Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops

Printing policies and preferences

November 28, 2023

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When users access printers from published applications, you can configure Citrix policies to specify:

How printers are provisioned (or added to sessions)
How print jobs are routed
How printer drivers are managed

You can have different printing configurations for different user devices, users, or any other objects on which policies are filtered.

Most printing functions are configured through the Citrix Printing policy settings. Printing settings follow standard Citrix policy behavior.

The system can write printer settings to the printer object at the end of a session or to a client printing device, provided the user’s network account has sufficient permissions. By default, Citrix Workspace app uses the settings stored in the printer object in the session, before looking in other locations for settings and preferences.

By default, the system stores, or retains, printer properties on the user device (if supported by the device) or in the user profile on the Multi-session OS machine. When a user changes printer properties during a session, those changes are updated in the user profile on the machine. The next time the user logs on or reconnects, the user device inherits those retained settings. That is, printer property changes on the user device do not impact the current session until after the user logs off and then logs on again.

Printing preference locations

In Windows printing environments, changes made to printing preferences can be stored on the local computer or in a document. In this environment, when users modify printing settings, the settings are stored in these locations:

On the user device itself - Windows users can change device settings on the user device by right-clicking the printer in the Control Panel and selecting Printing Preferences. For example, if Landscape is selected as page orientation, landscape is saved as the default page orientation preference for that printer.
Inside of a document - In word-processing and desktop-publishing programs, document settings, such as page orientation, are often stored inside documents. For example, when you queue a document to print, Microsoft Word typically stores the printing preferences you specified, such as page orientation and the printer name, inside the document. These settings appear by default the next time you print that document.
From changes a user made during a session - The system keeps only changes to the printing settings of an auto-created printer if the change was made in the Control Panel in the session; that is, on the Multi-session OS machine.
On the Multi-session OS machine - These are the default settings associated with a particular printer driver on the machine.

The settings preserved in any Windows-based environment vary according to where the user made the changes. This also means that the printing settings that appear in one place, such as in a spreadsheet program, can be different than those in others, such as documents. As result, printing settings applied to a specific printer can change throughout a session.

Hierarchy of user printing preferences

Because printing preferences can be stored in multiple places, the system processes them according to a specific priority. Also, it is important to note that device settings are treated distinctly from, and usually take precedence over, document settings.

By default, the system always applies any printing settings a user modified during a session (that is, the retained settings) before considering any other settings. When the user prints, the system merges and applies the default printer settings stored on the Multi-session OS machine with any retained or client printer settings.

Saving user printing preferences

Citrix recommends that you do not change where the printer properties are stored. The default setting, which saves the printer properties on the user device, is the easiest way to ensure consistent printing properties. If the system is unable to save properties on the user device, it automatically falls back to the user profile on the Multi-session OS machine.

Review the Printer properties retention policy setting if these scenarios apply:

If you use legacy plug-ins that do not allow users to store printer properties on a user device.
If you use mandatory profiles on your Windows network and want to retain the user’s printer properties.

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Printing policies and preferences

November 28, 2023

Contributed by:

November 28, 2023

Contributed by:

Printing policies and preferences

Printing preference locations

Hierarchy of user printing preferences

Saving user printing preferences

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