At this point, I realized that it might be a more complex problem related to the apps’ interaction with the Windows print spooler. I decided to reset the print spooler service to see if that would help. I did this by opening the Command Prompt as an administrator and running a series of commands to stop, clear, and restart the print spooler service. The commands I used were:
cssnet stop spooler
del %systemroot%\System32\spool\PRINTERS\* /Q
net start spooler
Once the commands were executed, I restarted my computer and tried printing from the Mail and Calendar apps again. To my relief, this time it worked. I was able to print out emails and calendar events without any issues.
As a precaution, I also made sure that all my system drivers, especially those related to printing, were up to date. I checked for any pending Windows updates and applied them, ensuring that my system and apps were fully updated. I also checked if there were any updates available specifically for the Mail and Calendar apps, but there were none at the time.
In summary, the problem with the Mail and Calendar apps not printing was eventually resolved by resetting the apps and restarting the print spooler service. The issue seemed to be a specific glitch with how the apps were interacting with the Windows print system. By following these steps, I managed to get everything back to normal, and I can now print from these apps without any problems. If anyone else encounters a similar issue, I would recommend trying these steps as a possible solution before seeking more complex troubleshooting methods.