How to completely remove the printer drivers from Windows PC

Steps to Completely Remove Printer Drivers in Windows 10

Step 1: Stop the Print Spooler Service

1. Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog box.
2. Type services.msc and press Enter.
3. In the Services window, locate Print Spooler.
4. Right-click on Print Spooler and select Stop.

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Step 2: Delete the Printer from Settings

1. Go to Settings → Devices → Printers & Scanners.
2. Locate the printer you want to remove, select it, and click Remove Device.

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Step 3: Remove Printer Drivers via Print Management

1. Press Windows + R, type printmanagement.msc, and press Enter.

   • Note: If you don’t have Print Management on your PC (it's not available on Windows Home editions), skip to Step 4.

2. In Print Management:

   • Expand Print Servers → your PC's name → Drivers.
   • Locate the printer driver, right-click it, and select Remove Driver Package.

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Step 4: Manually Delete Printer Driver Files

If Print Management is unavailable or the drivers persist:

1. Navigate to the printer driver folder:
   • Press Windows + R, type %windir%\System32\spool\drivers, and press Enter.
2. Go into the appropriate folder (e.g., x64 for 64-bit systems).
3. Delete the folder or files associated with the printer you removed.

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Step 5: Clean the Registry (Optional)

Warning: Back up your registry before making any changes.

1. Press Windows + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to:
   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers
3. Locate the printer's name and delete the corresponding folder.

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Step 6: Restart the Print Spooler Service

1. Go back to the Services window (services.msc).
2. Right-click on Print Spooler and select Start.

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Step 7: Restart Your PC

Restart your computer to ensure all changes take effect. 

Other Methods

1: Using Command Prompt and Print Spooler

1. Create a Command Prompt Shortcut

   • Right-click on your desktop and select New → Shortcut.
   • Set the target as cmd.exe and click Next to create the shortcut.

2. Run Command Prompt as Administrator

   • Right-click on the shortcut you just created and select Run as Administrator.

3. Open Print Management Utility

   • In the Command Prompt, type the following and press Enter:
     • printui /s /t2
   • This opens the Print Management utility.

4. Delete Printers

   • In the Print Management utility, try deleting the printers. If this doesn’t work, continue to the next step.

5. Stop the Print Spooler Service

   • Click Start → Run, type services.msc, and press Enter.
   • Locate Print Spooler, right-click it, and select Properties.
   • Click Stop to stop the service.

6. Delete Spooler Files

   • Open File Explorer and navigate to:
     • C:\Windows\System32\spool\Printers
   • You may need to confirm access by clicking OK.
   • Delete all files in this folder.

7. Restart the Print Spooler Service

   • Go back to the Services window.
   • Right-click Print Spooler and select Start.

8. Retry Removing the Printer

   • Reopen the Print Management utility using the same command:
     • printui /s /t2
   • Attempt to remove the printer again.
   • If necessary, check the Ports tab and delete any TCP/IP ports associated with the old printer.

9. Check Networked Computers

• If your printer is shared on a network, check other connected computers.
• Remove any mapped connections to the old printer, especially if spooled documents are still being sent to it.

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2: Manually Remove Printer Drivers

1. Open Print Management

   • Click Start and type print management in the search field (or on the desktop in Windows 8/10/11).

2. Delete the Printer

   • On the left panel of the Print Management window, select the All Printers folder.
   • If the unwanted printer is listed, right-click it and choose Delete.

3. Remove Driver Package

   • In the same Print Management window, select the All Drivers folder.

   • Right-click the unwanted printer driver and choose Remove Driver Package.

   Note: Using the Remove Driver Package option clears all driver installation files for that device, ensuring Windows doesn’t automatically reinstall the printer in the future.