Change Default Printer In Devices & Printers
Step 1: Type Control Panel in the Start menu or taskbar search box and then press Enter key to open Control Panel.
Step 2: Change Control Panel View by to Small icons and then click Devices and Printers.
Step 3: Under the Printers section, you can see all virtual as well as physical printers. Right-click on the printer that you want to set as the default printer and then click Set as default printer option.
Method 4 of 4
Fix : Run A System Restore
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:
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.
Way : 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.
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Set A Default Printer In Control Panel
Control Panel Devices and PrintersSet as default printerLet Windows manage my default printerOKcommand prompt
The currently set default printer will have TRUE showing in the Default column to the left of the printer name.
Substitute printer name in the command above with the actual printer name from step 2 you want to set as the default printer.For example:wmic printer where name=”HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477 PCL 6″ call setdefaultprinter
Originally, PDFCreator is default printer. I tried to change default printer to C360i by option 2 and option 4 .I check default printer with “wmic printer get name,default” which shows C360i. However there is no change in Control Panel. It is still PDFCreator.Did I miss some steps?Yuppiedad- – – Updated – – -I am looking for procedure to set same default printer for all users who logon on same computer. Is above procedure good for what I want?Yuppiedad
Hello @Yuppiedad, The options in the tutorial will only be applied to the current user and not all users. Each user will need to set their own default printer setting.However, as a workaround, you could remove all printers to leave only the one you want as the default so there is only one choice to use.
Use The Windows Settings To Set Default Printer
Step 1: Press the shortcut by using Windows logo key + I together and click Devices.
Step 2:Select the Printers & scanners tab and click the printer you want to set as default. Click Manage.
Step 3:Click Set as default.
Step 4: You need to make sure that you need to stop Windows 10 from automatically managing your default printer. Turn back to the Printers & scanners tab and make sure you did NOT check Let Windows manage my default printer or you can simply turn off the Let Windows manage my default printer option.
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Solution: 4 Remove Old Printer Connections From Your Registry
If the user uses two or more printers with the same device then it may be few previous entries are in their registry. The previous or old entries may create a problem if your default printer keeps modifying. After that, when you remove old entries from your registry then you can solve the problem. By following the below steps you will able to solve your issues:
- First, you should start the Registry editor.
- Then go to the H_KEY USER\USERS_SID_HERE\Printers\Connections key which is appearing in the left pane. You should make sure that to select your own user SID.
- After that, you can see the old connection of printer you should delete them all.
- Then you visit the HKEY_USERS\USERS-SID_HERE\Printers\Settings key and from there you delete the old printer settings.
- When you remove that, you should make sure and check the problem with your default the printer is resolved or not.
Change The Default Printer Via The Control Panel
The Devices & Printers option can also be found in the Control Panel. Heres how to access it:
Alternatively, you could type Control Panel into the Start menu search bar and click on the option when it appears in the search results.
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Can I Change The Default Printer
Yes, you can change the default printer. Simply follow the steps above again and select a different printer to be the new default printer. Remember that the selected default printer will remain selected as the default printer until you decide to change it.
We have many other posts on printers here at Techsnail covering everything from what is a printer to different types of printers such as laser printer, inkjet printer to see a complete list of printer posts
Fix Operation Could Not Be Completed Double Click The Printer Name And Make Sure That The Printer Is Connected To The Network Error
This is where things may go sideways. As we described above, sometimes a user may encounter weird issues when trying to set up the default printer in Windows 10. If nothing helped and you still cannot set up the default printer, try to use the Windows registry to bypass the nasty error.
Warning. Follow the procedure strictly and do not change other registry branches and values, otherwise you may end up with serious software problems and data loss.
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Automatically Switch Default Printer Based On Location
While it is easy to change the default printer, it doesnt help. If the default printer can change automatically based on the location of the computer. So if I go home, the default printer is my home printer, and the office printer when I go to work.
Read: Set as default printer Context Menu item is missing.
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:
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How To Set A Default Printer In Windows 10
In this age of wireless connectivity and nearly disposable pricing on entry-level printers , some of us are bound to have more than one device available to print to.
Windows 10, in its infinite wisdom, will set your default printer to the one used most recently at the current location. This can be a pain for users who tend to print a majority of documents on one type of printer and use a different one occasionally. While simply switching which device to print to is an easy workaround, some may just want to print to one primary device all the time.
In order to set a default printer and have it not change, some settings need to be adjusted to make it happen. Below well explain the process of setting a default printer and making sure it stays as the default printer when another is used.
Fix With Registry Editor
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Windows Vista And Windows 7
The printer should have a check mark next to it, as shown in the picture above. Also, once the printer is set as the default printer, it should appear as the selected printer.
Manage Default Printers In Windows 10
Launch Settings from the Start menu or press Windows key + I then click Devices.
Select the Printers & Scanners tab, then scroll down. Toggle off the setting When turned on, the default printer is the last printer used.
If you want more granular options for managing your printer from within the same interface, you can launch the legacy Devices and Printers explorer from the classic Control Panel. That will let you perform a task like install and configure options for your printer.
If you are running an older version of Windows, check out our article here for instructions on how to set up and configure your printer.
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How Do I Change The Default Printer In Cmd
This is easy to do. Follow the steps below:
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.
Set Default Printer In Windows 10
There are multiple ways to change the default printer in Windows 10. In this quick guide, I will show three main methods. The first method works only on Windows 10 but the other two methods will work on Windows 7 and 8 too. All methods achieve the same task. So, feel free to use the one you are comfortable with.
Related:How to connect a wireless printer on Windows 10
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Set The Default Printer In Control Panel
Some Windows 10 users still like to use the Control Panel for managing settings and devices. If you fall into this group, follow these steps to set your default printer in Control Panel.
Open Control Panel as you usually would. You can also use the Search box to locate it quickly if you have it in your Taskbar. Just enter Control Panel into the Search box and then select it from the results.
Under Hardware and Sound, choose View devices and printers. If, for some reason, you dont see this option, click Hardware and Sound and then pick Devices and Printers.
Scroll down to Printers, right-click the printer you want to use, and pick Set as default printer.
How To Manage Default Printers On Windows 10
Windows 10 enables default settings for managing your printers and will set the default to the last printer used. You can change the behavior though.
When I go into town, I will stop by my favorite Internet café to get some work done. The kind folks there will sometimes let me hook up my laptop to their printer to print documents if I need to. Since upgrading to Windows 10, I discovered that the operating system enables default settings for managing your printers.
Instead of working with the old Location Aware Printing function introduced in Windows 7 Premium Business editions, it will default to the last printer used. If you dont like this and would prefer to have it turned off, here is how you do it.
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Prevent Windows From Changing Your Default Printer
To set your default printer, you need to first scroll to the bottom of your printers list and make sure Let Windows manage my default printer is unchecked.
If you have this enabled, Windows will change your default to what it thinks is best , which can be confusing. Having this enabled also prevents you from setting your own default printer.
Set The Default Printer Using Control Panel
Step 1: Press Windows + R keys together to open Run dialog box.
Step 2: Type control panel in the run box and hit the Enter key to open Control Panel.
Step 3: In the Control Panel window, make sure View by Category is selected.
Step 4: Then, Click View devices and printers under Hardware and Sound as shown below.
Step 5: In the Devices and Printers page, Right click on any printer that you want to set as default.
Step 6: Select Set as default printer from the context menu as shown in the below screenshot.
Step 7: Then, Click OK button on the confirmation prompt to proceed.
Step 8: Now the default printer is set on your system.
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Fix : Check The Printer Status
Windows will default to another printer if it detects an issue with your preferred printer. You need to check the status of the printer and see if it is powered on and online:
Also, check the USB and power cables and make sure that they are not disconnected or damaged. If there is a problem with these cables, the printer will be seen to have an issue and Windows will automatically default to another printer that works fine.
How Do I Stop Windows 11/10 From Changing My Default Printer
In Windows 11/10, there is a setting named Let Windows manage my default printer. When this setting is enabled, Windows automatically selects your default printer according to the most recently used printer at a particular location. This feature is useful if you use the same laptop with different printers at different places like in your home, office, etc. To stop Windows 11/10 from changing your default printer, you have to disable this setting. We have explained the steps to do so above in this article.
If you want, you can permanently disable this feature by using Group Policy Editor and Registry Editor.
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