When using QuickBooks with Windows 8, many people experience PDF related problems like emailing forms, previous bank reconciliation reports or saving as PDF. Only QuickBooks 2013 with R4 update or newer is supported with Windows 8 and you shouldn’t have these problems. If you have PDF related problems using QuickBooks with Windows 8, it is often resolved by following these steps (thanks to Arvind from Intuit Tech Support):
1. Download and extract the Windows 7 XPS document writer printer drivers containing folder from here Microsoft XPS Document Writer Click File and Download. 
2. Copy and paste this folder to C Drive\Windows\System32.
3. Open Devices and Printers using Windows key+ R to get the run box and type Control.exe Printers and press Enter.
4. Right Click Microsoft XPS Document Writer and Click Remove Device.
5. Click Add a new printer and Click on “A printer that wasn’t listed”
6. Select “add local printer with manual settings” and Click next.
7. Select the radio button Create a new Port,Type of port Local port and Click next.
8. Enter a port as XPS and click ok.
9. Click have disk and Browse to the C Drive\Windows\System32\Microsoft XPS Document Writer
10.Select prnms001 file and click open and the ok.
11. Select replace Current drivers and next.
12. Type a printer name will show up as Microsoft XPS Document Writer just click next and Finish.
Test: Open Quickbooks and open any invoice and Click File and Save as PDF and save to the desktop and check if that invoice got saved as PDF.
I hope that helps resolve your PDF related issues!
Thank You sooo much. This worked for QB 2011 Enterprise w/ windows 8.1 pro.
This was a great post! It solved the problem and now I know the process. THANK YOU!
Windows 10, quickbooks 2013, yes this helped me immensely… thanks for this write up.
This worked perfectly. I have Windows 10 and it worked no problem at all – wish I saw these instructions months ago.
Thank you SO much! I had already done this fix a while back so the XPS port already existed but instead of creating a new one, I just selected it as the current port and everything worked like a charm.
thank you for this, My Quickbooks 2011 works again when savinf Invoices to pdf. Even Intuit did not have this answer nor did they care to even attempt to do anything other than try to get me to upgrade.
Just got a Windows 10 and couldn’t save invoices as a PDF. This worked! Thank you so much!
Awesome!!!!! Its works………….
This fixed my PDF saving and emailing problem with window 8.1 operating system and QB Pro 2012.
Thank you so much this was a time saver and stress relief.
WORKED PERFECTLY!!! THANK YOU!!
Thank you so much for all the posts and solutions….. my Windows 7 is 64-bit, so if anyone has the same problem like I did – can not save PDF or print PDF from Quickbooks, I finally found the solution by simply change the printer port from LPT1 to NUL. That did the magic…… took me 2 days!!!!
Some information & steps here
http://crazydiamondstar.blogspot.com/2016/02/quickbook-can-not-save-pdf.html
Good luck!
Much appreciated!
File > Print invoice
Printer: Microsoft Print to PDF
Click print
Tested & Worked on Windows 10
Easier solution…. Tested on Windows 10 and worked. Go to File -> Print Invoice. Selection Microsoft Print to PDF and click Print. Done.
Michelle – After trying everything else and spending ~4 hours in futility I stumbled upon your blog. Your solution worked like a charm for me on Windows 10 (for QuickBooks 2015). I am now able to save reports and forms in PDF format which had stopped working after Windows 7 to Windows 10 upgrade! Thank you very much!!
Ravi Golani
Thank you. This solved my PDF problem with Quickbook 2011 on Windows 10 64 bit machine.
You can also try Kernel for PDF repair tool
Michelle, I tried absolutely everything else this afternoon and only your fix actually worked! Congratulations and Thank You very much. -Dick M
OMG THANK YOU THANK YOU IT WORKED AFTER 1 YEAR
Didn’t work for me. 🙁 I know I did it when I bought a laptop with Win 8 on it, but for some reason it didn’t work with the Win 10 upgrade. I’ll have to try it again later, but I did try it twice already.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!
Yes works QB 2012 and Windoze 10, PDF Save As works again, Thanks
OUTSTANDING!!! After reading all of these threads, blogs and other posts…nothing seemed to work, Even Intuit Support was not able to work this issue out. Thanks so much!!!
Yes! Finally something that worked! Instructions were very clear and easy to follow! I’ve dealt with this issue for way too long. You’re a huge time saver!
doesn’t work for me. stuck!!!! grrrr…. need to update to new program?
Oh my Goodness!!! It worked! You have saved me! I went back and forth with Intuit volunteer help and tried everything they said and nothing worked. I then called Intuit for help and they wanted to charge me $300 for a yearly membership to then proceed to help me. I was so upset because I’ve spent hundreds of dollars with them and have been a customer for 5 years. I googled again and skipped all the intuit websites and found yours. I’m glad I did! Your instructions were clear and easy. Thank you so much!
Myda Muckala
Thanks very kindly for the detailed and effective directions!
I was able to follow your directions only until step 9. No matter how many times I did step 1-8, the folder with the xps writer does not show up in step 9. Do you have any other options?
It works!!! Thank you so much… I’ve been trying to fixed this for almost a week, I had tried everything… Awesome!
HI, this does allow me to print/save as a PDF, however I still cannot email the invoice, which is how I “used to” work with QB2012 Premier on Win 7, now we are Win8.1 and the first time in QB after I used this fix, I sent an email, now I cannot? Any further fixes or updates?
Thank you!
I get a server error message saying the other program is busy (Outlook 2010) is my email program.
This solution works fine for the Quickbook Enterprise 11 running on Windows 8.1. I just want to add some notes that might help smooth things. The files, all 5 of them are needed and as long as they are together in any folder is fine. Also for the port name, if a particular port name already exist just rename it with another name.
Han, I had to stop mid-stream and restart the process later, so I was stuck on this spot. THANK YOU! Your tip got me got back on track.
Thank you, too, Michelle!
Thanks! Confirmed this is working with Quickbooks 2012 and Windows 8.1
Amazing! Thank you so much! 2 days of trying different things and this took 10 minutes!
Thank You!! This issue has been bugging me for months. Spoke with QB support – they just wanted me to upgrade. I was seriously considering changing accounting programs because this was such an issue for me. Thank you….Thank you…Thank you!!!!!!!
Do I need the QuickBooks CD to perform this? I get to step 10 and it says “insert disc” and won’t let me go any further. Ideas? I don’t want to insert the QuickBooks CD if that was the root of the problem.
OMG…This works. Okay, so I had a few problems copying the “Microsoft XPS Document Writer” folder to the System32 directory, but that was because I didn’t extract the zip file correctly. Once I figured that out, and followed the rest of the instructions, I still expected to see the same error message I had seen a hundred times before; but lo and behold, it actually worked.
Based on the comments on this page, it looks like everyone was very frustrated with this problem and experienced the same relief I did once it was fixed.
Thank you for this solution.
This worked perfect!!! Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!
thank you so much for the time you took to post this fix! Your fix saved my butt after Windows 8 decided to “update” my system and screw it up. Windows 8 is terrible.
I just got a windows 8 and your tips worked perfectly! I a no longer banging my head against my desk!
Thank you for posting these instructions!!! It is greatly appreciated. I recently had to update my Windows to 8.1 and for some reason, I wasn’t able to email out of quickbooks. The steps were laid out were clear and precise!
Flawless solution! How did you come up with this? Thank you!
Thanks from the Bottom of my Heart
When I click on that file you mention to download the driver, 5 other files open up. Can you tell me what I need to download?
Thank you SO MUCH! I’ve been banging my head against the wall (and printing and scanning a lot of pages) trying to solve this problem. Your steps worked perfectly.
Using QB 2012 Pro on Win 8.1 and sending PDF invoices via email has mostly worked, but when it’s failed and I contacted Intuit I was told that I needed to upgrade to QB 2014. Not happy about that, especially since similar posts to this one indicate that it’s an XPS issue. Sent invoices out today and MANY failed with a “Printer not connected warning.” Here we go again…and I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend $200 to fix a printer issue. Michelle’s steps above were perfectly clear and accurate and I just tested sending myself and invoice and it worked flawlessly. Thanks Michelle!
Perfect!! This is awesome. Thanks so much !!
It’s saying the prnms file needs to be compatible with an x64 based system. Any thoughts?
Hi Yes, I had the same problem. x64 based system.
What’s the solution here?
You saved my day….. Thanks
I’ve been trying to find an answer to this for days! I eventually realised I could see the XPS file on my computer for ‘save as pdf’, but couldn’t actually save the pdf. I can now email invoices to customers, but still can’t save as pdf and the XPS file isn’t showing up any more either. Any thoughts on what I can do? Thanks so much!!
You can print to PDF with a free program like CutePDF or Bullzip PDF or others.
I had tried everything and nothing helped. You saved my day.
Thank you so much for your help! It works great now!
Michelle, you are a lifesaver!!! One of my customers has had this nagging problem for some time and after searching, I chanced upon your article, tried the steps you posted and BOOM!!! It works!! Thank you so very much!!!
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You’re welcome! 🙂
Thank you Michelle — This Worked !!!!!!!! (QuickBooks Pro 2012) After researching the issue and calling QB Support (which said there was no fix… except to upgrade) I found this reference and Bingo. I hate calling support as they are usually condescending and not helpful. This fix is so simple and cost nothing. I have bookmarked your page and will be back. Thanks.
Nancy
I just had my Quickbooks Pro 2013 stop creating PDFs. It was working fine for quite a while. Now it gives the dreaded “Your forms were not sent because Quickbooks could not create the necessary PDF files.”
It won’t save an invoice as a PDF either. I’,m using WIndows 8
I had a hard time when I first set it up back in Oct. I think I had the Amyuni Driver v400 and installed Cutepdf. But the Cute is a workaround since I can’t just click on “Email” for the invoice and get my template that prints out the message in the invoice along with an Intuit payment link.
I tried the above fix but to no avail. Any other suggestions?
Thanks
Eddie
Should correct myself saying
But the Cute is a workaround since I can’t just click on “Email” for the invoice and get my template that prints out the message in the email body along with an Intuit payment link. – See more at: https://longforsuccess.com/2013/02/15/quickbooks-tip-solving-pdf-problems-with-windows-8/#comment-5996
So I ended up uninstalling QB Pro and reinstalling and eveything works again.
I’m glad it’s working for you!
Thank you very much for your help! This works for Windows 8 using QB2012.
I have made this change, but when new updates are installed, I have to do it all over again. Any suggestions?
Hey Michelle-
Thanks so much for the tips!! I was on hold with quick books 2 separate times for over 30 minutes each. I finally just hung up and it took me few times to figure out what I was doing wrong but I finally got it working.
MIchelle;
I works for my Qb premier 2012 in windows 7, thanks great tool nothing woked before your solution.
Thank you.
Michelle,
I cant thank you enough after you did this help . wonderful steps and I am able to get my pdfs back .
Thank you so much ..
Kishore
Thank you very much. Finally it works again.
This post and instructions still work!! Using Quickbooks Pro 2012 on Windows 8, 64-bit.
Thank you so very much! I searched for a while, tried a few other simpler options. No Dice. Printed your instructions out (also found eventually on Quickbooks site, but that link kept asking me to log into gmail???)
Also, thanks to Noelle for clarifying the 5 files needed to be downloaded separately, then placed in a New Folder, then copy that folder over to C:drive\Windows\System32
I have had to fix the PDF converter in other versions of Quickbooks before, and this was the most complicated one but made simple with these instructions. I did a little amazed jig when it actually worked and it’s fixed!!!
Yaaaaaaay!
Thank you, thank you so much to Michelle and the commenters as well!
Thank you so much – spent hours this afternoon trying to get this to work and the only thing that has is your set of instructions! Brilliant – I was beginning to lose the will to carry on!!
My Dear, well done. Updated to 8.1 and had forgot about the pdf issue.
Worked like a charm. All this open document stuff scares me a bit. Worried that the “Terminator” will be at my door someday escorting me to “The Matrix”.
Worked for me. What a life saver.
OMG!
I can thank you enough! I am absolutely going to subscribe to your blog.
I too, got a little snagged on the first step. When you clicked the link, the window that opened up had five files in it. I downloaded each one individually, carefully noting where they were being place when downloaded. Mine when quite clearly into the “Downloads” file. I then created a new file inside the download file and named it Microsoft-XPS-Document-Writer and moved all five files into it. (Be careful, there are 2 files named prnms001, they have different extensions (.cat and .inf), but they didn’t show in the folder once downloaded.)
I then carried on with your step 2 by coping the newly created folder over to the System32 folder and so on.
I know these steps my seem obvious to some, but it is not to everyone. Especially if you have been at this ALL DAY, as I was.
Anyway, it worked perfectly. I really can hardly believe it.
Thanks again!
I’m glad it helped! 🙂
I’m having some issues with the 5 files-they all have the same name, and I am being prompted to replace each when saving the next. Does anyone have a complete download with ALL the files, instead of having to download 5 separately?
Thank you sooooooo much!!!! Worked !!!!
Lynn, you have to download all 5 then copy and past to windows system.
Wow, how easy was this?! Why couldn’t Intuit post this? I don’t know, but Michele Long, you are a saint! Thank you ever so much. If ever you need a helping hand just let me know. Thanks again!
Well Done. Your solution was well written and actually worked. I had a bit of a challenge getting my system to give me administrator rights (Windows 8) but the internet helped me with this. Once I got that straight, the directions were clear and worked well.
THANKS. YOUR THE BEST!
Thank you very much for your solution, not only was it clear and concise it worked! This has saved me Time and money in Technical Support as well as an additional upgrade fee that Intuit was trying to charge me. I am very grateful.
Thank you so much!!!! You saved me!
Thank you very much! Glad I didn’t spend days on this like others, I found your solution quickly and it worked on the first try. Very grateful!
Thanks for the solution to the Win 8 / QB pdf issue. After hours of trying other suggestions yours worked
I’m so gratefull
Michelle,
Thank you so much. After updating to Win8.1 and the newest version of QB Pro 2012 I couldn’t email invoices and was getting very frustrated. Your instructions here are still more helpful almost a full year after righting them than anything I’ve found directly from QB.
That TOTALLY fixed my issues!!!! I can’t thank you enough!!
So far, this was my most favorite Christmas gift. 🙂
Thanks again.
Great! I’m glad it worked for you.
After reading the comments, am I safe to assume I can run QB 2012 and 2013 on Windows 8? I was concerned I might need to pay for Windows 7.
Yes you should be able to run them on Windows 8. If you have problems with PDFs, search my website for Windows 8 PDF to find a blog post that tells how to fix it.
Thank you so very much for the concise, CORRECT way to handle this! Greatly appreciate it!!
Thank you for this solution! I run QB 2011 on a windows 8 (.1) laptop and this was an easy way to solve the PDF problem.
Thank you sooooo much!!! I am running QB2013 and ran into this issue with Windows 8 – I wanted to scream since I email everything to my clients and it wouldn’t work!!! Love the detailed step by step guide!!
Hi all – I just upgraded to Windows 8.1 and had to re-do the above steps…not a big deal, just irritating. Thanks again for the help!
I need to run quickbooks 2011 on windows 8
Thanks so much for your expertise, i called Quickbooks for support, they just wanted to charge me, since my product was Quickbooks 2011. Your a genius.
Thanks very much. Your solution is the only one that works.
great job!
Dennis Sigala
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I have worked for a couple of days trying to find the fix that worked. I knew someone much more savvy than I would have posted what QB wanted to charge me 60.00 bucks for. Plus I feel so proud!
Excellent, clear cut instructions that work…Thank you! (I have QB2012 & W8)
Thank you! This worked like a charm! I really appreciate it.
Thanks Michelle. This is a great fix. Like Jeff above, Intuit told me i would have to upgrade. Believe me, i am telling all my friends and colleagues how unhelpful Intuit are and how they are just interested in money rather than supporting their customers. Next renewal – I am switching to a company who cares 🙂
I’m glad you found this blog post & that it helped you! Subscribe to my blog for future posts, tips, etc. 🙂
Thank you for this info. It does work for Windows 8.1 and Quickbooks 2011. It’s a bit different, but works the same.
For those that are getting 5 files from the above link, click File – Download and it will download the zip file.
In step 7, make sure you change the option “type of port” to local port and not Adobe PDF Port Monitor.
Other than that, everything else is basically the same.
Thank you Michelle! You just saved me $200 dollars after Intuit told me that I had no choice except to upgrade to QB 2014 when I had no need to. Definitely more helpful than any other site I researched.
Thanks a lot, works perfectly…I really appreciate this, I was ready to by the upgrade and you saved a good money with it. I can’t understand why quickbooks support team tried to abuse of people saying it will not work and we must upgrade to the next. Thanks again
Michelle
thank you, you are a life saver :). very clear wand ell written instructions. your solution is the only one that worked for me Im using QB ENT 2012
Thank you again !!
I just purchased a new computer that uses Windows 8 and my QB 2012 doesn’t work when I try to save an invoice as a pdf. I started to follow your steps, but step 1 directs you to a link to download the document writer file. There are 5 to choose from. Which one do I download?
I’m not sure without getting looking into it more. Hopefully you’ve figured it out by now.
Thank you for this. worked great!
THANK YOU THANK YOU, this was absolutely the most helpful thing I’ve read all day! My Quickbooks is saved!
This worked, after trying all of the other methods suggested by Intuit and other sites. Thank you so much!!!!
-Kevin
Hello and thanks for the information it looks like it is working for everyone and i hope it works for me. i have one problem i Step 9. when i go to browse for the disk it isn’t there? I know i am probably doing something wrong, because when i go into computer the windows/system 32/ xps …. it is there but when i go to load it up on step 9 it isn’t. Any ideas on what i am doing wrong?
No, I’m sorry I don’t know why it’s not working. Reboot the computer and try it again.
Intuit support was a joke! As many attempts at repairing this issue, I was quite skeptical about this set of instructions working. Much to my surprise it worked like a charm! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!
Thank you so much for this! Helped immensely.
Worked for me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you!!! All I can say is Finally someone knows how to fix it, so glad you posted this.
Thank you so Much!! I was so frustrated until I found your clear and concise instructions. I am not a computer expert by any stretch of the imagination, but your instructions were so easy to follow. I am soooo grateful! Many thanks!
You are the coolest person I have ever met. I was about to go postal on Intuit, or Microsoft, or both. Thanks!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! After trying every possible solution out there I finally stumbled upon your fix as my last attempt and BINGO! You made my day and saved my computer from destruction LOL. Big Big thank you 🙂
Any solutions for 2011 users?
Hi Michelle
I can’t get beyond this point, Enter a port as XPS and click ok.. When I do that it says that, Port xps already exists. I can’t get beyond there.
Can you help please? I really appreciate the help.
Thanks so much it worked!
This is great, but why is Quickbooks so gay that you have to be a rocket scientist just to print PDF? Hummmm only QB 2013 is supported on Win8? Why is that? I paid my money, I paid my support contract, I paid my payroll renewal, I am forced to pay for a new QuickBooks every three years anyhow, and I have paid and paid and paid since 1992! This is a predatory company, now they wanted me to PAY early so their poorly, never ever improved junkware can run on my Win8 computer.
Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!!
It worked. I was not looking forward to calling Intuit….I am always on the phone with them for hours and it is always the very last thing they try. I didn’t have to do it this time.
Thank you!!
Thank you Michelle. Perfect solution to a long search.
Thanks so much! I ALMOST upgraded – ONLY because I couldn’t save the reports. Thanks for saving my non-profit $$ that we didn’t have to spend! We just upgraded last year and did not want to have to do it again so soon.
Thanks you so much! I’ve wasted a LOT of time trying to solve this – and your steps worked perfectly!!
Fabulous fix!! Easy to follow and worked like a charm!! This will save me a great deal of time! Thanks for posting!!
Wow, I can’t believe the QuickBooks official help site says only version 13 works with Windows 8. They are 100% wrong!
My computer wouldn’t save as PDF or email forms. After 2 mins time, following your easy instructions, everything works like a charm!
Thank you so much.
Thank you Michelle,
Super busy (and way behind considering this PDF problem) but credit where credit is due.
I really appreciate the solution.
thanks!
Michelle, Thanks for a solution that finally works! After several calls and chats with Intuit and numerous attempts from solutions on various forums, you held the key. Thanks again for the time and effort to post! Most grateful… Ross
Thank you so much. This has been a life saver. I spent hours researching thinking for half the time, why doesn’t anybody just tell me the right driver to use? You did that with simple steps and with an easy place to find the correct version.
it is not working for me. On step one, when I went to the link for the file, it said “sorry file unavailable. There is a problem with this file. Please reload.”
But it would not re-load, and I could get nowhere. Any suggestions? I’ve been trying to figure this out for hours.
Reboot your computer & try again. Also, keep in mind only QuickBooks 2013 is supported with Windows 8.
Many thanks after trying all the other ideas OUT there, this was the only one helping me. I’ve posted a link on Intiuts support forum for the others that are still struggling.
I can’t get past step 2 because it tells me that I need to log in as the administrator in order to save to that folder. My laptop is my own personal computer so I’m not sure why I’m not the administrator. Any ideas?
That sounds like a user permission with Windows and I’m not sure what you need to do — Google it and I bet you find something.
You are the best, you don’t know how much this helped me!!!!! THANK YOU!!!! This will relieve a lot of the stress I have!!!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!
You’re welcome. Subscribe to my blog for other QB tips, news, etc. 🙂
SO THANKFUL!!!
I almost paid for the $199 upgrade that the tech support made me believe that i absolutely NEEDED to make those common features work again on Windows 8.
Thank you so much! so easy to follow and understand!
Thank you Thank you!!
@Diego — I’m glad it helped you! 🙂
Thank you for the simple instructions. This worked for me. It is good to know that I don’t have to pay to upgrade QB from 2012 just for this one feature.
Surely I’m not the only one who thinks Intuit should be handling the tech-side of this issue…especially for the price on pays for their products.
Inexcusable behavior on their part.
Thanks to Michelle for her input.
How do I get a digital signature?
@Chrystian — I’m not familiar with that error message — Google it and I’ll bet you find something to help.
When tried step 10 it tells me that the prnms001.inf is not digitally signed. So windows cant download it
LIFE. SAVER.
I always cringe when there are technical problems with QB (and I’m a lifelong techie) because their support stinks and frankly their code (VB) is so old it is a wonder it works at all. Thank you!
Michelle, you are the greatest !!! Thank you so very much for sharing your information with us. I have spent hours looking for a solution and did not find one until I got to your information. It works perfectly.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, once again !!
You’re welcome — I’m glad it helped! Subscribe to my blog for other tips, etc.
I completely agree with the above comments by Jackie Edwards!
You made my day!
Thanks so much, Marion
I just want to thank you for posting a clear, concise and EFFECTIVE means of correcting QB’s problem with printers in Win 8. After spending hours earlier today trying myriad “solutions,” I stumbled upon a link to your website and your fix. Presto! It not only were your instructions well-written and easy to follow, they worked.
A huge THANK YOU!!!
Jackie Edwards