Fix Citrix Universal Printer grayscale only — policy & capability advert

Joe B.

Reviewed for technical accuracy

Specialities: Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops, Universal Print Driver (UPD), Printer redirection, Group Policy, Print servers

Citrix Universal Printer color disabled — fix via policy, UPD settings, client capability advert

Technician

Hey! We’ll get your Citrix Universal Printer to print in full color again. A few details help me target the fix: Which platform are you on (CVAD / Citrix DaaS)? Are users printing to a client-mapped printer or a Citrix Universal Printer (UPD) created at logon? Also, which Citrix Workspace app version (Windows/macOS/IGEL/Wyse) is running on endpoints?

Customer

CVAD 2212 on-prem. We use the Citrix Universal Printer with session printers from the print server. Users see the Color option, but every job comes out grayscale only from Excel and Adobe. Endpoints are Windows with the latest Workspace app.

Technician

Got it. In Citrix, color printing depends on three things working together:
1) The Citrix policy “Universal printing: color support” must be Allowed.
2) The endpoint (Workspace app) must advertise printer capabilities (color vs. mono) to the VDA. If the client reports monochrome only, the Universal Print Driver renders grayscale.
3) The queue defaults (GPO/print server) must not force Black & White.
We’ll check all three and refresh the capability advert.

Customer

Where do I verify the policy and capability advert? We changed a few policies when we optimized printing.

Technician

Step 1 — Fix Citrix policy
In CMA / Studio → Policies confirm:
• Universal printing: Color support = Enabled.
• Universal printing: Print driver usage = Use universal printing only if requested: Disabled (lets mapped drivers advertise features).
• Universal printing optimization = EMF/XPS as appropriate (either is fine for color with UPD).
• Auto-create client printers or your Session printers policy is targeting the users correctly.
Apply policy and force a GP update on the VDA: gpupdate /force.

Customer

Color support is enabled. Still grayscale. How do we refresh the client’s capability advert?

Technician

Step 2 — Refresh the client capability advertisement
The Workspace app collects printer attributes (Color, Duplex, DPI) and publishes them to the VDA at session start. If the endpoint’s default is Monochrome, that’s what Citrix receives.
• On the endpoint, open Devices and Printers → the physical printer → Printing Preferences and set Color.
• Close all Citrix sessions. Exit the Workspace app (right-click tray → Exit) and relaunch so it rebuilds the PrintCapabilities advert.
• If you use thin clients, check the vendor’s global printer defaults (IGEL UMS, Dell Wyse) — many templates ship with B&W enabled.
Test again; the Universal Print Driver should now show Color in printing preferences inside the session.

Customer

Our print server deploys queues via GPO. Could server defaults force grayscale even when the client advertises color?

Technician

Step 3 — Check print server & UPD defaults
• On the print server, open the published queue → Printing Defaults and ensure Color is selected. Defaults override user preferences when the queue is session-mapped.
• If you standardize on the Citrix Universal Print Driver (UPD), confirm the queue is set to “Use universal printing only if requested = No” so the UPD can inherit color from client capabilities.
• Clear stale user printing settings in the profile if needed (HKCU\Software\Citrix\PrinterProperties). After cleanup, log off/on to rebuild the profile cache.

Customer

Some users still see the color option but prints come out in black and white from Adobe and Chrome. Anything app-specific to tweak?

Technician

Good call — a few apps override driver settings.
• Adobe Acrobat/Reader: In Print, uncheck Print in grayscale and ensure the printer Properties shows Color.
• Chrome/Edge: Use System dialog (Ctrl+Shift+P → “Print using system dialog”) then set the device to Color.
• If the issue persists, update Citrix Workspace app and VDA CU — older builds had bugs where the color depth flag wasn’t passed for some UPD paths.

Customer

What about GPOs that restrict drivers? We lock down “Prevent users from installing printer drivers.”

Technician

That’s fine — color with UPD doesn’t require vendor drivers on the VDA. Just ensure these are set:
• Point and Print Restrictions: allow your print servers.
• Devices: Prevent users from installing printer drivers: Enabled is okay if the Citrix Universal Print Driver is present.
• Consider a Citrix policy to force Universal Print Server (UPS) for WAN sites; UPS + UPD still supports color when capability advert = Color.

Customer

After changing client defaults and reloading Workspace, color finally works for most users. Any final checks so it stays fixed?

Technician

Final checks:
• Keep Color support policy enabled and link it to all VDAs delivering apps needing color.
• Standardize endpoint printer defaults to Color via Intune or GPP so the capability advertisement is consistent.
• Maintain current Workspace app and VDA CU. Color fixes often ride with printing hotfixes.
• Provide users a 1-page color test PDF to validate after logon.

Customer

Perfect — color is back on the Citrix Universal Printer across sites. Thanks!

Technician

Summary: When Citrix Universal Printer prints grayscale only, enable Universal printing color support, refresh the client’s capability advert by setting Color on the endpoint and restarting Workspace, and verify server/queue defaults. Need help auditing policies across Delivery Groups? Open the chat.

Quick answer: the accepted fix

Accepted fix when Citrix Universal Printer prints grayscale only: enable Universal printing: Color support, set endpoint printer default to Color so the client capability advertisement reports color, restart Workspace app, and ensure print server defaults do not force B&W. Update Workspace/VDA to latest CU for printing hotfixes.

FAQ

Step-by-step (Citrix color printing)

1. Enable Universal printing: Color support in Citrix policy and apply to Delivery Groups.
2. On endpoints, set physical printer Printing Preferences → Color; restart Workspace app.
3. On the print server, change queue Printing Defaults to Color for session printers.
4. Update Workspace app and VDA CU; retest with a color PDF using the system print dialog.

Note for macOS & thin clients

1. macOS and IGEL/Wyse often default to B&W. Set Color in endpoint printing prefs or the UMS/WMS template.
2. Restart the Citrix client so the new capability advertisement reaches the VDA.

Sources

• Citrix Docs — Printing policy reference
• Citrix Docs — Universal Print Driver
• Citrix Workspace app — Printing configuration

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