Print Logging

Print Logging in Windows

The Windows server operating system (e.g. Windows 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019 and later) does not maintain a detailed print log. The Windows Event Log can be used to audit some basic print spooler activity events, however additional software is needed to enable detailed logging of print jobs and documents. PaperCut is ideal for this requirement. The software will keep detailed activity log/logs of all user printing activity including information such as:

1. The user who printed (ie. their network user ID)
2. The time of the print event
3. The number of pages
4. Document attributes such as color, duplex, grayscale, paper size, document area, paper length
5. Where the print job originated from (the workstation name or IP address)
6. The document name and type (for example a Word document’s file name)

PaperCut Software makes a free print logger available from our website’s free software section. The other editions of PaperCut also offer flexible printer log functionality.

Accessing PaperCut ’s Print Log

PaperCut NG and MF maintains a detailed print log of all printing activity on the network. The information in the print log is ideal for monitoring or auditing print activity. The information is accessible via a number of different methods and formats. This include:

• Via the PaperCut administration interface under the Logs → Job Log section.

All print job data is recorded in real-time.

Possible Uses of Print Log Data

System administrators generally use PaperCut to implement a Print Quotas system however the detailed logging and print recording is often used for general monitoring (often referred to as silent monitoring). Uses include:

• Checking for abnormal use or activity
• Monitoring an individual user’s print habits
• Inspecting the type of documents printed (ie. document names and file extensions)
• Locating over utilized printers so they can be replaced with printers designed for high-volume printing.
• Determining locations where more printers may be required
• Estimating paper and toner usage and trends for budgeting purposes
• Providing management with reports to compliment other activity reports such as phone records and building entry and exit.

For more information…

Check out the recently updated Printing Visibility and Logging section of the ‘Discover’ section of the website. There you can find screenshots, examples and a deeper dive into the types of logging and reporting available using PaperCut products.

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How to Check Printer Logs

Related

Printer logs enable you to keep track of print jobs on your business’s printer. If, for example, you find a 100-page print job of a personal nature on your office’s printer, you can find the culprit by looking at the printer log. If enabled, you can find a list of print jobs and printer events in the Windows Event Viewer. Alternatively, you can enable “Keep printed documents” for a specific printer, or log into the printer’s Web console if it has one.

Using the Event Viewer

Log in to the computer or server where the printer driver is installed using an administrator account. In smaller environments, this is the computer with the physical connection to the printer.

Click «Start,» type «eventvwr” (without quotation marks) in the Search box and press “Enter.”

Expand “Applications and Services Logs,” and then expand “Microsoft.”

Expand “Windows” and “PrintService.”

Click the “Operational” log. If enabled, you should see a list of print jobs and print events, such as the removing/adding of printers. If the log is blank, it’s not enabled. Right-click on “Operational” and select “Enable log” to log all future print jobs.

Click the “X” at the top-right corner of the window to close Event Viewer.

Enabling “Keep Printed Documents” on the Printer

Log in to any computer containing a physical or networked connection to the printer using an account that has “manage printers” access to the printer in question. In most cases, a local administrator account is sufficient. Alternatively, log in to your Windows printer server, if applicable.

Click «Start» and then “Devices and Printers.”

Right-click on the printer in question and select “Printer Properties.”

Click the “Advanced” tab.

Check the box next to “Keep printed documents,” and then click “Apply” and “OK” to log all future print jobs. Access them by right-clicking on the printer and selecting “See what’s printing.”

Checking the Printer’s Web Console

Open a Web browser and type in your printer’s IP address. If you don’t know this information, you can find the IP address either by printing a configuration page on your printer, or by going to «Devices and Printers,» right-clicking on the printer, selecting “Printer properties» from the context menu, and then clicking the “Ports” tab. Click on the checked port, and then click the “Configure port. » button.

Enter your username and password for the printer. Refer to your IT department or printer’s user manual if you don’t know this information.

Find the print log in the graphic interface. Since the location varies from model to model, refer to your printer’s user manual if you cannot find it.

How can I see a log of printed files?

In my office, we have a great laser printer/hole puncher/stapler/duplexer that I use for 99% of my printing. Unfortunately, it is at the other side of the building. While the exercise is obviously good for me, I was hoping there was some way to see a log of recently printed files. Frequently I will think I printed a number of documents and then go to the printer to find that some are printed, some are not and some are printed twice. This is no fault of the printer, I just tend to forget things easily so I was hoping there was some easy solution where I could see the time and title of files printed. Basically exactly like the print dialog that you can see before and during printing something, except that as soon as a document is complete it is deleted. I am using Windows 7.

As I see it, I can either set the printer to «Keep printed documents» which some websites say has to be cleared regularly especially if files are large.

Or, (and this is what I’m doing now) I’m using the Event Viewer and told it to enable logging under Applications and Services > Microsoft > Windows > PrintService > Operational. The problem with this method is that I have to open Event Viewer and click through the hierachy to get to the operational print logs . and even then, for each print event, there are 6 logged activities, only one of which is the actual printing of the document.

There is also the print auditing feature but after turning it on I realized I don’t know how to view the audits (if I even have permission to do so since I’m not an administrator); this I gave up on rather quickly.

Ideally, I would like the print dialog (that shows up in the notification section when you print something) to remain active with all the documents I’ve printed that day (or since reboot) still listed. Is there an easy way to do this or even some sort of script or something? It seems right now, I could set my printer to «Keep printed documents» and then maybe have something run at startup/shutdown that clears the print log. Or is that something that happens automatically on shutdown?

How to check printing history in Windows 10?

There may be a number of reasons why you may want to check the log of the printed documents for your PC. You may want to review which files you should have in hard copy or you may simply be interested in how much volume you print in a period of time. Unfortunately, checking the history of a printer is not as straightforward as one might think — or as it probably should be. If you are wondering “how do I check my print history in Windows 10?”, you’ve come to the right place — we will address your concern right down below.

By default, your printed document history is deleted after each file has been printed. Thankfully, it does not have to be this way and you can change this option in the settings. This way, your printing log won’t be automatically wiped after each printing process. You will need to change this setting for every printer that has been installed on your computer.

How to View the Log of Printed Documents in Windows 10?

In order to change the settings for your printers, you will need to access your print queue. Here’s how to do that:

• Right-click the Windows Start menu button.
• Go to Settings.
• From here, navigate to Devices > Printers & Scanners.
• From the list of available printers and scanners, find the needed device
• Click it and then click Open Queue.
• In the new window, you will see your printer queue with the list of current and queued printed items.
• You will not be able to see the documents that had been printed earlier as logging was not enabled at that time.

Now, you will need to activate the printer history feature. Here’s what to do:

• In the print queue window for your selected printer, navigate to Printer > Properties.

(Alternatively, you can select your printer, go to the settings menu, and under Printers & Scanners, click Manage).

• Under Printer Properties, click Advanced.
• Select the Keep Printed Documents option.
• Click OK to save the changes you have made.
• Now that you have enabled your printed document history, your documents will no longer disappear from your print queue after they have been printed.

How to Enable Long-Term Print History?

The print queue you have just enabled will provide a short-term overview of the documents that you have previously printed. However, if you want to be able to see a long-term list of the documents you have printed, you will need to take a few extra steps and use the Windows Event Viewer. Here’s how to proceed:

• Right-click your Windows Start menu button.
• Locate the Event Viewer option and click it.
• The Event Viewer will let you see a list of previously printed files but there is another thing you will need to do to make it happen: you will need to set Windows to start logging your long-term printer history first.

In order to enable the print history feature in Event Viewer, you will need to do the following:

• On the Windows Event Viewer page, go to the Event Viewer (Local) menu on the left.
• Here, navigate to Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows.
• You will find a range of Windows services.
• Scroll all the way down to the PrintService category.
• Now, right-click the Operational log and then press the Properties button.
• Click the Enable Logging option.
• You will then be asked to set a maximum size for the log: the larger the size you set it, the longer Windows will record your printed document history.
• Click OK to save the changes you have made.

From now on, Windows will automatically log the printing history for all the printers that are connected to your PC and you will be able to access that information within Event Viewer.

Where Is the History of Printed Documents Saved?

Once you have completed the steps described above and have enabled your printer history, your system will keep a log of the documents you have printed. However, how do you access this information?

You will be able to see the log of your printed files in the Event Viewer:

• Locate and open the PrintService category and then go to the Operational log.
• Here, you will be able to see all Windows printer events including initial printer spooling, completed and failed prints.
• If you go to the Task Category, you will see the section called Printing a Document. This is where you will see a list of documents that have been successfully printed. Here, you will also find a list of files that have failed to print.

If you think that this is not clear enough, you can group your print logs by category. Here’s how to do that:

• Right-click the Task Category heading.
• Press the Group Events by This Column button.
• Your items will now be organized by category and you will probably find it easier to locate the needed logs.

There you have it. You have now successfully enabled the option for viewing your printing logs. Now, anytime you need to check what files you have printed on your PC, simply follow the steps described above and you will get the needed info. Alternatively, if you don’t want to change settings on your computer, you can also use third-party programs to view your printing history.

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Do you often check the print logs on your computer? Share in the comments below.

Print Spooler API Functions

The Print Spooler API contains the functions and data structures that applications use to manage the Windows print spooler and the printers and print jobs that it controls.

The functions of the Print Spooler API are divided into the following groups:

Print Job Functions

These functions send print jobs to a printer and track and control the print jobs in the print spooler.

Function	Description
AddJob	The AddJob function adds a print job to the list of print jobs that can be scheduled by the print spooler. The function retrieves the name of the file you can use to store the job.
ClosePrinter	The ClosePrinter function closes the specified printer object.
DocumentEvent	The DocumentEvent function is an event handler for events associated with printing a document.
DocumentProperties	The DocumentProperties function retrieves or modifies printer initialization information or displays a printer-configuration property sheet for the specified printer.
EndDocPrinter	The EndDocPrinter function ends a print job for the specified printer.
EndPagePrinter	The EndPagePrinter function notifies the print spooler that the application is at the end of a page in a print job.
EnumJobs	The EnumJobs function retrieves information about a specified set of print jobs for a specified printer.
GetJob	The GetJob function retrieves information about a specified print job.
OpenPrinter	The OpenPrinter function retrieves a handle to the specified printer or print server or other types of handles in the print subsystem.
OpenPrinter2	Retrieves a handle to the specified printer, print server, or other types of handles in the print subsystem, while setting some of the printer options.
ReportJobProcessingProgress	Reports to the Print Spooler service whether an XPS print job is in the spooling or the rendering phase and what part of the processing is currently underway.
ScheduleJob	The ScheduleJob function requests that the print spooler schedule a specified print job for printing.
SetJob	The SetJob function pauses, resumes, cancels, or restarts a print job on a specified printer. You can also use the SetJob function to set print job parameters, such as the print job priority and the document name.
StartDocPrinter	The StartDocPrinter function notifies the print spooler that a document is to be spooled for printing.
StartPagePrinter	The StartPagePrinter function notifies the spooler that a page is about to be printed on the specified printer.

Printer User Interface Functions

These functions display a user interface that enables the user to select or configure a printer.

Function	Description
AdvancedDocumentProperties	The AdvancedDocumentProperties function displays a printer-configuration dialog box for the specified printer, allowing the user to configure that printer.
ConfigurePort	The ConfigurePort function displays the port-configuration dialog box for a port on the specified server.
ConnectToPrinterDlg	The ConnectToPrinterDlg function displays a dialog box that lets users browse and connect to printers on a network. If the user selects a printer, the function attempts to create a connection to it; if a suitable driver is not installed on the server, the user is given the option of creating a printer locally.
PrinterProperties	The PrinterProperties function displays a printer-properties property sheet for the specified printer.

Printer Functions

These functions add and configure the printers that the print spooler uses.

Function	Description
AbortPrinter	The AbortPrinter function deletes a printer’s spool file if the printer is configured for spooling.
AddPrinter	The AddPrinter function adds a printer to the list of supported printers for a specified server.
AddPrinterConnection	The AddPrinterConnection function adds a connection to the specified printer for the current user.
AddPrinterConnection2	Adds a connection to the specified printer for the current user and specifies connection details.
DeletePrinter	The DeletePrinter function deletes the specified printer object.
DeletePrinterConnection	The DeletePrinterConnection function deletes a connection to a printer that was established by a call to AddPrinterConnection or ConnectToPrinterDlg.
DeletePrinterData	The DeletePrinterData function deletes specified configuration data for a printer. A printer’s configuration data consists of a set of named and typed values. The DeletePrinterData function deletes one of these values, specified by its value name.
DeletePrinterDataEx	The DeletePrinterDataEx function deletes a specified value from the configuration data for a printer. A printer’s configuration data consists of a set of named and typed values stored in a hierarchy of registry keys. The function deletes a specified value under a specified key.
DeletePrinterKey	The DeletePrinterKey function deletes a specified key and all its subkeys for a specified printer.
EnumPrinterData	The EnumPrinterData function enumerates configuration data for a specified printer.
EnumPrinterDataEx	The EnumPrinterDataEx function enumerates all value names and data for a specified printer and key.
EnumPrinterKey	The EnumPrinterKey function enumerates the subkeys of a specified key for a specified printer.
EnumPrinters	The EnumPrinters function enumerates available printers, print servers, domains, or print providers.
FlushPrinter	The FlushPrinter function sends a buffer to the printer in order to clear it from a transient state.
GetDefaultPrinter	The GetDefaultPrinter function retrieves the printer name of the default printer for the current user on the local computer.
GetPrinter	The GetPrinter function retrieves information about a specified printer.
GetPrinterData	The GetPrinterData function retrieves configuration data for the specified printer or print server.
GetPrinterDataEx	The GetPrinterDataEx function retrieves configuration data for the specified printer or print server. GetPrinterDataEx can retrieve values stored by the SetPrinterData function. In addition, GetPrinterDataEx can retrieve values stored under a specified key by the SetPrinterDataEx function.
IsValidDevmode	The IsValidDevmode function verifies that the contents of a DEVMODE structure are valid.
ReadPrinter	The ReadPrinter function retrieves data from the specified printer.
ResetPrinter	The ResetPrinter function specifies the data type and device mode values to be used for printing documents submitted by the StartDocPrinter function. These values can be overridden by using the SetJob function after document printing has started.
SetDefaultPrinter	The SetDefaultPrinter function sets the printer name of the default printer for the current user on the local computer.
SetPort	The SetPort function sets the status associated with a printer port.
SetPrinter	The SetPrinter function sets the data for a specified printer or sets the state of the specified printer by pausing printing, resuming printing, or clearing all print jobs.
SetPrinterData	The SetPrinterData function sets the configuration data for a printer or print server.
SetPrinterDataEx	The SetPrinterDataEx function sets the configuration data for a printer or print server. The function stores the configuration data under the printer’s registry key.
WritePrinter	The WritePrinter function notifies the print spooler that data should be written to the specified printer.

Printer Change Notification Functions

These functions enable an application to be notified of changes to a printer’s status.

Function	Description
FindClosePrinterChangeNotification	The FindClosePrinterChangeNotification function closes a change notification object created by calling the FindFirstPrinterChangeNotification function. The printer or print server associated with the change notification object will no longer be monitored by that object.
FindFirstPrinterChangeNotification	The FindFirstPrinterChangeNotification function creates a change notification object and returns a handle to the object. You can then use this handle in a call to one of the wait functions to monitor changes to the printer or print server.
FindNextPrinterChangeNotification	The FindNextPrinterChangeNotification function retrieves information about the most recent change notification for a change notification object associated with a printer or print server. Call this function when a wait operation on the change notification object is satisfied.
FreePrinterNotifyInfo	The FreePrinterNotifyInfo function frees a system-allocated buffer created by the FindNextPrinterChangeNotification function.

Printer Form Functions

These functions manage the forms used by a printer.

Function	Description
AddForm	The AddForm function adds a form to the list of available forms that can be selected for the specified printer.
DeleteForm	The DeleteForm function removes a form name from the list of supported forms.
EnumForms	The EnumForms function enumerates the forms supported by the specified printer.
GetForm	The GetForm function retrieves information about a specified form.
SetForm	The SetForm function sets the form information for the specified printer.

Print Spooler Functions

These functions interact with the print spooler at a low level.