Complete fix for Error 0x00000709 Operation could not be completed when connecting to shared printer in Windows 11

Today I ran into the following error: Operation could not be completed (error 0x00000709) when I tried to access my shared printer from my Windows 11 machine. I hadn’t used it in a while, so I had no idea where this error suddenly came from.

Initial troubleshooting

First of all, I looked in the direction of the easiest solutions. The questions my service desk agent would also ask 🙂
Have you turned your computer off and on yet?

• Is the printer on
• Is the computer to which the printer is connected switched on?
  Relevant questions, but they did not lead to the solution.

Cause of printer error 0x00000709

The cause is the Windows 11 22H2 update. In this version, a new setting has been introduced called “Configure RPC Connection settings.”. This setting, which can now also be configured via a Group Policy Setting, specifies which protocol and settings to connect to a network printer. More technically, which remote print spooler

The default setting in Windows 11 22H2 blocks finding network printers 😮 This will remove your network printer. And adding a printer doesn’t just work either: you get the error message 0x00000bc4.

Solution for error 00000709

To solve the Operation could not be completed (error 0x00000709) error, we need to configure the “Configure RPC Connection settings” in the group policy settings so that “RPC over named pipes” is active.
Difficult? Do not worry! The steps are explained below

1. Click the Windows 11 icon (1A), type gpedit (1B), and click the search result Edit group policy (1C)
   
2. Go to the following node: Computer Configuration – Administrative Templates – Printers – Configure RPC connection settings. Double-click on it.
   
3. In the new “Configure RPC connection settings” window, make sure Enabled is selected. Then click on the dropdown “Protocol to use for outgoing RPC Connections“, select RPC over named pipes, and click OK.
   
4. Close the Group Policy Editor.

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Further references

There is a causal relationship between the Operation could not be completed (error 0x00000bc4) error. No Printers Were Found and Operation could not be completed (error 0x00000709). Both occur after Windows 11 22H2 is installed, as the RPC connection settings have changed as a result. You may also see messages like 0x00000bc4 (Desc: ERROR_PRINTER_NOT_FOUND) or 0x00000709 (Desc: ERROR_INVALID_PRINTER_NAME).
I’ve read that some had no success after modifying the group policy. Instead, they had to adjust the settings in the registry. Do you also experience that you still get the error AFTER changing the group policy? Then you may need to enter the following registry values:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\RPC]

There are 2 values that can be configured:
RpcUseNamedPipeProtocol REG_DWORD
0: RpcOverTcp (default)
1: RpcOverNamedPipes

What if my printer is connected to a printer-sharing server?!

Are you running Windows 11 22H2 on a computer that is SHARING a printer? In that case, you also have to do some additional settings on that computer!

First, open Group Policy Editor again, and navigate to Computer Configuration – Administrative Templates – Printers. Then

1. configure Configure RPC listener settings. Change protocol: RPC over named pipes and TCP
2. configure Printer Browsing. Change Not Configured to Enabled

At the time of this brief note, I have not written out all detailed instructions for this. Let me know in the comments if you would appreciate this! Here’s an example of how I would write it down: https://itexperience.net/fix-0x8007007e-your-printer-has-experienced-an-unexpected-configuration-problem/