Windows 10: Print to PDF not working and cant be reinstalled

This is extremely annoying and frustrating.
My print to pdf printer stopped working this morning. I googled online to see if there were solutions available. There were 3 options given. One to switch the feature off and on. This did not work. The next was to delete the printer and reinstall the driver. Sounded straightforward. So , I deleted the printer and followed the instructions to reinstall. Only problem is that "print to pdf " never shows up as a printer available from microsoft, no matter what port you choose and no matter how many times you do a windows update on the manufacturers.

The problem is I really depend on that print driver although it is clunky and not user friendly, as it is the ONLY ONE that will properly convert bahnschrift fonts into pdf. and in my stupidity when MS released bahnshcrift with much fanfare, I decided to use it as my main font....now I cant send any letters because I cant print them.

Great - so MS releases a font that can only be properly printed on a print driver that it manufactures, but it is now impossible to reinstall that driver, as it doesnt even show up in Windows as a driver it manufactures.......... go figure.......

:)

 

Print to PDF missing in Printer List

Thanks for your help. I was browsing the web the other day and I found a page called FINAL DRAFT. They had a set of instructions for reinstalling the Microsoft Print to PDF utility that worked great for me. Problem solved.

 

MS Print to PDF not working

As near as I can tell, this worked BEFORE the latest Windows update.

In Outlook, when I attempt to use the Print to PDF as a print destination, I get an error
"Printer not ready".

Research showed a couple possibilities, so here's what I've done SO FAR:

• Made Print to PDF the default printer (claimed to fix the problem. Didn't work)
• I tried using Outlook in safe mode (Outlook /safe) and received exactly the same error as is "regular" mode.Turned off print to pdf in the windows features and rebooted, then turned back on print to pdf in the windows features. (claimed to fix the problem. Didn't work)
• There are NO commas or any other odd characters in the location to which I'm saving. Tried multiple destinations with no luck. Didn't work.
• Reinstalled Acrobat Reader. Works fine, PDFs open perfectly. Did NOT fix the "Print to PDF".
• When doing a "Print to PDF" from Word, I do not get an ERROR, but no output is created. Same exact thing when trying from a text editor.
• I have deleted and reinstalled the "Microsoft Print to PDF". This CREATES the printer, and allows me to print a test page as part of the installation. I don't get an error, but NO OUTPUT IS GENERATED. Trying to print a test page using print to PDF once the installation is complete (from printer properties, generates an error that says a "parameter is incorrect". No other information is provided.

AGAIN, this has been working absolutely fine since the original installation of Windows 10, using exactly the same versions of Outlook, Word, text editors, etc. As near a I can tell, this has only STOPPED working since the newest "creators update" a week or so ago...

What do now?

 

Print to PDF missing in Printer List

Hi William,

We suggest that you disable and re-enable the Print to PDF feature. Here are the steps:

• Click on the Start menu and type in Windows Features.
• Choose Turn Windows features on or off.
• On the next window, find Microsoft Print to PDF and disable it. Click
  OK to save changes.
• Restart your PC.
• Repeat the same steps to re-enable Microsoft Print to PDF.

If the issue persists, we suggest that you perform the troubleshooting steps suggested on the link below under
Advanced:

Fix printer problems

Regards.