How to Set a Default Printer in Windows 11

To set a default printer in Windows 11, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners. Turn off Let Windows manage my default printer, select your printer, and select Set as default. The word Default then appears under the printer’s name, and apps pick it automatically when you print.

Applies to: Windows 11.

Set your default printer in Settings

1. Select Start > Settings, or press Windows + I.
2. Select Bluetooth & devices, then Printers & scanners.
3. Under Printer preferences, turn off Let Windows manage my default printer. The Set as default button only appears when this is off.
4. Select the printer you want in the list.
5. Select Set as default on the printer’s page.

Go back to Printers & scanners to check that Default now shows under the printer’s name.

Set it in Control Panel instead

1. Select Start, type control panel, and open Control Panel.
2. Select Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers.
3. Right-click the printer and select Set as default printer.

A green check mark appears on the default printer. On some versions of Windows 11, Devices and Printers opens the Printers & scanners page in Settings instead. If that happens, use the Settings steps above.

To open the classic Devices and Printers window directly, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Devices and select More devices and printers settings near the bottom. You can also press Windows + R, paste shell:::{A8A91A66-3A7D-4424-8D24-04E180695C7A}, and press Enter.

Why Windows keeps changing your default printer

With Let Windows manage my default printer turned on, Windows makes the printer you used most recently the default. On a laptop, it can also change when you move to a different network, such as from home to the office. Turn the setting off and set your default again, and it stays put.

Don’t turn Let Windows manage my default printer back on after you set a default. Some guides suggest it, but Windows then goes back to choosing the default for you the next time you print to another printer.

If there’s no Set as default button

• Turn off Let Windows manage my default printer first, then go back into the printer’s page.
• Work or school PC: your organization may manage printers. If the setting is grayed out, ask your IT support team to change the default. When your default is a shared office printer, consider setting up Secure Print with a PIN so private documents don’t sit in the output tray.
• The printer appears more than once. All-in-one printers often add a separate Fax entry, and a printer can show up twice if it was installed by USB and over Wi-Fi. Select the entry without “Fax” in its name, and send a test page from it before you make it the default. Remove the copy you don’t use so apps can’t pick it.
• Microsoft Print to PDF or OneNote keeps becoming the default. These are virtual printers. If Windows is managing the default and you last printed to one, it becomes the default. Turn off Let Windows manage my default printer and set your real printer again.

If your printer isn’t listed

Setting a default only works for printers Windows already knows about. Make sure the printer is on and connected by USB or to the same network as your PC. Then, on Printers & scanners, select Add device next to Add a printer or scanner. If Windows doesn’t find it, try the other options in adding a printer in Windows 11.

If the default resets after a restart

If your printer drops off the list or loses its default after a restart, the problem is usually the connection rather than the setting:

• Network printers can change address. Your router may give the printer a new IP address after it restarts, and Windows loses track of it. Reserving an address for the printer in your router’s settings stops this. Then remove the printer in Windows, add it again, and set it as the default.
• Install the full driver. Printer apps sometimes add a basic connection that’s less reliable. Download the full driver package from the printer maker’s support site.
• Work or school PCs can have the default set by the organization each time you sign in. Ask your IT team to change it.

Set the default printer with a command

If you manage several PCs, or Settings won’t let you change the default, you can do it from Terminal. First get the exact printer name. Open Terminal and run:

Get-Printer | Select-Object Name

Then set the default, replacing the name with yours. Keep the quotation marks:

rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /y /n "HP LaserJet M110w"

The command works in both PowerShell and Command Prompt and doesn’t need administrator rights, because the default printer is saved per user. If Let Windows manage my default printer is still on, Windows can switch it back, so turn that off in Settings first.

Frequently asked questions

Why does an app still print to a different printer?

Some apps remember the last printer you used in that app. Check the printer name in the app’s Print window before you print, and change it there if needed. The default matters most when you print several Word documents at once from File Explorer, because that shortcut skips the Print dialog and goes straight to the default printer.

Can I set a different default printer for each network?

Windows doesn’t offer a per-network setting you can control directly. Turning on Let Windows manage my default printer makes Windows choose based on your recent use at your current location, which often has the same effect.

My documents are stuck and won’t print. What now?

Start by clearing the printer queue in Windows 11.

Does each user on the PC have their own default printer?

Yes. The default printer is stored in each person’s account, so changing it for you doesn’t change it for anyone else who signs in to the same PC.

On Windows 10, the menus are slightly different: setting a default printer in Windows 10. Microsoft covers the same steps in Set a default printer in Windows.

Old printers you no longer use can be removed in Windows 11 so apps can’t pick them, and a printer icon on the desktop gives you one-click access to your default.