Windows 11 has a simple feature to install or add a local or network printer. But, if you want, you can prevent users from adding the local printer as well as a network printer using the usual methods or options. This risewindows article will show you how to stop adding printers to Windows 11.
For this, you can use any of the two native features of Windows 11 covered in this post. Once you have set the setting to disable adding the printers, then Add device option available in the Settings app for Add a printer or scanner will be greyed out, just like it is visible in the image below.
However, the Add a printer option available in the Devices and Printers section also won’t work. When you click on that
Quick Note: You can use printer permissions to restrict the use of printers without specifying a setting. In the Printers folder, right-click a printer, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.
How to Prevent Adding a Printer on Windows 11 or 10 using Group Policy Editor?
Note: if you are using Windows 11/10 Home edition, you can not use this method because group policy is not part of that. Either enable gpedit.msc on your PC or use the registry method.
To stop adding a new printer on Windows 11 or 10, do the following:-
Step 1. Firstly, open Local Group Policy Editor.
Step 2. Now, navigate to the following path from the left sidebar:-
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Printers
Step 3. Then, look for the policy name, “Prevent addition of printers,” and double-click on it to modify.
Step 4. Select
Step 5. After that, click on the
Step 6. Finally, click the
After completing the above steps, none of the users’ accounts under your Windows 11/10 PC will add a local or network printer using standard methods. However, this will not affect already installed printers. So you can keep using the already installed printers.
To undo the changes, repeat the above steps, and in step 4 above, you need to select the
How to Disallow Adding a Printer on Windows 11 or 10 through Registry Editor?
To disallow adding a printer on Windows 11 using Registry Editor, perform the following:-
Step 1. Firstly, open Registry Editor.
Step 2. Now, browse to the following key from the left sidebar:-
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Step 3. Then, right-click on the
Step 4. Next, double-click on the
Step 5. Then, click
Step 6. Finally, restart your computer to apply the changes.
That’s it.
I hope this post will be informative to you.
Good luck, guys.
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