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Troubleshooting

September 6, 2025
Contributed by: 
C

Systematic Approach

Troubleshooting printing problems in a complex Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops™ (CVAD) environment requires a methodical approach rather than random guessing. A recommended process involves:

  1. Identify Symptoms: Clearly define the problem (e.g., printer not appearing, job stuck, wrong output, slow printing).
  2. Isolate Scope: Determine who is affected (one user, multiple users, specific application), which printers are involved, and from which VDAs or client devices the issue occurs.
  3. Check Basics: Verify network connectivity (VDA to print server, client to VDA), ensure the printer is online and functional outside Citrix®, check local printing from the client (for redirection issues).
  4. Review Policies: Examine relevant Citrix policy settings applied to the affected user/session using tools like Citrix Group Policy Modeling wizard or by checking applied policy settings on the VDA. Ensure policy settings are configured as intended and that there are no obvious conflicts.
  5. Examine Logs: Check Windows Event Logs (Application and System logs, PrintService logs) on the VDA, client device, and print server (if applicable). Check Citrix-specific logs if enabled.3
  6. Test Components: Attempt to isolate the issue to a specific component – try printing from a different application, try a different printer, test with a generic driver (like UPD or Microsoft XPS Document Writer), check the status of the Print Spooler and Citrix Print Manager services.
  7. Consult Resources: Leverage product documentation, support articles, and community forums for known issues and solutions.

Common Issues and Solutions

Some of the common printing issues reported in the field and recommended troubleshooting steps are documented below:

  • Failure to Auto-Create Printers / Printers Not Appearing in Session:

    • Potential Causes: Client printer redirection policy disabled; Auto-create client printers policy set to ‘None’ or incorrectly filtered; Client device print spooler issue; Workspace app problem; Network connectivity issue between client and VDA; Citrix Print Manager Service (CpSvc.exe) not running or crashed on VDA; Required printer driver missing on VDA (if native driver needed); Citrix policy not applying correctly to the session.
    • Troubleshooting Steps:
      1. Verify Client printer redirection policy is ‘Allowed’ and Auto-create client printers is configured correctly for the user/session.
      2. Check CpSvc.exe service status on VDA; restart if necessary.
      3. Check Windows Print Spooler service status on both VDA and client; restart if necessary.
      4. Verify basic network connectivity.
      5. Test printing locally on the client device.
      6. Ensure a compatible Workspace app version is installed.
      7. Check VDA event logs for errors related to CpSvc or printer creation.
      8. Force policy update on VDA (gpupdate /force).
      9. Check applied policies on VDA to confirm expected settings are present.
      10. If native drivers are expected, verify they are installed on the VDA.
      11. Check RDS/Terminal Server printer redirection settings in local/group policy on VDA.
      12. Look for and clean up orphaned printer entries in the VDA registry.

  • Print Spooler Crashes / Service Unresponsive (on VDA or Print Server):

    • Potential Causes: Faulty or incompatible printer driver (often third-party); Corrupted print job in the queue; Driver conflicts; Insufficient system resources.

    • Troubleshooting Steps:

      1. Identify the faulting process/module using Windows Event Logs (Application log often shows spooler crashes).
      2. Attempt to restart the Print Spooler service.
      3. If restarting fails or the issue repeats, try to clear the print queue manually (Stop Spooler service, delete files in C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS, Start Spooler service).
      4. Identify and remove the problematic printer driver. Clean removal may require registry edits.
      5. Test with the Citrix UPD or a generic Microsoft driver.
      6. Check for and clean up orphaned print processors in the registry.

  • Policy Conflicts / Settings Ignored:

    • Potential Causes: GPO settings overriding Citrix policies; Conflicting Citrix policy priorities or filters; Errors during policy processing.

    • Troubleshooting Steps:

      1. Use Citrix Group Policy Modeling wizard to simulate policy application for the affected user/VDA.
      2. Verify policy filters (user groups, client IPs, etc.) are correct.
      3. Check policy priorities in Studio/Web Studio.
      4. Temporarily block GPO inheritance on the VDA’s OU to isolate Citrix policy issues.
      5. Examine policy processing results on the VDA (e.g., using gpresult /h report.html).
      6. Simplify the policy set applied to the user/VDA and add policies back incrementally to find the conflict.

  • Driver Issues (General - Compatibility, Corruption, Mapping):

    • Potential Causes: Driver not compatible with VDA OS or Citrix version; Corrupted driver installation; Driver required by policy is missing on VDA; Conflict between multiple drivers; Incorrect configuration of Printer driver mapping policy.
    • Troubleshooting Steps:
      1. Try printing with Citrix UPD (configure Universal print driver usage policy).
      2. Verify the correct driver (native or UPD) is being selected based on applied policies.
      3. Ensure required native drivers are installed correctly on the VDA (if used).
      4. Check vendor documentation for driver compatibility with CVAD and the VDA OS version.
      5. Perform a clean reinstall of the problematic driver (uninstall, reboot, install).
      6. Review and test Printer driver mapping policy rules carefully.
      7. Minimize the number of installed drivers on the VDA.
  • Slow Printing / Performance Issues:
    • Potential Causes: Network congestion or high latency (especially WAN); Large, complex print jobs (e.g., high-resolution graphics); Inefficient printer driver; Print optimizations (compression, caching) disabled or misconfigured; Inefficient routing (e.g., direct connection over slow WAN).
    • Troubleshooting Steps:
      1. Analyze network path and performance between VDA, client, and print server.
      2. Configure Citrix bandwidth limiting policies for printing.
      3. Enable and configure UPD optimizations (image compression, font/image caching) via Universal Printing policies.
      4. For WAN links, disable Direct connections to print servers policy to force traffic over compressed ICA® channel.
      5. If using UPS, ensure it’s optimally configured for the network.
      6. Analyze the print job itself – reduce resolution or complexity if possible.
      7. Test with a different driver (e.g., UPD vs. native).
  • Incorrect Output (Missing Characters, Formatting Errors, Wrong Orientation):
    • Potential Causes: Missing fonts on VDA required by the document/application; Incorrect font substitution; Printer driver incompatibility; Issue with specific UPD format (e.g., EMF vs. XPS); Application bug; Conflict with advanced printing features enabled on the local client printer.
    • Troubleshooting Steps:
      1. Ensure all necessary fonts are installed on the VDA.
      2. Try changing the Universal driver preference policy order (e.g., try XPS before EMF).
      3. Test printing the same document from a different application.
      4. Test printing to a different physical printer or a virtual printer (e.g., Microsoft XPS Document Writer).
      5. Try using a different printer driver (UPD vs. native, or different native version).
      6. Check the application’s print settings and page setup.
      7. Disable “Advanced Printing Features” in the local printer properties on the client device.
      8. Verify print orientation settings in user preferences and policies.
  • Citrix Print Manager Service (CpSvc.exe) Crashes/Hangs:
    • Potential Causes: Unresponsive printer drivers leaving orphaned objects in the registry; Corrupted Citrix policy data related to printing; System resource contention.
    • Troubleshooting Steps:
      1. Follow steps to clean orphaned printer and print processor entries from the VDA registry. Requires stopping Print Spooler and CpSvc services first.
      2. Identify and remove the offending printer driver(s).
      3. Consider cleaning the Citrix policy cache folders/registry keys on the VDA and forcing a policy refresh.
      4. Monitor VDA resource usage (CPU, Memory).
      5. Restart CpSvc and Print Spooler services.
  • PDF Printer Issues:
    • Potential Causes: Auto-create PDF Universal Printer policy disabled; Incompatible VDA or Workspace app version; No PDF viewer installed on the client endpoint; Unsupported browser used (e.g., Edge) or HTML5 configuration error (CSP headers, config.js).
    • Troubleshooting Steps:
      1. Verify the Auto-create PDF Universal Printer policy is enabled and applied.
      2. Confirm VDA and Workspace app meet minimum version requirements.
      3. Ensure a supported PDF viewer (e.g., Adobe Reader, Chrome) is installed and set as default on the client.
      4. If using HTML5 Workspace app, verify browser compatibility and check configuration.js and CSP header settings.
      5. Restart the Citrix session after policy changes.

Basic End user troubleshooting

If permitted by organizational policy, users experiencing simple printing issues can sometimes resolve them with basic steps before escalating to IT -

  • Log off completely from the HDX™ session and log back in.
  • Check the status of the local printer on the endpoint device (ensure it’s online, not paused, no errors).
  • Restart the local endpoint device.
Troubleshooting
September 6, 2025
Contributed by: 
C
September 6, 2025
Contributed by: 
C

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