Fix Microsoft Edge Crashing While Printing on Windows

If Microsoft Edge crashes or freezes when you try to print on Windows, the fix is usually to reset the browser’s printing settings, clear its cache, or disable problematic extensions—start with the steps below, and you’ll likely resolve it in under ten minutes.

Why Edge Crashes During Printing

Printing in Edge relies on a chain of components: the browser’s rendering engine, the Windows print spooler service, and the printer driver. A crash can happen at any link in that chain. Common culprits include:

• Corrupted cache or temporary files that interfere with the print preview.
• An outdated or incompatible printer driver that sends bad data back to Edge.
• Extensions (especially ad blockers or PDF tools) that inject code into print pages.
• Hardware acceleration conflicts with the graphics driver.
• Windows print spooler issues that affect all applications, not just Edge.

Because the problem can stem from several sources, the fix is a process of elimination. The steps below move from the quickest, least disruptive fixes to more thorough ones.

Quick Fixes to Try First

Start with these simple actions—they resolve a surprising number of print crashes:

1. Restart Edge completely. Close all Edge windows, then reopen. If you had many tabs open, this clears temporary memory issues.
2. Restart the Windows Print Spooler. Press Win + R, type services.msc, find Print Spooler, right-click it, and select Restart. This clears stuck print jobs that can crash Edge.
3. Use the system print dialog instead of Edge’s preview. In the print preview, click More settings and check Use system dialog (or press Ctrl + Shift + P). This bypasses Edge’s custom print interface, which is where many crashes occur.
4. Print to PDF first. Choose Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer, save the file, then open and print the PDF from another viewer. This isolates whether the problem is Edge or the printer driver.

If none of these help, move to the deeper fixes below.

Disable Extensions and Hardware Acceleration

Extensions can interfere with printing because they can modify web pages before the print layout is generated. To test this:

1. Click the three-dot menu (⋯) > Extensions > Manage extensions.
2. Toggle off all extensions, then try printing again.
3. If printing works, re-enable extensions one by one until you find the culprit. Common offenders are ad blockers, grammar checkers, and PDF converters.

Hardware acceleration uses your GPU to render pages faster, but it can cause crashes with certain graphics drivers. To disable it:

1. Go to Settings > System and performance.
2. Turn off Use hardware acceleration when available.
3. Restart Edge and test printing.

If the crash disappears, you can either keep hardware acceleration off or update your graphics driver to a newer version that may fix the conflict.

Clear Cache and Reset Settings

A corrupted cache or broken settings can cause print failures. Clearing the cache is safe—it doesn’t remove passwords or bookmarks. Here’s how:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete to open Clear browsing data.
2. Choose All time in the time range.
3. Check Cached images and files (and optionally Cookies and other site data if you’re okay with signing back into sites).
4. Click Clear data, then restart Edge.

If the problem persists, resetting Edge to its default state can fix deeper corruption. Go to Settings > Reset settings > Restore settings to their default values. This disables extensions, clears temporary data, and resets search engines—but keeps your favorites and history. You’ll need to re-enable any extensions you want afterward.

Update or Reinstall Printer Drivers

An outdated or buggy printer driver is a leading cause of print crashes. Windows usually installs a basic driver automatically, but the manufacturer’s full driver often works better.

1. Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
2. Select your printer and click Remove device.
3. Restart your PC, then add the printer again via Add a device. Windows will reinstall the driver.
4. If the problem continues, visit your printer manufacturer’s support website, download the latest driver for your exact model and Windows version, and install it manually.

Also check that the printer is set as the default. Right-click the printer in Settings and choose Set as default if it isn’t already.

Repair Windows System Files

If Edge crashes on every print job, even after the above, the issue may be with Windows itself. Corrupted system files can affect the print spooler and Edge’s interaction with it. Run these built-in tools:

1. Open Command Prompt as administrator (search for “cmd”, right-click, and choose Run as administrator).
2. Type sfc /scannow and press Enter. This checks and repairs protected system files. It can take 10–15 minutes.
3. After it finishes, run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and press Enter. This fixes Windows system image corruption.
4. Restart your PC and test printing again.

These commands are safe and won’t delete your files. If they find and fix issues, the print crash often disappears.

Alternative: Use a Different Browser

If you’ve tried everything and Edge still crashes, you can switch to another browser for printing. Chrome and Firefox use the same underlying web engine (Chromium) as Edge, so they handle print jobs similarly—but they don’t share Edge’s profile or extensions, so a corrupted Edge profile won’t affect them. You can also use the Print option in the Windows Photos or Word apps if you’re printing documents rather than web pages.

Another temporary workaround is to copy the web page content into a Word document or Google Doc and print from there. This avoids Edge’s rendering entirely and often works when the browser is unstable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Edge crash only when printing, not during normal browsing?

Printing triggers a different code path in Edge—it has to generate a print preview, communicate with the Windows print spooler, and send data to the printer driver. Any incompatibility in that chain can cause a crash, even if normal browsing works fine. The print preview is particularly resource-intensive, so memory or graphics issues can surface only at that moment.

Will resetting Edge delete my bookmarks and passwords?

No. The Restore settings to their default values option keeps your favorites, history, and saved passwords. It disables extensions, clears temporary data, and resets the search engine and startup pages. Your personal data is safe, but you’ll need to re-enable extensions and reconfigure any custom settings.

How do I know if a printer driver is causing the crash?

Try printing to Microsoft Print to PDF. If that works without crashing, the problem is likely the printer driver or the physical printer connection. If Edge crashes even when printing to PDF, the issue is inside Edge or Windows itself. This simple test narrows down the cause quickly.

Can a Windows update cause Edge to crash when printing?

Yes. Windows updates can change how the print spooler works or update the .NET framework that Edge relies on. If the crash started after a recent update, you can check for a newer update that might fix the regression, or use System Restore to roll back if the problem is severe. However, it’s usually better to try the fixes above first, as they address the most common causes.

Is there a way to print without opening the print preview?

Yes. In Edge’s print dialog, click More settings and enable Use system dialog. This bypasses Edge’s custom preview and uses the standard Windows print window, which is less likely to crash. You can also press Ctrl + Shift + P to open the system dialog directly.

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