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7 Ways to Fix Can’t Remove the Printer in Windows 10
Unable to remove printer in you Windows 10 PC? Try these fixes
11 min. read
Updated onJuly 26, 2024
updated onJuly 26, 2024
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Key notes
To fix various driver issues on your PC, you will need a dedicated tool to find the freshest and the original drivers. You can use PC HelpSoft Driver Updater to do it in 3 easy steps:
We frequently use printers to print important documents, but problems with printers can sometimes appear.
You will findmultiple user reportsfrom different times, that indicate that users often aren’t able to remove the printer on their Windows 10 PCs.
To fix printer problems we sometimes need to remove the printer, but users reported that they cannot remove the printer in Windows 10.
Why can’t I remove printer in Windows 10?
Here are a few of the most common reasons you aren’t able to remove the printer on a Windows 10 PC.
If you can’t remove printer in Windows 11 or older, it’s probably because you don’t have administrative privileges. We wrote in-depth about the Access is denied guide, so we encourage you to check it out for more solutions.
If the printer is displayed as anunspecified devicethat can cause additional problems with it, and prevent you from removing it. This is most likely a configuration or a driver issue.
A few users reported thata deleted printer keeps coming back, and that’s a variation of this error, but luckily, this guide will show you how to fix this problem.
How do I fix unable to remove printer message on Windows 10?
1. Remove the printer
1.1 Change the Print server properties
Users reported that they can’t remove their printer on Windows 10, and if you’re having the same problem, you might be able to fix it by deleting the printer driver from the Print server properties window.
1.2 Remove the printer software
1.3 Stop the Print Spooler service
If you can’t remove your printer by using the method fromsteps 1.1and1.2, you’ll have to stop the Print Spooler service first. To do that, follow the steps above.
After restarting the Spooler service, try using the Print server properties window to remove your printer.
Keep in mind that issues can occur if your printer is shared with other computers on your network, so be sure to stop printer sharing and remove printer mappings.
If you have trouble removing the printer, check out our list with thebest driver removal softwarethat you can get right now.
2. Edit the registry
If you can’t remove a printer in Windows 10, you might have to change a few values in your registry.
Changing the registry can cause problems with your PC, therefore it might a good idea to create a backup of your registry, just in case.
When your PC restarts, go to the Devices and Printers window, find your printer and delete it.
If you find it difficult to work with the embedded Registry Editor from Windows, you can try a lot ofother registry editors.
3. Cancel all print jobs
Sometimes you won’t be able to remove a printer because there are still active print jobs.
If the devices and printers menu isn’t opening on your Windows 10 PC, then you cancheck out our guidethat will help you resolve the problem.
4. Update the printer driver
4.1 Update the drivers manually
If none of the previous workarounds resolved the problem, let’s try updating the printer driver to the latest version. Follow the steps above to do that.
4.2Update the drivers automatically
If you don’t want the hassle of searching for drivers on your own, you can use a tool that will do this for you automatically.
Professional software, likePC HelpSoft Driver Updater, will greatly simplify the updating process and will inform you if your drivers are going out of date again in the future.
⇒Get PC HelpSoft Driver Updater
5. Remove your printer using the Print Management
According to users, if you can’t remove a certain printer in Windows 10, you might want to try removing it by using the Print Management tool.
6. Delete hidden printers from Device Manager
Sometimes hidden devices can cause problems with printers, therefore you’ll need to remove them. To do that, follow the steps above.
7. Delete the driver entries from the registry
We have to mention that this is an advanced procedure, so be extra cautious while performing it. First, you need to uninstall all printers from your PC. After all, printers are uninstalled, do the steps above.
Bear in mind that this is an advanced solution, therefore we advise you tocreate a System Restore pointso you can restore your PC in case anything goes wrong.
If youcan’t access the Registry editor, check out our comprehensive article to solve the issue quickly.
What can I do if I can’t remove the printer driver in use?
1. 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.
2. End all tasks
If you can’t delete the driver, stop the Print Spooler service and try again. Be sure to turn on the Spooler service back on after you delete the driver.
3. Use the Kyocera Deleter tool
If you can’t remove the printer because the driver is in use, you might want to try using the Kyocera Deleter tool fromKyocera’s download center.
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 ourcomprehensive guideon how to download and use Kyocera printer drivers for Windows 10.
4. 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 doesn’t work, we have ahelpful guideon how to solve its issues.
5. Disable the Bidirectional support
Users reported that you can fix this problem by disabling the Bidirectional support. To do that, follow the steps above.
6. Set the Print Spooler service to Manual
Users reported that you can fix this problem by setting the Spooler service to Manual. To do that, open the Services window, locate the Print Spooler service, and double-click it to open its properties.
Set theStartup typetoManualand clickApplyandOKto save the changes.
After that, try to remove your printer. If the uninstall tool mentions Print Spooler service, simply go to Services, locate Print Spooler service and start it.
After that, you should be able to remove your printer without any problems.
Not being able to remove a printer in Windows 10 can be a big problem, but you can usually fix this problem by restarting the Print Spooler service and trying to delete the printer again.
How do I fix Cannot remove printer on Windows 11?
How do I force a printer to uninstall in Windows 10?
If you’re still unable to remove the printer in Windows 10, you can also consider changing your printer to a better one. You can choose one of thebest wireless printersfrom our extensive list.
Do I need to uninstall an old printer before installing a new one?
It is not compulsory to remove your old printer and its components from your PC before installing a new one. However, it is good practice to do so if you are sure you won’t be using the old device anytime soon.
This is to avoid confusion and free up valuable space.
We hope that our solutions helped you fix the printer problems. Make sure you provide us with your feedback in the comments section below.
More about the topics:Printer Errors
Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.
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Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.
