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How to Backup Printer Driver in Windows 10

By / How To

For ease of setting up a printer on a new or reinstalled machine, you can backup printer drivers. Here’re the exact steps you should follow.

Over the years, the printers have become a bit more user friendly when it comes to the user interface and even the driver installation. In fact, Windows 10 makes the printer driver installation as painless as possible. However, if your printer needs a specific set of drivers, it can be a problem when you are moving it to another computer or if you are reinstalling the Windows 10 operating system. In addition to the drivers, consolidating all the printer software settings from one machine to the other can also be a hassle.

Thankfully, with just a few clicks, you can backup printer drivers, printer queues, and printer settings in Windows 10. Once you have the backup, restoring it will not only restore the drivers but also the print queue and the printer settings.

In this quick and simple guide, let me show you the steps to follow to backup printer drivers and printer queue in Windows 10.

Steps to Backup Printer Drivers

To backup printer drivers, you can use the Printer Migration tool in Windows 10. As the tool name suggests, it allows to you migrate your printer drivers, queues, and other settings to another machine running Windows 10. The good thing, is tool is dead simple to use. Here’s how.

  1. Hold “Start” key and press “R” key to open the Run dialog box.
  2. Type “PrintBrmUi.exe” in the field and click “Ok“.
  3. As soon as you click, the Print Migration tool will open.
  4. Here, select “Export printer queues and printer drivers to a file” option.
  5. Click “Next” to continue.
    Select-export-to-backup-printer-drivers-041020
  6. Select the export option depending on your printer setup. In my case, it is “This print server“
  7. Click the “Next” button.
    Select-export-option-041020
  8. The tool will now show all the items that are ready to export. Take a look at it and click “Next” to continue.
    Printer-export-items-041020
  9. Now, click on the “Browse” button.
    Click-browse-041020
  10. Choose a location to save the file, name the file, and click the “Save” button.
    Select-location-to-save-printer-drivers-backup-file-041020
  11. Click “Next” in the Print Migration window.
    Set-backup-location-path-041020
  12. As soon as you click the button, Windows will export the printer drivers and its queues.
  13. Once the export is done, click “Finish” to close the window.
    Printer-driver-backup-complete-041020

After exporting, you can find the “.PrinterExport” file in the location you chose in step 10.

Restore Printer Drivers

You can use the PrinterExport file to restore the printer drivers and printer queues. To do that, open the “PrintBrmUi.exe” file, select “Import printer queues and printer drivers from a file”, select the backup file and click “Next”. As soon as you do that, the Printer Migration tool will import the file and restore the printer drivers.

Important Note: The PrintBrmUI.exe file is only available in Windows 10 Pro version. If you are running the Home edition, you will not be able to use it.

That is all. I hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible. If you like this article, check out how to set default printer in Windows 10 and how to connect to a wireless printer in Windows 10.

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