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Set your preferred default printer windows

How to Set Your Preferred Default Printer in Windows (11 & 10)

Tired of constantly selecting your main printer every time you print? Learning how to set your preferred default printer in Windows can save you time and prevent documents from accidentally being sent to the wrong output device. While Windows has a feature to manage this automatically, you can easily override it to ensure your go-to printer is always selected. This guide shows you how for both Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Understanding Windows’ Default Printer Management

By default, recent versions of Windows (including Windows 11 and later versions of Windows 10) come with a feature enabled called “Let Windows manage my default printer.” When this is active, Windows automatically sets your default printer to the one you used most recently at your current location.

To manually set your preferred default printer in Windows and have it stick, you’ll typically need to turn this Windows management feature OFF first.

How to Set Your Preferred Default Printer in Windows 11

Here’s how to take control of your default printer settings in Windows 11:

Accessing Printers & Scanners Settings

  1. Open Settings (you can press Windows key + I).
  2. Click on Bluetooth & devices in the left sidebar.
  3. Select Printers & scanners.

Disabling Windows Default Printer Management

  1. On the Printers & scanners page, scroll down to the “Printer preferences” section.
  2. Find the toggle switch for “Let Windows manage my default printer.”
  3. If this switch is On, click it to turn it Off. (Illustrative placeholder for UI element)

Setting Your Default Printer

  1. With “Let Windows manage my default printer” turned off, scroll back up to your list of installed printers on the Printers & scanners page.
  2. Click on the printer you wish to make your default.
  3. This will open the settings page for that specific printer. You should see a button labeled “Set as default.” Click this button. (Illustrative placeholder for UI element)
  4. The printer’s status should now indicate “Default” under its name in the printer list.

How to Set Your Preferred Default Printer in Windows 10

The process in Windows 10 is quite similar:

Accessing Printers & Scanners Settings

  1. Open Settings (Windows key + I).
  2. Click on Devices.
  3. Select Printers & scanners from the left sidebar.

Disabling Windows Default Printer Management

  1. On the Printers & scanners page, look for a checkbox sœurs “Let Windows manage my default printer.”
  2. If this box is checked, uncheck it.

Setting Your Default Printer

  1. After unchecking the box, the ability to manually set a default printer is restored.
  2. In the list of printers, click on the printer you want to set as your default.
  3. Click the Manage button that appears.
  4. On the printer management page for that device, click the “Set as default” button.
  5. The printer will now be marked as your default printer.

What if the “Set as default” Button is Missing or Greyed Out?

This usually happens for one primary reason:

  • “Let Windows manage my default printer” is still ON. Double-check this setting in either Windows 11 or Windows 10 as described above and ensure it is turned OFF (or unchecked).
  • Restart: Occasionally, a system restart after changing the “Let Windows manage…” setting can help Windows recognize the change.
  • Control Panel (Older method): If you’re still having trouble, especially on older Windows 10 versions or if enterprise policies are in play, you can try the classic Control Panel method:
    1. Search for “Control Panel” in the Windows search bar and open it.
    2. Go to “Hardware and Sound” > “Devices and Printers.”
    3. Right-click on the printer you want as default.
    4. Select “Set as default printer” from the context menu.

Verifying Your Default Printer

The easiest way to check if your preferred printer is now the default is to:

  1. Open any application that can print (e.g., Notepad, Microsoft Word, your web browser).
  2. Go to File > Print (or press Ctrl + P).
  3. The printer selected by default in the print dialog box should be the one you just set.

Conclusion

Taking a moment to set your preferred default printer in Windows can make your daily printing tasks much smoother. By disabling Windows’ automatic management and manually selecting your go-to device, you ensure your documents always head to the right place without extra clicks.