How to View Your Printed Document History on Windows

Easily Access Your Windows Print History: Two Simple Methods

Need to check your print history, either for personal reference or to monitor system usage? Windows offers several ways to view a list of recently printed files. Here are two straightforward methods.

Method 1: Using Event Viewer

While primarily a troubleshooting tool, Event Viewer can also track printed documents. Note that this requires manual configuration.

1. Press Win R to open the Run dialog, type eventvwr, and press Enter to launch Event Viewer.

2. Navigate to Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > PrintService.

3. Right-click the Operational log in the middle pane and select Properties.

   

4. On the General tab, check "Enable logging" and specify the log's overflow behavior. Click Apply then OK.

   

5. Windows will now log print jobs. To view the log, return to Event Viewer, navigate to Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > PrintService, and double-click the Operational log.

6. The middle pane displays print events, sortable by date/time or task category. Select an entry to see details (date, time, printer used, and file path under the General tab).

   

7. To clear the print history, right-click the Operational log and select Clear Log.

Method 2: Using PaperCut Print Logger (Third-Party Tool)

Event Viewer isn't the most user-friendly option. A third-party application like PaperCut Print Logger provides a more intuitive solution.

1. Download and install PaperCut Print Logger.

2. The application automatically monitors and logs print jobs, recording timestamps, user names, page counts, paper size, color mode, and more.

3. To view the log:

   1. Open File Explorer and navigate to C:Program Files (x86)PaperCut Print Logger.
   2. Double-click the ViewLogs shortcut.
   3. The report shows print history by date.
   4. Click the "View" button in the HTML column to see a detailed list for a specific day.
   5. Click "CSV/Excel" to export the report.

   

Accessing your print history is valuable for locating documents or monitoring printer usage. Both methods offer easy access to this information.

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