What causes "PrintSystemException.PrintQueue.Refresh" in dotnet/wpf?

Re-resolve the queue via PrintServer.GetPrintQueue(queue.Name) to pick up the current full name, then refresh.

dotnet/wpf · error · PrintQueueException

PrintSystemException.PrintQueue.Refresh

Error message

PrintSystemException.PrintQueue.Refresh

What it means

PrintQueue.Refresh wraps a failure while re-reading queue data (including PrepareNameForDownLevelConnectivity for downlevel servers) into a PrintSystemException tagged 'PrintSystemException.PrintQueue.Refresh'. The HResult carries the Win32 error from the underlying spooler call.

Solutions

Re-resolve the queue via PrintServer.GetPrintQueue(queue.Name) to pick up the current full name, then refresh.
Verify the printer still exists and the server name is correct before refreshing.
Check network connectivity to the print server and that the spooler service is running.
Wrap Refresh in retry/fallback and treat persistent failures as 'queue gone' by re-enumerating queues.

Example fix

// before
queue.Refresh();
// after
try { queue.Refresh(); }
catch (PrintSystemException)
{
    queue = server.GetPrintQueue(queue.Name); // re-resolve renamed/recreated queue
    queue.Refresh();
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

var current = server.GetPrintQueues().FirstOrDefault(q => q.Name == queue.Name);
if (current == null) throw new InvalidOperationException($"Queue '{queue.Name}' no longer exists");

Try / catch

try { queue.Refresh(); }
catch (PrintSystemException)
{
    queue = server.GetPrintQueue(queue.Name); // re-resolve stale/renamed queue
    queue.Refresh();
}

Prevention

Re-enumerate queues after printer renames or server maintenance instead of refreshing stale objects.
Validate network connectivity to the print server in retry logic.
Use the queue's current FullName from the server, not a cached one.
Watch spooler service health before bulk Refresh() calls.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling queue.Refresh() when the queue handle cannot be opened under its current FullName/HostingPrintServer — e.g. the printer was renamed, deleted, or the downlevel name mapping fails.

Common situations: Stale PrintQueue reference after printer rename/removal; connecting to a downlevel Windows print server with an unexpected name; offline network share; spooler restarted with the queue recreated under a new name.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of dotnet/wpf@81131a70a4 (2026-09-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c47af486dd78861e. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/Microsoft.DotNet.Wpf/src/System.Printing/CPP/src/PrintQueue.cpp:3344

        if (isBrowsable)
        {
            ActivateBrowsableQueue();
            isBrowsable = false;
        }

        dataThunkObject = gcnew GetDataThunkObject(this->GetType());

        dataThunkObject->PopulatePrintSystemObject(printerThunkHandler,
                                                    this,
                                                    refreshPropertiesFilter);
        //
        // Making sure that the Full Name reflects the current name
        //
        fullQueueName = PrepareNameForDownLevelConnectivity(hostingPrintServer->Name,Name);
    }
    catch (InternalPrintSystemException^ internalException)
    {
        throw CreatePrintQueueException(internalException->HResult, "PrintSystemException.PrintQueue.Refresh");
    }
    __finally
    {
        delete dataThunkObject;
    }
}

/*++
    Function Name:
        GetAllPropertiesFilter

    Description:
        The method populates a String Array of all
        possible properties of the PrintQueue object.

    Parameters:
        None

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