Update The Printer Drivers And Then Uninstall The Printer
If youre using outdated or faulty printer drivers, that may be why you cant remove your printer from your PC. To deal with this, first update your printers drivers and then try to remove the printer.
Luckily, you can update your printers drivers automatically on both Windows 10 and 11 PCs:
Uninstall Printer Using Control Panel
- Open Control Panel by typing so on your computers search pane.
- Go to the Hardware and Sound category.
- Here, right-click on the printer you want to uninstall, and from the subsequent drop-down that will appear, click on Remove device.
You should follow the aforementioned steps regarding the uninstallation of any printer-related software if you choose to delink printers using this method too.
Remove The Printer Using Powershell
Some users have successfully managed to remove the stubborn printer that was refusing to go away on Windows 10 by using PowerShell. While this method will require you to get a little technical, its reportedly more efficient than the majority of methods that are done through a graphical interface.
Heres a quick guide on removing a printer via PowerShell:
Get-Printer | Format-List Name
Remove-Printer -Name "Printer name"
Note: Be mindful that Printer name is just a placeholder for the actual name of your printer. Replace the placeholder with the name of the printer that you extracted at step 3. The result should end up looking like this:
Remove-Printer -Name "Canon IP1188 Inkjet Printer"
At the next startup, see whether the printer device is still present in the printers list. If it is, move down to the next method.
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How To Properly Remove A Printer On Windows 10
Although on Windows 10, the process to install printers has improved over the years, we’re quickly moving into a digital world that has significantly reduced the need to print content on paper.
If you’re also taking the paperless route, you simply no longer use a particular printer, or you’re troubleshooting problems, you can use the Settings app, Control Panel, Print Management, Command Prompt, or even PowerShell to remove the printing device from your computer.
In this Windows 10 guide, we’ll walk you through five different ways to properly remove a printer from your device.
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:
explorer shell:::
in the Run box and press Enter to open the Printers folder.
Open Printer Folder
At the next startup, see whether the printer has been removed from your computer.
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Remove Printer Driver From Print Server
Delete The Driver As Every User
If you have multiple users on your PC, you might not be able to remove the printer since the driver is in use.
In order to fix this problem, you need to log in to each user account that has the printer connected and delete the device. After that, log in to the administrator account and delete the driver package.
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Remove Printer Using Settings
To remove a printer from Windows 10, use these steps:
Open Settings on Windows 10.
Click on Devices.
Under the Printers & scanners section, select the printer that you want to remove.
Click the Remove device button.
Settings remove printer
Click the Yes button.
Once you complete the steps, you can proceed to delete the driver from your computer. Alternatively, if the device uses Windows 8.1 or Windows 7, you can uninstall the printer from Control Panel> Hardware and Sound> Devices and Printers, right-clicking the printer and selecting the Remove device option.
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.
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Uninstall Printer Driver In Windows 10
How to Uninstall a Printer Driver in Windows 10remove a printerWindows 10administratorCONTENTS:
- Option One: Uninstall Printer Driver in Print Management
- Option Two: Uninstall Printer Driver in Print Server Properties
- Option Three: Uninstall Printer Driver in Settings
- Option Four: Uninstall Printer Driver in Control Panel
- Option Five: Uninstall Printer Driver in Printers folder
Delete Old Printers Via Registry Editor
If you open the Add a printer page and find old printers still listed there, edit the registry to remove leftover entries. To do this, start by creating a system restore point, and then follow the steps below.
- Right-click Start> Run.
- Type regedit.exe and click OK to open the Registry Editor.
Find the registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Printers\Roamed
- Right-click the printer from the right pane, and select Delete.
- Check printer entries and delete unwanted items by going to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Printers\Connections
Next, go to this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers
- Click to expand the key, right-click your printer and select Delete.
Some subkeys may still have references to your old printer, so you can clear the following as well:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86\Drivers\Version-3HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows x64\Drivers\Version-3 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows x64\Drivers\Version-4
Once this is done, exit the Registry Editor.
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What Can I Do To Troubleshoot The Print Spooler Service
Before reinstalling the print spooler service you must try to troubleshoot the print spooler service.
Here are the Print Spooler Service Troubleshooting Steps for windows 10:
- Then select Settings.
- Under Windows Update, select Check for updates. If updates are available, click Install updates.
- Once installed, restart your computer if prompted.
This should fix the issue with the Print Spooler service.
If not, you may try to uninstall the print spooler service.
Delete Hidden Printers From Device Manager
Sometimes hidden devices can cause problems with printers, therefore youll need to remove them. To do that, follow the steps above.
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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.
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.
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How Do I Uninstall And Reinstall A Printer On Windows 10
Then follow these steps to remove and reinstall the printer.
What Do I Do If My Printer Is Not Detected
If the printer is not responding even after youve plugged it in, you can try a few things:
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Using The Classic Control Panel
The classic Control Panel is another way to remove a printer driver in Windows 11. Here is how:
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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Powershell Command To Remove A Printer
To delete a printer using PowerShell, follow the below steps.
Right-click on the Start menu and select the Windows PowerShell option to open PowerShell with admin rights.
Get the printer name using the following command.
Get-Printer | Format-List Name
Copy the name of the printer you want to remove.
Next, use the below command to remove the target printer. Dont forget to replace the dummy printer name with the actual printer name.
Remove-Printer -Name “Dummy-Printer-Name”
After executing the command successfully, you can close the PowerShell window.
That is it. It is that simple to remove a printer in Windows operating system.
I hope that helps.
If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.
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Try To Delete The Printer Quickly After Restarting The Print Spooler Service
A few users reported that you can fix this problem by trying to remove the printer after restarting the Print Spooler service.
We already explained how to restart this service in one of our previous solutions, so we advise you to check it out.
This process requires speed, therefore be sure to remove the printer as soon as you restart the Print Spooler service.
According to users, you only have a few seconds to remove the printer, so be sure to do it as fast as you can. If Print Spooler doesnt work, we have a helpful guide on how to solve its issues.
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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Remove Printer Using Windows Settings
You can remove a printer from the Settings app in Windows 10. Here is how.
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.
Remove Your Printer Using The Print Management
According to users, if you cant remove a certain printer in Windows 10, you might want to try removing it by using the Print Management tool.
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Does Windows 10 Install Drivers Automatically
Windows 10 automatically downloads and installs drivers for your devices when you first connect them. Even though Microsoft has a vast amount of drivers in their catalog, they are not always the latest version, and many drivers for specific devices are not found. If necessary, you can also install the drivers yourself.
Clear The Print Jobs Queue
As quite a few users have reported, a stuck can also be responsible for preventing the printer from being removed. Some affected users were finally able to remove the stubborn printer by clearing the folder responsible for holding the print jobs.
Heres a quick guide on how to clear the print jobs queue folder:
C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
in the Run box and hit Enter to open the folder holding the printing jobs.
Open C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
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How To Uninstall A Printer Using Powershell
If you prefer to use PowerShell, you can use these steps to remove a printer from Windows 10:
Type the following command to queue a list of printers on your device and press Enter:
Get-Printer | Format-List Name
Type the following command to uninstall the printer and press Enter:
Remove-Printer -Name “YOUR-PRINTER-NAME”
In the command, replace the YOUR-PRINTER-NAME with the full name of your printer see step No. 3.
After completing the steps, the printer that you selected will be removed from your computer.