Bug 170552 - Option to suppress “Waiting for printer connection” dialog when opening documents
Summary: Option to suppress “Waiting for printer connection” dialog when opening docum...
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 42673
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: LibreOffice (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
25.2.7.2 release
Hardware: All Windows (All)
: medium minor
Assignee: Not Assigned
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Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2026-01-31 11:59 UTC by Thomas Brammer
Modified: 2026-01-31 12:56 UTC (History)
0 users

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Description Thomas Brammer 2026-01-31 11:59:36 UTC
Description:
When opening documents in LibreOffice Writer, a dialog appears if the configured or last-used printer is not reachable:
“Waiting for printer connection…
Wait for the printer connection or cancel the connection attempt”
In the vast majority of cases, users click Cancel, after which the document opens normally and can be edited without issues.
Currently, this dialog:
    • blocks the document opening workflow
    • appears repeatedly
    • offers no option to remember the user’s decision
This is disruptive, especially for users with:
    • network printers
    • VPN printers
    • temporarily unavailable printers
    • mobile or laptop setups


Steps to Reproduce:
1. Configure a network or VPN printer as default
2. Make the printer unavailable (e.g. disconnect network/VPN)
3. Open any Writer document
4. Observe blocking dialog
5. Click “Cancel”
6. Repeat with another document → dialog appears again

Actual Results:
LibreOffice blocks document opening and shows the dialog every time a printer is unreachable. The user must manually cancel each time.

Expected Results:
LibreOffice should provide an option to suppress this dialog and automatically continue opening the document without printer information, equivalent to the current “Cancel” behavior.
Possible implementations:
    • A checkbox in the dialog:
[ ] Do not show this dialog again
    • Or a global option in LibreOffice settings (e.g. under “Printing”)
This would not change layout behavior or printer handling logic — it would only automate an explicit user choice that is already made repeatedly.



Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: No

Additional Info:
    • Clicking “Cancel” consistently allows normal document editing.
    • No data loss or layout errors are observed by continuing without printer information.
    • This enhancement would significantly improve UX without architectural changes or layout recalculation risks.
Comment 1 Mike Kaganski 2026-01-31 12:56:27 UTC
This dialog is not from LibreOffice, it's from Windows, shown by the operating system automatically when the system is asked to connect to a printer, and the operation takes too long.

LibreOffice has code that wants some printer settings; and then the system does the actual connection (and shows the dialog to you). We have no control over that dialog.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 42673 ***