How to completely remove a printer driver on Windows 10

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If you are a mobile user working with a laptop, there’s a good chance you connect to many printers in different locations, which you may only use once or twice. After a while, without realizing it, you can end up with many printers installed on your computer.

Sure, you can delete the devices you do not need using the Settings app. However, what you may not know is that deleting a printer doesn’t delete its driver from Windows 10. They will actually stay stored in a local inventory in case you need them again. Although this is a good approach for reinstalling printers quickly, if you know that you won’t be needing the driver again, you can keep things organized, free up a little bit of space, and prevent possible printer driver problems by deleting the driver completely from Windows 10 or older versions.

In this guide, you will learn the steps to completely delete printer drivers from your Windows 10 device.

How to delete a printer completely from Windows 10

To remove a printer and driver from your computer is a two-step process.

Remove printer using Settings

To remove a printer from Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Settings on Windows 10.

2. Click on Devices.

3. Click on Printers & scanners.

4. Under the “Printers & scanners” section, select the printer that you want to remove.

5. Click the Remove device button.

   

   Settings remove printer

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6. Click the Yes button.

Once you complete the steps, you can proceed to delete the driver from your computer. Alternatively, if the device uses Windows 8.1 or Windows 7, you can uninstall the printer from Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers, right-clicking the printer and selecting the Remove device option.

Delete printer driver using Print Management

To delete a printer driver, use these steps:

1. Open Start.

2. Search for Control Panel and click the top result to open the console.

3. Click on System and Security.

4. Click on Administrative Tools.

5. Double-click the Print Management option.

6. Expand the Custom Filters branch.

7. Click on All Drivers from the left navigation pane.

8. Right-click the printer driver, on the right side, and select the Delete option.

   

   Computer Management delete printer driver

9. Click the Yes button.

After you complete the steps, the printer driver will be uninstalled from the computer. If you have additional printers, you’ll need to repeat the steps to remove them from the device completely.