How to Fix Printer Error 0x00000077 in Windows 11 and 10

Printer error 0x00000077 is Windows reporting a broken pipe: the connection between the print spooler and the printer was cut before the job finished. Unlike most printer errors, this one points at the link — the cable, the network path, or the port configuration — rather than at the driver.

Start with the physical connection

Because the error is about a severed connection, this is not the usual “try turning it off and on again” filler — it is the most likely cause.

• USB: reseat both ends of the cable. Try a different port, directly on the machine rather than through a hub. Try a different cable if you have one — printer cables get trapped behind desks and fail.
• Ethernet: check the cable and that the port light is on at both ends.
• Wi-fi: print the printer’s own network configuration page from its front panel and confirm it has an IP address on your network.

Power cycle in the right order

1. Turn the printer off and unplug it from the mains for 60 seconds. Not standby — the internal state has to clear.
2. Plug it back in and let it fully initialise.
3. Restart the PC.

Clear the print queue

A stuck job holds the pipe open and every subsequent job fails behind it. From an elevated Command Prompt:

net stop spooler

del /Q /F /S "%systemroot%System32spoolPRINTERS*.*"

net start spooler

You lose whatever was queued. Nothing else is affected.

Fix the port configuration

The most common non-physical cause, and the one worth understanding.

Network printers get their IP address from DHCP. When the router hands the printer a different address, Windows keeps sending to the old one — and the connection fails part-way, producing exactly this error.

Check the printer’s current address

Print a network configuration page from the printer’s own menu. Note the IP address.

Compare with what Windows has

1. Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners → select the printer.
2. Printer properties → Ports tab.
3. Find the ticked port and select Configure Port.

If the addresses differ, that is your answer. Update it, or create a new Standard TCP/IP Port with the correct address.

Stop it happening again

Give the printer a fixed address, which is worth doing on any network printer:

• Best: a DHCP reservation on the router, so it always gets the same address. Set it against the printer’s MAC address.
• Alternative: a static IP set on the printer itself, chosen outside the router’s DHCP range.

Use SNMP status off

On the same Configure Port dialog, clearing SNMP Status Enabled resolves a surprising number of intermittent network printing faults, particularly with older printers that respond poorly to status polling.

Run the printer troubleshooter

Settings → System → Troubleshoot → Other troubleshooters → Run next to Printer.

It checks the spooler, the queue and the port, and fixes several of them without asking.

Reinstall the printer

If the connection is sound and the port is right:

1. Settings → Printers & scanners → the printer → Remove.
2. Press Win + R, run printmanagement.msc, open All Drivers, right-click the driver → Delete driver package.
3. Restart.
4. Install the current driver from the printer manufacturer’s site for your exact model.
5. Add the printer again.

Removing the driver package as well as the printer matters — see printer error 0x00000057, where the same step is the main fix.

Check the spooler service

1. Press Win + R, run services.msc.
2. Find Print Spooler. Startup type should be Automatic and status Running.
3. If it keeps stopping on its own, open Properties → Recovery and set the first two failures to Restart the Service.

A spooler that repeatedly crashes usually indicates a bad driver — reinstall as above.

Repair system files

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
sfc /scannow

Reboot afterwards.

In order, what to try

1. Reseat or replace the cable; power cycle the printer from the mains.
2. Clear the print queue.
3. Check the port’s IP address matches the printer’s current one.
4. Give the printer a DHCP reservation.
5. Turn off SNMP status on the port.
6. Reinstall the printer and its driver package.
7. Run DISM and SFC.

Frequently asked questions

What does 0x00000077 mean?

It maps to a broken pipe — the communication channel between the spooler and the printer closed unexpectedly. That is why the connection itself is the first thing to check.

Why does it only happen with large documents?

A longer job holds the connection open for longer, so a marginal cable or an unreliable wi-fi link has more opportunity to drop. If small documents print and large ones fail, suspect the connection rather than the driver.

My printer worked yesterday and nothing changed.

Something usually did: the router restarted and handed the printer a new IP address. Check the port configuration against the printer’s current address.

Should I use the USB or the network connection?

USB is more reliable for a single machine and removes the whole IP address problem. Network is necessary for sharing. If you are troubleshooting, connecting by USB temporarily tells you quickly whether the network path is at fault.

Is my printer broken?

Unlikely. If it prints a self-test or configuration page from its own front panel, the printer works and the problem is between it and the PC.