Microsoft Graph API Change Disrupts Universal Print Share Creation
Microsoft is rolling out a fix for the Microsoft Universal Print issue and has shared a temporary workaround for affected users.
Key Takeaways:
- A recent API change triggered unexpected issues in Microsoft Universal Print.
- Some organizations were unable to complete printer share creation.
- Microsoft is deploying a fix and offering a temporary workaround.
Microsoft has acknowledged that a recent code change in the Microsoft Graph API caused problems with Universal Print. This issue prevented some users from successfully creating printer shares.
Microsoft Universal Print is a cloud-based print management service that lets organizations manage and share printers through Microsoft 365 without relying on traditional on‑premises print servers. Printers are registered in the cloud and controlled using Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), which allows IT teams to centrally assign printer access, apply policies, and monitor usage. Users can securely discover and print to approved printers from Windows devices wherever they are, which makes Universal Print especially useful for modern, hybrid, and remote work environments.
What caused the Microsoft Universal Print issue?
According to Microsoft, the Graph API update introduced a bug that slowed Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) directory replication. This delay exposed a previously existing timing flaw (race condition) in Universal Print’s share creation process, which caused retries to fail and the operation to stall.
“Some users attempting to create printer shares created with the ‘Allow all users in my organization’ toggle enabled or with specific users or groups selected on the share creation screen are impacted,” Microsoft explained. “We’ve isolated a code change to Microsoft Graph API that introduced a code error, which increased Entra ID directory replication latency and exposed a pre-existing race condition in Universal Print’s share creation flow. This caused the retry logic to fail and the share operation to not complete as expected.”
Microsoft rolls out fix and workaround for affected users
Microsoft classified the problem as a service incident, which indicates significant user impact. However, the company has not disclosed how many customers or regions are affected.
Microsoft is rolling out a corrective code change to resolve the API issue while continuing to monitor the service. In the meantime, the company recommends creating printer shares without assigning users or groups initially, waiting briefly for the share to propagate, and then adding users or security groups afterward through the Printer Shares settings.
Rabia has a master's degree in Software Engineering and she has years of experience writing professionally about Microsoft products and other technologies. Rabia has also written for OnMSFT.com as well as Windows Report. She is always up to date on t...
