Printing from Microsoft Apps error 0x80040154

Question

Printing from Microsoft Apps error 0x80040154

Kane Rubel 5

Several computers in my organization have experienced issues printing from Microsoft apps such as Photos or Snipping tool, receiving the error message "Your printer has experienced an unexpected configuration problem. 0x80040154".

I have deleted and re-added the Photos app, removed and re-added the printer from the computer, run sfc/scannow and DISM, updated drivers, repaired and reset the Photos app, restarted the print spooler service, and tried a couple Powershell scripts to reset the print dialog service or revert to the legacy print dialog. I have also run the Windows printing troubleshooter.

Nothing has worked so far, despite these methods being tried on all three machines. This error message shows up for all printing methods, even Print to PDF. However, the users can print from apps like Outlook or Excel, just not Photos. What can I do to resolve these issues?

2 answers

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Answer 1

Hi Kane Rubel,

The error code 0x80040154 specifically translates to REGDB_E_CLASSNOTREG (Class not registered), which confirms why your driver updates and Print Spooler restarts haven't been effective. Since standard Win32 applications like Outlook and Excel are printing successfully, your underlying print subsystem and drivers are functional. The breakage is isolated to the COM interface that handles the "Modern" (UWP) print dialog used by apps like Photos and Snipping Tool. Essentially, these apps are attempting to call a specific system class to generate the print preview window, but the registry has lost the pointer to the DLL responsible for that interface.

Given that you have already run generic system repairs like SFC and DISM, the file itself likely exists but is simply missing its registration hooks. The most direct resolution for this specific UWP printing failure is to manually re-register the Print Configuration library. You need to open a Command Prompt with administrative privileges and execute the command regsvr32 "C:\Windows\System32\printconfig.dll". You should receive a dialog box confirming that DllRegisterServer in printconfig.dll succeeded. Once confirmed, attempt to print from the Photos app again immediately; a reboot is rarely required for COM registration to take effect, but it is good practice if the error persists.

If the manual registration doesn't resolve the behavior, verify that the PrintWorkflowUserSvcis not disabled, as modern printing relies on this service for the print dialog UI generation. Since this is affecting multiple machines in an organization, you should also inspect your Group Policy Objects to ensure that the setting Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Printers > Activate Windows 10/11 Print Driver Isolation is not strictly forcing a mode that conflicts with your specific driver set, though the COM registration fix addresses the 0x80040154 error in the vast majority of these cases.

I hope you've found something useful here. If it helps you get more insight into the issue, it's appreciated to accept the answer. Should you have more questions, feel free to reach out. Have a nice day!

VPHAN

Kane Rubel 5 Reputation points

2025-12-09T21:22:35.83+00:00

Hi VPHAN, I attempted this fix on a user's computer and got the error message "The module "C:\Windows\system32\printconfig.dll" failed to load. Make sure the binary is stored at the specific path or debug it to check for problems with the binary or dependent .DLL files. The specified module could not be found." This error persisted after turning on the print workflow service and running SFC again with no integrity violations found. I will examine Group Policy and report back on that, but it seems as though the command did not work at this time.
VPHAN 10,565 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2025-12-09T21:28:15.28+00:00

Hi,

The error message "The specified module could not be found" confirms that C:\Windows\System32\printconfig.dll is physically missing from that folder. The reason sfc /scannow returned no violations is that Windows often classifies this specific DLL as a driver-dependent binary (part of the generic printer driver set) rather than a protected core system file, so the integrity scanner skips it.

Since the file is missing, the registration command failed. We need to manually retrieve a clean copy from the Windows Driver Store (a built-in repository of drivers) and restore it.

VP

Answer 2

VPHAN 10,565 Independent Advisor

Hi Kane Rubel,

I'm following up to see if you were able to locate the missing printconfig.dll file within the C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository backup location and restore it to System32.

If copying the file from the driver store and running the regsvr32 command successfully restored printing functionality for the Photos and Snipping Tool apps, you may consider accepting the answer, as this confirmation is incredibly helpful for other people sharing the same question as yours. Thanks!

VP

Kane Rubel 5 Reputation points

2025-12-10T14:24:56.2333333+00:00

Hi VPHAN,

I will try that method with my user on Friday, but they will not be available again until then. I will be sure to update once I get a chance to work on their computer again!

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Printing from Microsoft Apps error 0x80040154

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