Cannot connect to a shared printer on the network Windows 11

I used to work as a tech support professional at a company where I was responsible for troubleshooting technical issues both on-site and remotely. I encountered a situation where I couldn't establish a connection to a shared printer for a user who was using Windows 11. Despite employing various troubleshooting methods on both ends, the issue persisted.

Coincidentally, I encountered a similar problem with another user on-site who also had Windows 11 installed. This led me to believe that the problem might be related to the operating system version. In an attempt to resolve the issue, I decided to uninstall the most recent OS update, but unfortunately, the problem remained unresolved.

I'm seeking advice on alternative methods to establish a connection between the user and the shared printer. Your insights and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

https://superuser.com/questions/1771113/windows-11-connect-to-shared-printer-but-it-gives-me-error-the-specified-netw the answer in this post solve my problem

I solved this months ago, here is what you need to add to registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\RPC] "RpcUseNamedPipeProtocol"=dword:00000001 "RpcProtocols"=dword:00000007 "ForceKerberosForRpc"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print] "RpcAuthnLevelPrivacyEnabled"=dword:00000000

Thats about it.

The solution was : on Win10 all networks section, turn on password-protected sharing.

After turn on, the connection window pop up in Win11.![Image](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/2555416e-05f1-4d79-b2ac-6773ae1c78d2?platform=QnA

I'm sure this may have worked for you, but as always, with the many mysteries of Microsoft, this did not work for me. Why? Weyl, let's see... I just got done messing around in the Services section by turning on a bunch of services and restarting my windows 10 computer. So who knows if that combination of services did something different from your services. It's always something with MS. "If it's not this, try that, not that? try this, oh well guess ya just gotta keep on guessing" Typical.

The solution was : on Win10 all networks section, turn on password-protected sharing.

After turn on, the connection window pop up in Win11.![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/2555416e-05f1-4d79-b2ac-6773ae1c78d2?platform=QnA