This article is all about the way to remove or uninstall a printer driver on Windows 10. If you are a Windows 10 user working on a computer, you probably add various printers across multiple locations, which you would use only once or twice. However, it is actually only one or two printers device that keeps needs to be connected with your computer perpetually. Then what about the remaining one? Of course, you usually open the Settings application and easily delete the printers you don’t need.
Well, but deleting any printer doesn’t remove its driver. They actually get accumulated in an inventory, so that you can use them again if you need it. Although it’s a nice way if you think that you might need those drivers again in the future. But, if you are willing to remove them completely, you need to move to the below section.
Solutions to completely uninstall a printer driver
In order to uninstall a printer driver from your device, you can use any one of the five methods given below –
1] Through Windows Settings
If you don’t need to use any specific printer, you can remove it through the Windows Settings. To uninstall it, follow the steps given below –
- Press Windows + I shortcut key and let the Windows Settings appear.
- On the Settings page, select the Devices category.
- From the left sidebar, select the Printers & scanners section.
- Move to the right pane, select your printer and click on the Remove device option.
- In the popup menu, hit the Yes button to give your approval.
Once you perform the above steps, the printer will be removed from your device. Now, you need to proceed towards removing its driver from your computer.
2] Uninstall a printer driver using the Control Panel
As an alternative, you can use the Control Panel to remove the printer driver from your computer. Here is how to do it –
- Open the Control Panel.
- Make sure the View of the Control Panel items is organized by Category.
- Select the Hardware and Sound section.
- Click on Devices and Printers.
- On the following page, go to the Printers section and select the Printer you want to remove.
- Finally, do a right-click on the device and select the Remove device option.
- If the system asks for your confirmation, click on the Yes button.
After performing the above steps, the printer that you uninstalled will no longer be available on your device.
3] Through Print Management
Print Management is an important software program that manages various printer tasks. You can easily use this software to uninstall the printer driver from your device. Here are the steps to do it –
- Right-click on the Start menu and type “Control panel”.
- Select the result from the best match.
- Click on the System and Security section.
- Scroll and select the Administrative Tools category.
- On the next page, double-click on the Print Management option.
- In the Print Management page, expand Custom Filters.
- Click on All Printers and then move to the right page.
- Right-click on the device you need to remove and then select the Delete option.
- In order to give your consent, click on the Yes button.
4] Uninstall a printer driver through Command Prompt
Many times users find it cozier to perform a task with the Command-line interface. If you are also one of them and prefer to remove the printer driver using the command, follow the steps –
- Click on the Start button and type “cmd”.
- Right-click on the “Command prompt” and select Run as administrator.
- If UAC prompts on the screen, click on the Yes button.
- Once the command prompt opens, type the following command line and then hit Enter –
wmic printer get name- After that, again type the command and then press the Enter key –
printui.exe /dl /n "YOUR-PRINTER-NAME"- In the above command line, you need to replace YOUR-PRINTER-NAME with the name of your printer.
Once you complete the above steps, the printer that you specified in the command line will be uninstalled from your device.
5] Using PowerShell Commands
Sometimes users prefer PowerShell to use the Command-line task. You can use the below steps to uninstall a printer from Windows 10 –
- Click on the Start button and type PowerShell.
- Right-click on Windows PowerShell and select Run as administrator.
- Click on the Yes button if UAC prompts on the screen.
- Once it opens, type the following command and then press the Enter key.
Get-Printer | Format-List Name -
Again, type the below command and press Enter to uninstall the Printer.
Remove-Printer -Name "YOUR-PRINTER-NAME"
This will remove the printer from your device. In the above command line, you need to replace YOUR-PRINTER-NAME with the name of your Printer.
That’s it.
