Typically, you may need to disconnect and reconnect your printer to troubleshoot issues. Additionally, removing old and unused devices will help you organize the list of connected devices in Windows 11 and 10.
You can remove any connected printer from Settings. If that method doesn’t work, you can use Command Prompt and other methods to remove printers. The following article will guide you through several ways to delete a printer on a Windows computer.
1. How to remove a printer from Windows via Settings
You can easily add or remove printers from the Settings app. Here is how to do it:
1. Press Win + I to open Settings.
2. Open the Bluetooth & devices tab on the left.
3. Scroll down and click on Printers & scanners. This will list all the printers connected to your computer.
4. Click on the printer device you want to remove.
5. Click the Remove button in the top right corner and click Yes to confirm the action.
If you encounter an error, stop the Print Spooler service in Services and try again!
2. Uninstall printer software to remove a printer
If the removed printer option still appears, you can uninstall the printer driver associated with the device to completely remove it. You can remove drivers using the Apps & features tab in Windows 10 and 11.
To remove a printer driver:
- Press Win + I to open Settings.
- Click on the Apps tab on the left. The app list may take a few seconds to appear, so please wait until all apps are listed.
- In the App list, you can scroll through or search for the printer driver.
- Once you find the printer driver, click the three-dot menu.
- Select Uninstall and then click Uninstall again to confirm the action.
- Wait for the driver to uninstall, then find any other drives or software associated with the printer and remove them.
- After uninstalling, restart your PC.
3. Remove a printer using Control Panel
You can use the classic Control Panel to manage your printers. Removing a printer from the Control Panel is effective if the printer was not properly removed during the uninstallation process.
To remove a printer using Control Panel:
1. Press Win + R to open Run.
2. Type control and press OK to open the Control Panel. You can also search for the application using the Windows search bar.
3. In the Control Panel, go to Hardware and Sound.
4. Next, click on Devices and Printers.
5. In the Printers section, locate and select the printer device you want to remove.
6. Right-click on the printer and select Remove Device.
7. Click Yes to confirm the action.
4. Remove a printer using Print Server Properties
Sometimes, removing the printer device does not completely remove the driver and can cause your printer to malfunction. In such cases, you can use the Print Server Properties dialog box to remove the installed printer driver.
To uninstall a printer driver:
1. Press Win + R to open Run.
2. Type control and press OK.
3. In the Control Panel window, go to Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers.
4. Select any available printer and click Print server properties.
5. Open the Drivers tab in the Print Server Properties dialog box.
6. In Installed printer drivers, select the printer driver you want to uninstall and click Remove.
7. Next, select the option Remove driver and driver package.
8. Click OK to confirm the action and remove the driver.
9. Restart your PC to complete the driver removal process.
6. How to uninstall a printer using Command Prompt
If you prefer Command Prompt over the traditional user interface, you can remove a printer from your PC using the dl command.
To uninstall a printer, use Command Prompt:
- Press Win and type cmd into the Windows search bar.
- Right-click on the Command Prompt option and select Run as administrator.
- In the Command Prompt window, type the following command to see all printers installed on your PC:
wmic printer get name - To remove a printer, type the following command:
printui.exe /dl /n "Your_Printer_Name" - In the command above, replace Your_Printer_Name with your printer’s name.
- Press Enter to execute the command.
7. Remove a printer using Print Management
Print Management is a Windows utility that controls printers, drivers, ports, and servers. You can use this tool to remove printer drivers from your Windows computer. The Print Management utility is not available in the Home edition of the Windows operating system.
To remove a printer driver using Print Management:
1. Press Win + R to open Run.
2. Type printmanagement.msc and press OK to open Print Management.
3. On the left, expand the Print Servers section.
4. Click on your Local Printer server name to expand it.
5. Next, select Printers to see all installed printers.
6. On the right, select and right-click the printer you want to remove.
7. Select Delete and click Yes to confirm the action.
8. Remove a printer driver using PowerShell
Additionally, you can remove printer driver packages using PowerShell as an alternative to Print Management. This is also a faster way to remove multiple printers on your Windows computer.
To remove a printer driver using PowerShell:
- Press the Win key and type powershell.
- Right-click on Windows PowerShell and select Run as administrator.
- In the PowerShell dialog, enter the following command and press Enter to see the list of printers installed on your computer:
Get-PrinterDriver | Format-List Name - Once you have the list of printers, type the following command to remove the printer you want to delete:
Remove-PrinterDriver -Name "Printer-Name" - In the command above, replace Printer-Name with the name of the printer you want to remove.
Source: Quantrimang
