Over the years, setting up a printer on Windows has become very easy. Simply connect your printer – whether it’s an HP, Epson, or Canon – to your computer, and Windows will automatically download and install the necessary driver. However, for older models or when the printer driver is hard to find, it’s a good idea to backup the printer driver once it’s installed. That way, future installations will be painless as all it requires is importing the printer driver.
In this article, we’ll show you a simple way to backup and restore your printer drivers and settings using the Printer Migration tool in Windows. Let’s get started.
Note: The steps below are tested to work on Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7.
Backup Printer Driver on Windows
Windows includes a built-in tool called Printer Migration that allows you to export and import printer drivers and queues. There is no reason to use any third-party printer driver backup tool. Let’s learn how to use it:
Start by pressing Windows key + R to open the run dialog window. Once it opens, enter printbrmui.exe in the run window and click OK to open the Printer Migration tool.
In the Printer Migration window, select Export printer queues and printer drivers to a file option and click Next.
Now, select This print server option and click Next. If it’s a network printer, select the ‘A printer server on network’ option and enter the printer’s network address in the available field. If you don’t know the printer’s network address, you can browse for it by clicking the ‘Browse’ button.
You will now see a list of all the printer drivers that you are about to backup/export. Click the Next button to continue.
Now, click the Browse button to select a folder to save the driver export file.
In the Browse window, select a folder where you want to save the driver export file, give it a name in the File Name field, and click Save.
Click Next in the Printer Migration window.
Finally, press the Finish button and you are done. With that, you’ve successfully backed up all your printer drivers. Open the folder where you saved the file to find the ‘filename.printerexport’ file.
Restore Printer Drivers from Backup
To restore the printer drivers backed up with the Printer Migration tool, follow the steps below:
First, press Windows key + R, type printbrmui.exe, and click OK to open the Printer Migration tool. Once it opens, select the Import printer queues and printer drivers from a file option and click Next.
Click the Browse button, select the export file with .printerexport file extension, and click Open. Click Next in the main window.
You will now see a list of all the printer drivers that are about to be restored. Click Next.
Select the This print server option and click Next. If the printers are located on a network, select the ‘A print server on the network’ option, click ‘Browse,’ and select the printer.
In the import options screen, let the default options be as is and click Next.
As soon as you do that, the printer drivers are imported and restored. Click the Finish button and you are done. If necessary, restart your computer.
And there you have it! It’s that simple to backup and restore the drivers of all your printers on Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7.