Printer cannot be removed - what to do?
If the printer cannot be removed, this indicates an error in the driver. In this practical tip, we will show you how you can completely remove the printer under Windows and Mac.
Printer cannot be removed - that's how it works on Windows
If you cannot remove the printer in Windows, the following points should help:
- Open the Control Panel and go to "Device Manager".
- Click on "View" at the top and finally "Show hidden devices".
- Find the printer you want to delete from the list and right click on it.
- The full name of the printer is in the "General" tab. Make a note of this or copy it.
- Then open the Start menu and click on "All Programs". Finally, right click on "Command Prompt" and choose "Run as administrator".
- First enter the following command "cd printing_admin_scripts \ de-de" and confirm with [Enter].
- You are now in the printer installation path. With the command "cscript prnmngr.vbs -d -p" DruckerName "-s MeinComputerName" your printer is removed from the PC.
- You have to replace "DruckerName" and "MeinComputerName" with the actual values from your PC.
- As soon as the action was successful, a message appears that the affected printer has been deleted. Make sure that the printer you want to delete is not set as the default printer.
Mac cannot remove printer - so go ahead
If you have this problem under Mac, we also have the right instructions for you:
- Click on the Apple logo above and go to "System Preferences".
- Finally, open the "Printers & Scanners" option here. Depending on the Mac version, this item can also be called "Print & Scan" or "Print & Fax".
- Press and hold the [ctrl] key and click on the menu item "Reset printing system" on the left.
Tip: 3 price-efficient printers in a CHIP comparison
In the next practical tip, read what you can do when your printer is offline.