Don’t want a printer to appear in Windows? Here’s how to easily remove any printer in Windows 11 and 10 using the Settings app and commands.
For many Windows users, a printer is an essential part of their daily life. This is especially true in office, professional, or commercial environments. Even regular home users use printers from time to time. Unlike the older Windows versions, Windows 10 and Windows 11 make it easy to install a printer. Often, plugging in the printer to your computer is enough for it to work. No need for manual driver installation unless you need printer-specific features.
As good as the current printing experience is, there may be situations where you no longer need a specific printer to appear in your computer. For example, the printer may be outdated and no longer working, or you may want to temporarily remove a printer for troubleshooting. Whatever your specific reason is, if you ever want to, you can easily remove a printer on Windows 11 and Windows 10. In this quick and easy guide, I will show you three methods to get the job done. Let’s get started.
Quick navigation links:
- Remove the printer using Settings
- Use the command prompt to remove a printer
- PowerShell command to remove a printer
Remove a Printer Using Windows Settings
You can remove a printer from the Settings app in Windows 11 & 10. Here is how:
On Windows 11:
- Press “Windows key + I” to open Settings.
- Go to the “Bluetooth & devices” tab on the sidebar.
- Click the “Printers & scanners” option on the right panel.
- Click the printer you want to remove.
- Now, click the “Remove” button in the top-right corner.
- The selected printer is instantly removed from Windows 11.
On Windows 10:
- Right-click the Start menu.
- Select “Settings” from the menu.
- Go to the “Devices” > “Printers & scanners” page.
- Click the printer you want to remove.
- Click the “Remove device” button.
- Press the “Yes” button in the confirmation pop-up.
- The printer is removed instantly.
- Close the Settings app.
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
First, open the Settings app with the “Windows key + I” shortcut. You can also right-click the Start button and select “Settings”.
After opening it, go to the “Devices” > “Printers and scanners” page. This is where you will see all the printers added to your computer. Click the printer you want to remove, then press the “Remove device” button.
Click “Yes” in the confirmation pop-up. As soon as you do that, the printer is instantly removed from your computer.
With that, you have deleted a printer in Windows using the Settings app.
Use the Command Prompt to Remove a Printer
If you are not afraid of command-line tools, you can use the Command Prompt to remove any printer on your computer. Here’s how:
First, open the Command Prompt as admin. You can do that by searching for “Command Prompt” in the Start menu, right-clicking the result, and selecting “Run as administrator”.
In the Command Prompt window, the first step is to get the printer name. For that, run the following command. It will list all the names of the printers installed on your computer.
wmic printer get name
From the list, select the name of the printer you want to remove and copy it. You can copy the selected text by pressing the “Ctrl + C” shortcut or by right-clicking.
Next, execute the command below while replacing the dummy printer name with the actual printer name.
printui.exe /dl /n "Dummy-Printer-Name"
As soon as you execute the command, the printer is removed from your system.
PowerShell Command to Remove a Printer
Just like with Command Prompt, you can also use a simple PowerShell command to quickly remove any printer. Here’s how:
Right-click the Start menu and select the “Terminal (Admin)” or “Windows PowerShell (Admin)” option to open PowerShell with admin rights.
Get the printer name using the following command.
Get-Printer | Format-List Name
Next, select and copy (Ctrl+C) the name of the printer you want to remove.
Next, use the command below to remove the target printer. Don’t forget to replace the dummy printer name with the actual printer name.
Remove-Printer -Name "Dummy-Printer-Name"
After executing the command successfully, you can close the PowerShell window.
Note: After removing the printer, you might have to manually remove any additional printer software from the “Settings > Apps > Apps & features” page.
That is all. It is that simple to remove any printer from Windows 11 and Windows 10. If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.
Good to read: how to disable the print spooler service.
