Disabling Printer Notifications

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 19, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

When I sent a job to the printer, a balloon popped up from the System Tray announcing that I sent a job to the printer. This was irritating because I didn't need the computer to tell me I'd sent a job to the printer and I couldn't do anything on my computer until I clicked that balloon or the print job was complete.

Then I found out this notification could be disabled, but it wasn't where I thought it was going to be. This notification is actually controlled in Windows. I use Windows XP, and here's the steps I used to disable it:

From the Start menu, choose Printers and Faxes. Windows displays the Printers and Faxes window.
Within the window, choose Server Properties from the File menu. Windows displays the Print Server Properties dialog box.
Make sure the Advanced tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Advanced tab of the Print Server Properties dialog box.

Make sure the Show Informational Notifications for Local Printers check box is cleared.
Make sure the Show Informational Notifications for Network Printers check box is cleared.
Click OK.
Close the Printers and Faxes window.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (457) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Spell Checking Forms

Word may be used to create protected forms that limit where the user may input data. Normally spell checking is disabled ...

Discover More

Printing More Than One Copy

Need to print more than a single copy of a worksheet? You can do it easily by using the controls in the Print dialog box.

Discover More

Importing a Text File and Inserting after a Bookmark

Word macros are a great way to automate some of the ways in which you create documents. If you have a need to insert the ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Removing Comment Brackets for Printing

How to remove the brackets indicating commented text before printing your Word document.

Discover More

Printing XML Tags

Word 2003 allows you to use and save your information in XML format. If you want to, you can have Word print a document's ...

Discover More

Adding a Diagonal Watermark with a PostScript Printer

If you have a printer that understands PostScript, you can add your own watermark to each printed page. This tip ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 8 - 1?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.