How To Remove Printer From Windows 10

Delete Driver Packages From The Driver Store To Free Up Disk Space

How To Delete A Printer In Windows 10

Even after removing the driver packages using the methods above, some remnant drivers may exist in the driver store. The driver store is a trusted location of the inbox and third-party driver packages. Before a driver can be installed, it must first be stored in the driver store folder located under C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository

Each subfolder stores a driver package along with the respective .inf file. The driver store folders have cryptic names and itâs a tedious job to find the driver package you want to delete.

Thankfully, we have the excellent DriverStore Explorer tool that does the job for you.

DriverStore Explorer is a third-party program that makes it easier to deal with the Windows driver store. It supports operations including enumeration, adding a driver package , adding & installing, deletion and force deletion from the driver store.

If you look at this image, you can see that there is till 9 MB of HP printer drivers leftover. This happened even after I removed the driver packages via Print Server Properties. Evidently, those two methods werenât enough.

All I had to do was select the old HP printer driver from the list, click Remove. Click OK when you see the following warning:

Warning

About to delete prnhpcl1.inf from driver store.

Are you sure?

This removed the old HP printerâs .inf file, its driver package thus saving 9 MB of space.

Delete Through The Control Panel

This is the most straightforward way to access all the printer drivers your system has stored. Unlike the previous step, you can use this to delete any trace of the printer.

Removing the printer driver will free up space and solve any compatibility issues its presence may be causing behind the scenes.

Heres what you need to do to get rid of all your drivers in stock:

First, open the Start menu.

Next, search for the Control Panel and open the application.

Then, click on System and Security.

Head over to Administrative Tools and double-click the Print Management option.

Now, expand the Custom Filters branch.

Choose All Drivers from the navigation pane on the left side.

You are now viewing all the printer drivers that have been saved on your PC. Right-click the driver you want to remove and select the Delete option.

Once these steps have been accomplished, the unwanted printer driver should be removed from the computer. Repeat these steps to take care of any other drivers you no longer have any use for on your device.

Remove Printer Driver From Print Server

Press the Windows + R key together to open the run box.

In Run box, type services.msc and click OK to open the services page.

In Services, find Print Spooler and then select it and click on Stop the Service to stop it.

Come back to the desktop, and again press the Windows + R key together to open the run box.

Type the printmanagement.msc command in the run box and press OK button.

Click on Print Server from the right side pane.

Click on the computer name which is under the print server.

Click on Drivers.

Now look at the right-side pane and right-click on the printer model number you want to remove and click on Remove Driver package.. I would suggest you to remove all the unused printer drivers from there. It is good practice to avoid driver conflict.

Now go back to the left side pane and click on printers under print server and look at the right side pane and right click on your printer name which you want to remove and click on Delete. Dont delete the default printer from here.

Go back to Print Management and then click on Custom Filter.

Click on All Printers. Then look at the right-side pane and do right-click on the printer name you want to delete and click on the delete option.

Again, go back to Custom Filters and click on All Drivers

Now, look at the right side pane and do right-click on the driver you want to delete and click on Remove Driver package.

Thats it.

Remove Printer Driver From System Registry

Now, open Run again and type regedit and click Ok to open Registry Editor.

Now Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and then expand SOFTWARE

and then expand Microsoft

Update

MacOS Monterey 12.x version has been released in December 2021. You can now easily download your drivers for MacOS 11.x, 12.x Monterey. Read More. December 27, 2021

Disclaimer

Remove Printer Using Windows Settings

You can remove a printer from the Settings app in Windows 10. Here is how.

Right-click on the Start menu.

Select Settings from the menu.

Go to the Devices > Printers & scanners page.

Press the Yes button in the confirmation pop-up.

The printer is removed instantly.

Close the Settings app.

Detailed steps:

Open the Settings app with the Start key + I shortcut. After opening it, go to the Devices > Printers and scanners page. This is where you will see all the printers added to your computer. Click on the printer you want to remove and press the Remove device button.

With that, you have deleted a printer in Windows using the Settings app.

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Use Kyocera Deleter Tool

If you cant remove the printer because the driver is in use, you might want to try using the Kyocera Deleter tool from .

Users reported that this tool will delete your printer without any problem but be sure to run this tool as the administrator since it requires administrator privileges to remove your printer.

If you are the owner of a Kyocera printer, you might also be interested in consulting our comprehensive guide on how to download and use Kyocera printer drivers for Windows 10.

Remove The Printer Using The Command Line

Follow the steps mentioned below so as to remove the printer from your computer using Command-Line.

Press the Windows button and type Command Prompt.

Now right-click on the Command Prompt icon and select the Run as Administrator option.

Now in the space of the Command prompt type or copy the command wmic printer get name and press the Enter key.

Now you will be seeing a list of Printers, now I would further suggest you make a note or copy the name of the printer which you want to remove.

Now type or copy the command printui.exe /dl /n Printer name and hit Enter.

Now you can exit the Command Prompt.

Now if you have performed the steps as directed above, then hopefully your Printer will be removed successfully from your Windows PC.

Well, that is it I hope you discover my article valuable. Please comment below and let us know if you encounter any trouble while removing the Printer from your computer using any of the above-mentioned methods.

Remove The Printer From The Printers Folder

The final method in which you can remove a printer from your list of devices is also one of the fastest and most effective ways to do it. Heres a quick guide on removing a printer via the Printers folder:

Open a new Run box by pressing the Windows key + R. Then, paste

explorer shell:::

in the Run box and press Enter to open the Printers folder.

Open Printer Folder

In the Printers folder, right-click on the printer that you wish to remove and choose Delete.

Click Yes to confirm the removal of the printer, then restart your computer to force the changes to take effect.

At the next startup, see whether the printer has been removed from your computer.

Read Next

Close All Applications Restart Explorerexe And Delete The Driver

How to Add & Remove Printers in Windows 10

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.

Once the Task Manager opens, go to the Details tab.

In the Details tab, locate explorer.exe, right-click it and choose End task.

In Task Manager click on File and select Run new task.

Create new task window will appear. Enter explorer.exe and click OK.

When Explorer starts again, try to delete the printer driver.

If you cant delete the driver, stop the Print Spooler service and try again. Be sure to turn on Spooler service back on after you delete the driver.

Remove A Printer In Powershell

To see more usage options for the Remove-Printer command, see: Remove-Printer | Microsoft Docs

Substitute Printer name in the command above with the actual name of the printer from step 2 you want to remove.For example:Remove-Printer -Name “HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477 PLC 6”

How To Uninstall A Printer Using Control Panel

Alternatively, you can still uninstall a printing device using Control Panel with these steps:

Open Control Panel.

Click on Hardware and Sound.

Click on Devices and Printers.

Under the “Printers” section, right-click the device you want, and select the Remove device option.

Click the Yes button to confirm.

Once you’ve completed the steps, the printer in question will no longer be available on your device.

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What Can I Do If I Get Cant Remove Printer Access Denied Message

If you cant remove printer in Windows 11 or older, its probably because you dont have the administrative privileges. We wrote in-depth about Access is denied guide, so we encourage you to check it our for more solutions.

If that can cause additional problems with it, and prevent you from removing it. This is most likely a configuration or a driver issue.

Few users reported that A deleted printer keeps coming back, and thats a variation of this error, but luckily, this guide will show you how to fix this problem.

Using The Classic Control Panel

The classic Control Panel is another way to remove a printer driver in Windows 11. Here is how:

Open the Start menu and select All apps.

Scroll down the list of apps and open Windows Tools.

Open Print Management in the Windows Tools window.

Expand the Custom Filters option and click All Drivers.

Right-click the driver you want to uninstall at the center of the window.

Click Remove Driver Package and confirm the action.

Done!

Tip: You can directly open the Print Management snap-in using the Win + R shortcut keys and the printmanagement.msc command in the Run dialog. You can find more such commands here.

And that is how you delete a printer driver in Windows 11. It is also worth noting that you better restart your computer before reinstalling the driver you have just removed.

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Use Command Prompt To Remove Printer

To delete a printer using the Command Prompt, follow the steps below.

Open the Command Prompt as admin. You can do that by searching for it in the Start menu, right-click on the result, and selecting the Run as administrator option.

In the Command Prompt window, the first thing we need to do is get the printer name. Use the below command to get the printer names.

wmic printer get name

Select the name of the printer you want to remove and copy it. You can copy the selected text with right-click.

Next, execute the below command while replacing the dummy printer name with the actual printer name.

printui.exe /dl /n “Dummy-Printer-Name”

As soon as you execute the command, the printer is removed from your system.

How To Completely Remove Old Printers In Windows 10

When you try to add a new printer by clicking the Add a printer or scanner in the Printer & Scanners page, old printers that you added earlier but no longer in use, may be listed.

This post tells you how to completely remove old, uninstalled or obsolete printers from the Add a Printer and Printers & Scanners pages. The leftover printer drivers, driver packages and registry entries need to be removed.

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Stop Print Spooler And Then Remove The Printer

To ensure isnt interfering with your printer removal process, stop that service and see if you can successfully remove the printer.

Once youve removed the printer, you can then restart the print spooler service.

Press Windows + R keys at the same time to open the Run box.

Type the following in the Run box and press Enter: services.msc

Find the Print Spooler service on the Services window.

Right-click the Print Spooler service and choose Stop from the menu.

Keep the Services window open.

Use the Settings app to remove the printer from your PC.

When your printer is removed, come back to the Services window. Then, right-click the Print Spooler service and choose Start from the menu.

Remove The Printer From Device Manager

Uninstall HP Printer Software in Windows 10, 11 | HP Printers | HP

Another workaround to remove the printer from Windows is by manually deleting the printer from the Device Manager. Heres what you need to do.

Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run dialog box, type Devmgmt.msc in the textbox, and hit Enter.

In the Device Manager window, expand the Print Queues section. Tap on View> Show Hidden Devices.

Locate your devices name and then right-click on it to Delete it. Once the device has been successfully removed from the Device Manager, reboot your machine.

Also read:How To Find Your Printers IP Address: Step By Step Guide

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Create A New Local Port

Open control panel,
Search for and select Devices and Printers
Windows will scan for available shared printers on the local network.
If you dont see your printer listed click the link which says The printer that I want isnt listed.
Here From the next screen select Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings and click Next.

Select Create a new port

Then from type of port drop-down select Standard TCP / IP Port and click Next.

Here Type the printers address in Printers port name field in the following format:

\\IP address or the Computer Name\Printers Name

For example \\192.168.1.50\HP LaserJet Pro M1136

Note: Type the IP address or computer name where the shared printer physically installed. For the network, printer type the IP address of the printer.

If you dont know the IP Address of the computer where the printer is physically connected to and shared from,

Press Windows + R, type cmd and ok

Now type ipconfig and press enter key.

Look for IPv4 Address for the computers IP in the black window.

Now click OK and then click Next.
Select your printer model from the directory to install its drivers, Click Next.
If you have a disk, insert the disk, click Have Disk and browse to the drivers location in the disk.
Click OK. Type in a name for your new printer.
Click Next. Print a test page to check its connection. And click Finish.

How To Uninstall A Printer Using Command Prompt

If you prefer using command lines, you can use Command Prompt to delete a printer from Windows 10 using these steps:

Open Start.

Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

Type the following command to queue a list of printers on your device and press Enter:

wmic printer get name

Type the following command to uninstall the printer and press Enter:

printui.exe /dl /n “YOUR-PRINTER-NAME”

In the command, replace the YOUR-PRINTER-NAME with the full name of your printer see step No. 3.

Once you’ve completed the steps, the printer that you specified in the command will be uninstalled.

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How To Install Xps Viewer In Windows 11

Step 1. Press keys to open Settings app. In the Settings window, click on the Apps category on the left side pane.

Step 2. On the right side window of Apps, click on the Optional features

Step 3. Now, click on the View Features button next to the Add an optional feature.

Step 4. On the pop-up window that appears, type XPS on the search box. In the available search results, check the checkbox XPS Viewer and then click on the Next button.

After executing the above steps, the XPS Viewer application is installed on your PC. Now, you can open XPS and OXPS documents on your computer.

Use Print Management To Remove Old Printers

Ideally, if you used the Print Server properties method above, it should remove and uninstall the printer driver. However, you can use the Print Management console to completely remove printers you no longer use, and their drivers.

The Print Management dialog shows you the printers and current print jobs on your device. Before you delete the old printer driver though, make sure its not being used by any other printer.

Open Control Panel> System and Security.

Click Administrative Tools.

Double-click the Print Management shortcut.

Under Custom Filters, select All Printers.
Right-click the printer you want to remove.

Click Delete and Yes to confirm the action.

Open Settings> Apps> Apps & Features and click the printer software you want removed.
Click Uninstall and follow on-screen instructions to completely remove the printer driver.

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How To Completely Remove Printer Driver From Windows 10/8/7

Sometimes when you install or update the printer driver, it does not work correctly for some reason, and the only way is to remove printer driver which was installed before and install fresh. To do that there are one or two ways, depending on which works for you nicely.

Now before I get into details of it lets us understand one thing. Windows 7 gives you a straightforward option to delete a printer by just selecting and choose Remove printer when you right click. Though it removes the printer from the list, the drives stay back. Though I wish that an option was given to me that helped me in removing the driver also, thats not that case.

Remove The Printer Using Print Management

Another possible alternative for restoring your systems functionality is to go to the Print Management section. This will take you to your PCs local print server, which has its own copy of previous printers and devices.

Heres how you can access your systems Print Management settings:

Open the Run command box by pressing Win + R.

Type in printmanagement.msc and select Run.

Now that you are at the Print Management menu, expand the Print Servers drop-down menu and open your local print server.

Open the Printers section, found on the left management pane. This should lead you to a list of all the printers youve ever connected to your system.

Right-click the printer you want to remove and tap Delete.

Confirm the operation and exit Print Management.

After finishing all these steps, the offending printer should be removed from the Print Management sections local print server. If this works for you, you can redo this as many times as you need for all the printers you need to disengage from your PC.

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