How To Make A Printer Default

Change The Default Printer Via The Control Panel

Windows 10: Setting the Default Printer

The Devices & Printers option can also be found in the Control Panel. Heres how to access it:

Open the Run box by pressing the Windows icon + R shortcut.

Type Control Panel into the text area and click OK or hit Enter on your keyboard.

Alternatively, you could type Control Panel into the Start menu search bar and click on the option when it appears in the search results.

Direct your attention to the View: by drop-down in the top-right corner of the Control Panel window and make sure that it is set to Small icons.

Locate Devices and Printers in the list of options and click on it.

Move to the Printers section on the new page that opens and right-click on the printer of your choice. Then click on Set as default printer in the contextual menu.

Let Windows Manage Your Default Printer

In the lower-left corner of your screen, click the Windows button > From the side panel, click the gear-shaped icon > Select “Devices”. The printers installed;on your computer are listed under “Printers & scanners”.;

Under “Let Windows manage my default printer”, toggle the switch to “On”. Windows will now automatically set your default printer as the most recently used printer.

Force Windows 10 To Set Default Printer

If you do not know how to fix the Default printer cannot be set error, do not worry. That is the kind of rare issue where you almost should not do anything. In Windows 10 November 2015 Update, Microsoft changed the way Windows 10 manages the default printers. From now on, it automatically sets the last used printer as a default. In other words, all you need to do to set up the default printer in Windows 10 is to use it. Just go ahead and print something. After that, Windows will set the selected printer as default.

For your information. When troubleshooting printers in Windows 10, always make sure you have the latest drivers installed. Modern printers nowadays are plug-and-play, which means Windows automatically gets the required drivers. Still, it is a good practice to manually install the driver to ensure the best compatibility.

Go to the manufacturers website and download the newest supported drivers from there. Also, do note that old printers may have a hard time working with modern computers and the latest operating systems. Besides, you may face compatibility issues when using dongles and converters to plug old connectors into modern motherboards.

Windows 10 sets default printers automatically by default. You can check whether you have this feature enabled by doing the following:

Make sure your PC runs Windows 10 1511 or never .

Hit Win + I on your keyboard to run Windows Settings and go to Devices Printers and scanners.

How Do I Change The Default Printer In Cmd

This is easy to do. Follow the steps below:

Open the Power User menu by pressing the Windows icon key + X keyboard combination.

Confirm the action by clicking Yes when the User Account Control box appears on your screen.

Once you are in the Command Prompt window, copy and paste the following line and then hit enter to run it:

RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n Printer name

Note: Make sure that you replace Printer name in the above command with the name of the printer you want to set as your default printer. If you dont know the name of the printer, open Notepad or Microsoft Word and press Ctrl + P to invoke the Print dialog. There, you will find the name of your printer.

Way 1: Set Default Printer Windows 10 Via Settings

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Step 1: Click the Windows icon on the toolbar and then select Settings.

Step 2: On the Settings window, please click Devices and Printers & scanners in order.

Step 3: Look at the right pane and then untick Let Windows 10 manage your default printer.

Step 4: Scroll up to Printers & scanners. Click a printer you want to set as default and then click the Manage button.

Step 5: On the new window, please click Set as default to set the selected printer as default Windows 10.

Also Check: Why Does Hp Printer Keep Going Offline

Way 2: Set Default Printer Windows 10 Via Control Panel

Step 1: Open Control Panel by typing the function name in Cortanas search bar and then clicking the result.

Step 2: Click Devices and Printers on the window of Control Panel.

Step 3: Under the Printers section, right-click the printer you want to set default on Windows 10 and then click Set as default printer.

How To Remove Printer Drivers And Packages

Make sure you are using Windows as an Admin or sign-in as one.

Type CMD in the search bar.

With command prompt open type printui /s /t2 including the spaces to open the Print Server Properties window.

Now remove the Driver and Package for the printer in question.

You can now add your printer again by selecting Add a Printer from Devices and Printers.

Your printer should now be showing as online and allow you to continue printing.

If not there is likely to be an issue with the printer electronically, further advice would be to contact the printers manufacturer or a printer technician.

Always check the cost of a printer fixing error in some cases it may be cheaper to purchase a new printer rather than pay the fixing and maintenance cost.

Read Also: How To Scan From A Canon Printer

Set Default Printer In Settings

Step 1:Open Settings. Click Devices. Click Printers & Scanners.

Step 2: Here, in Printers and Scanners section, click on the printer which you want to set as the default printer to see Open queue, Manage, and Remove device buttons. Click the Manage button.

Step 3: Click Set as default button to set the selected printer as your default printer on Windows 10.

Method 2 of 3

If This Doesnt Work You Can Try These Simple Steps:

How to change your default printer in Windows 10

Right-click the icon for your printer. It may be labelled as part of the device name or printer name. Check your device if youre unsure. Click the “See What’s Printing” option.

Or Left-Click the printer and select Manage Device

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Making Printer Default Settings

To change the printer’s default settings , log on using an account that has Manage Printers permission. Members of the Administrators group have Manage Printers permission by default.
You cannot change the printer default settings for individual users. Settings made in the dialog box are applied to all users.

On the menu, point to , and then click .

The window appears.

On the menu, click .

The dialog box appears.

When you open the dialog box for the first time after installing the RPCS printer driver, a confirmation message appears. After you click , the dialog box appears.

Make the settings you require, and then click .

The settings you make here are used as the default settings for all applications.
For details, see the printer driver Help.

How To Set Default Printer By Group Membership

This is useful if you have for example a laboratory or classroom with group of computers and you want to Set default printer for those computers.

Open the page.

Select the Groups tab. Only available if groups are enabled.

For the group in question:

Check Exclusive access if you want to give the users in the group exclusive access to the print queue. Does not apply to computers in the group.

Check Add print queue automatically if you want the print queue to be added automatically to the computer if the computer is a member of the group, when a user in that group signs in.

Check Set as default printer if you want the print queue to become the default printer for the users and computers in the group.

*If Set as default printer is checked for multiple print queues it will be random, which one will be set as default. Printix Client will override the users selection of default printer every time the Printix Service is started and or it receives updates to its list of printers and their configuration.

Way 4: Set Default Printer Via Command Prompt

Compared with the first three ways, this way is a little bit complicated.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt as administrator.

Type Command Prompt in Cortanas search bar,
Right-click the most-matched item and then choose Run as administrator from the menu.

Step 2: On the Command Prompt window, type the following command and then hit the Enter key to run this command.

RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n Printer name

Note:

Have you tried one of these ways? It is easy to set default printer on Windows 10 by following one of them, so have a try.

Set The Default Printer As The Last One Used

How To make Printer "Set as default Printer" in Windows 10 ...

One other handy option on Windows 10 is to set your default printer as the last one you used at that location. So if you travel between your home and physical office, for instance, you can have the default printer set as the one you used most recently at that spot.

Click the;Windows icon;on the bottom left of your screen and select;Settings.

Choose;Devices;at the top.

Pick;Printers & Scanners;on the left. Below the list of printers on the right, check the box for;Let Windows manage my default printer.

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How To Create A Default Pdf Printer Setting

When printing a document, you can print a hard copy on paper, or if you have a PDF creator installed on your computer, you have the option to print a virtual copy as a PDF. Printing as a PDF creates a PDF document that appears just as the document were printed on paper, complete with pages, but is a computer file that you can save or email. Because the PDF mimics hard copy, you can adjust the default PDF print settings in the “Printers and Faxes” settings of your computer, just as you would for an actual printer.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Use the “Page Orientation” drop-down menu to select whether you want the default page orientation to be portrait or landscape. Use the “Paper size” drop-down menu to select the default page size you want to print. Use the “Print color” drop-down menu to set whether to print PDFs in color or black-and-white.

Step 4

References

Prevent Windows 10 From Automatically Choosing The Default Printer

Windows 10 automatically sets the most recently used printer as your default printer. If you want to manually set a printer as your default and dont want Windows 10 to automatically set a printer as default, you need to navigate to Settings > Devices > Printers & Scanners, and turn off Let Windows manage my default printer. When this is on, Windows will set your default printer to be the one you used most recently at your current location option.

Method 1 of 3

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Pc Settings App Method

PC Settings app makes it very easy to set the default printer on Windows 10. You just have to click a button and you are done.

1. First, open the PC Settings app by pressing the keyboard shortcut Win or by searching for it in the start menu.

2. In the PC Settings app, go to Devices -> Printers & Scanners page.

3. On the right panel, uncheck the Allow Windows to manage my default printer option. Without unchecking this option, you cannot choose a default printer.

4. Now, click on the printer of your choice from the list and then click on the Manage button.

5. In the subsequent page, click on the Set as Default button.

6. As soon as click on the button, the target printer will be set as default on Windows 10.

How To Make A Program Think A Diffirent Printer Is The Default Printer

Windows® XP: Make a printer the default printer

We have a card printer and a normal printer,The software which prints the cards, does not have an option to choose printer and will always use the default printer.

Is there a way to open a program with a switch to think another printer is default?

2Wouldn’t be much simpler to change the default to the one you need? After using it you can change it back to the other. Or is there another problem?;ChanganAutoApr 19 at 4:36
It is for an elderly employee who is having hard time entering the settings menu, also she uses both printers so many times during the day to a point where manually swapping default printer is laborious and pointless;Tomer8009Apr 19 at 6:17
Wrap the card-printing program startup in a script that sets the card printer as default, launches the program, and when the program exits, restores the default printer to what it was before running the program. Then, change the shortcut that launches the program to launch the script instead.;Jeff ZeitlinApr 19 at 11:41
I tried that solution, but than we have seen that in practice it wouldn’t work, the software is very big and takes about a minute to open, so the user does not close it at all until the day ends

How To Make A Printer The Default Printer

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Whether you install a new printer or already have multiple printers installed on your network, you have the option to choose which printer you want to use as your default printer so that Windows and your applications know where to print.

If you are installing a new printer, follow the instructions on your CD. During installation, the Add Printer Wizard is displayed and you will be given the option to install your new printer as the default printer.

How To Set The Printer To Online Manually

Go to the Start icon on the bottom left of your screen then choose Control Panel and then Devices and Printers.

Right click the printer in question and select See whats printing.

From the window that opens choose Printer from the menu bar at the top.

Select Use Printer Online from the drop down menu.

Also Check: What Is The Most Economical Printer To Buy

Setting And Changing The Default Printer

You can set a default printer when one of the printers is configured for the print job , that printer is assigned to a printer group, and there is no default printer set for the workstation operator/printer type on the workstation. The default printer selections for the workstation operator/printer type combination automatically reset at Start of Day.

To set your default printer for the current workstation:

On the Printer Assignment Needed dialog, select the printer to use for the print job, and then click one of the following buttons

Print and default: Select this option to print this time, and to set this printer as the default printer for the printer type.

Print: Select this option to print one time.

If you previously selected a default printer for the printer type, the default printer is used for the print job, and you will not see the Printer Assignment Needed dialog.

To change your default printer selection for the current workstation:

On the Assign Default Destination Printers dialog, select one or more printer types, and then click the Assign Printer button.

On the Select a Printer dialog, select the printer, and then click OK.

Fix 8: Run A System Restore

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The Default printer keeps changing problem could be a result of recent updates or modifications you made on your computer. A good solution to that will be to perform a system restore to the last point when things worked normally:

Go to the Start menu and type System Restore into the search bar. Then click on the option from the search results.

Elect to show more restore points if available. Then choose a restore point with a date when you are sure Windows had no issues with your printers.

Restart your computer afterward and then see if the default printer keeps changing issue has been resolved.

Note: Keep in mind that performing a system restore will remove the programs you installed and undo the system settings you modified after the date of your selected restore point.

How To Set A Default Printer In Windows 10

1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard or click the Windows icon at the bottom left of your screen, and search for “Printers.”;

2. Select “Printers and Scanners” from your search results.

3. Uncheck “Allow Windows to manage my default printer” at the bottom of the screen by clicking the check box.

4. Select the device you want to make your default from the list of printers and scanners. Click on it, then click “Manage.”

5. On the new screen, select “Set as default.” This should now be your default printer.

6. To re-enable the default printer settings, recheck the “Allow Windows to manage my default printer” button.

This can be really helpful if you have a laptop that switches printers a lot. Changing the default printer manually like this still allows you to change your printer on a case-by-case basis if you choose to, whenever you print from an application.;

Why Does My Default Printer Keep Changing In Windows 10

If Windows keeps changing your default printer, there are two reasons why that could happen:

The first reason is that youve enabled the option that allows it to automatically manage your printers. So when you use another printer that is not the current default printer, Windows assumes that you now prefer that printer and, therefore, makes it the default printer.
An unexpected error occurred, forcing the OS to default to another printer. Such errors include outdated or faulty printer software, corrupt registry entries, system bugs, broken printer cords, etc.

Whatever the case may be, there are several solutions you can use to resolve the issue and prevent Windows from changing your default printer.

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