The Printer Extensions and Notifications service is marked as an interactive service

We noticed that a program failed on startup and when investigating further in the Event Viewer, we stumbled upon Event ID 7030. This error can be due to the fact that the service is trying to interact with the desktop which is not allowed as per the system’s settings or the security policy. You will see the exact error message below.

The Printer Extensions and Notifications service is marked as an interactive service. However, the system is configured to not allow interactive services. This service may not function properly.

Log Name: System

Sorce: Service Control Manager

Event ID: 7030

What are Printer Extensions and Notifications?

The Printer Extensions and Notifications service in Windows is essential for managing custom printer dialog boxes and notifications from remote print servers or printers. It enables printer extensions to interact with the desktop, allowing users to access print preferences and receive real-time notifications about print job statuses while using various applications.

If this service is disabled, users will not have access to these extensions or notifications, leading to potential confusion and issues with printing. Keeping the Printer Extensions and Notifications service active is crucial for a smooth printing experience on Windows.

Fix The Printer Extensions and Notifications service is marked as an interactive service

If you see The Printer Extensions and Notifications service is marked as an interactive service, Event ID: 7030 in Event Viewer of Windows 11/10 follow the solutions mentioned below.

1. Check if the service is marked as interactive
2. Restart the service
3. Check for the culprit in the Clean Boot State
4. Install the software in the compatibility mode

Let us talk about them in detail.

1] Check if the service is marked as interactive

As mentioned in the error message, a service is marked as interactive. This can be any service but according to our error, it was the Printer Extensions and Notifications service. Now that we know the culprit, follow the steps mentioned below.

1. Open the Services app by searching it out of the Start Menu.
2. Now, look for the Printer Extensions and Notifications service, right-click on it, and select Properties.
3. You then have to go to the Log on tab and check if the Allow system to interact with desktop option is checked.
4. If it is checked, uncheck it, and then click on Apply > Ok.

Once done, reboot your computer and check if the application is working.

To verify the service state, open the Command Prompt as an administrator.

Run the following command to update the status of that service in the Service Control Manager.

sc interrogate service_name

Now, run the command to display the configuration status of the service.

sc qc service_name

To know the extended status of the service, run the command mentioned below.

sc queryex service_name

Hopefully, this will do the trick for you.

2] Restart the service

If after disabling the interactive service the issue persists, we recommend you reboot it. To do the same, all you have to do is right-click on the service from the Services app and then select Restart. I just right-clicked on the Printer Extensions and Notifications service and selected Restart. The process took some time, but after the service started again, the issue was resolved.

3] Check for the culprit in the Clean Boot State

If there is a third-party application that you are trying to run, and when doing so, you encounter an error, it’s possible that there is an additional program whose service is interacting with your victim application and causing the issue. In order to resolve it, we recommend you perform Clean Boot to check. Follow the steps mentioned below to do the same.

1. Open Run by Win + R, type “msconfig”, and hit Ok.
2. Go to the Services tab, tick Hide all Microsoft services, now tick the services related to the program that’s causing issues, and then click on Disable all.
3. Click on the Startup tab and then click on the Open Task Manager hyperlink.
4. Check if Startup is enabled for any service, if yes, then disable them by right-clicking, and selecting Disable.
5. Click Apply > OK in the System Configuration window to apply your preferences.
6. Once you get the option to reboot your computer now or later, click as per your requirement.

Once your system boots up in the Clean Boot state, you need to open the program and see if it works. If it works, enable the program manually to find out the culprit.

Read: Printer cannot be contacted over the network

4] Install the software in the compatibility mode

If you are trying to install older software on your computer, and that triggered an error due to which Event ID 7030 was logged, turn on the compatibility mode on the installer. To do so, follow the steps mentioned below.

1. Right-click on the installer and select Properties.
2. Go to the Compatibility tab and tick Run this program in compatibility mode for.
3. Now, from the drop-down menu, select an older version of Windows.
4. Click Apply > Ok.

Finally, launch the program and see if the issue is resolved.

Read: Local Print Spooler Service is not running, Windows cannot connect to printer

How do I enable Interactive services?

To enable the interactive services for a particular service, open the Services application. Now, right-click on the service and select Properties. Go to the Log On tab and then tick Allow system to interact with desktop option. Finally, click on Apply > Ok.

Also Read: Fix 0x00000bc4, No printers were found error in Windows 11.