Printer Driver Broken
After a Windows Update?

You go to bed, Windows installs an update overnight, and in the morning your printer has vanished from the list or refuses to accept jobs. The printer itself is fine. Nothing physically changed. But Windows quietly overwrote, removed, or destabilised a driver component — and now you're troubleshooting at 8am before a deadline.

This guide covers the complete recovery process. Follow the steps in order — most people resolve the issue at step 2 or 3.

Identify What the Update Did

Before diving into fixes, it helps to know what Windows actually changed. Open Settings → Windows Update → Update History and look at the most recent updates. Pay attention to Driver Updates and Quality Updates, which are the most likely to affect printing. If you see a printer-related driver update listed, that's likely your culprit.

Step 1: Roll Back the Driver

If Windows installed a driver update, you can often roll it back quickly:

1. Press Windows + X and open Device Manager.
2. Expand Print queues. Right-click your printer and select Properties.
3. Go to the Driver tab. If the Roll Back Driver button is available (not greyed out), click it.
4. Select a reason in the prompt and confirm. Restart your PC when asked.

Step 2: Remove and Reinstall the Driver Completely

This is the most reliable fix and resolves the majority of post-update driver issues.

1. Open Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners. Click your printer and select Remove.
2. Open Device Manager, expand Print queues, right-click your printer, and select Uninstall device. Tick the box to remove the driver software if offered. Confirm.
3. Open the Print Management console (search for it in the Start menu). Navigate to Drivers in the left panel. Right-click any remaining entries for your printer and select Delete.
4. Restart your PC.
5. Go directly to your printer manufacturer's website and download the latest full driver package for your model and Windows version. Do not use Windows Update or the generic "Add a printer" wizard — these often install reduced-functionality drivers.
6. Run the installer and follow the on-screen setup.

Step 3: Check and Reset the Printer Port

Sometimes the driver reinstalls correctly but the printer port — the communication channel between Windows and the printer — becomes misconfigured after an update. This causes the driver to appear installed but the printer to show as offline or unavailable.

1. Open Control Panel → Devices and Printers. Right-click your printer and select Printer properties.
2. Go to the Ports tab. Note which port is selected (e.g., IP_192.168.1.50 for network printers, or USB001 for USB).
3. For network printers: click Add Port, select Standard TCP/IP Port, and create a new port with your printer's current IP address. Then select this new port and click Apply.
4. For USB printers: disconnect the USB cable, wait 10 seconds, and reconnect. Windows should automatically reassign the correct USB port.

Step 4: Prevent Windows From Updating the Driver Again

If Windows keeps reinstalling a problematic driver through automatic updates, you can block it using the Show or hide updates troubleshooter, available for download from Microsoft's support website. Run it, select "Hide updates," and tick the offending driver. This prevents it from being reinstalled without blocking other Windows updates.