February 27, 2023

5 Ways to Set Your Default Printer on a Windows 11 PC

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Want your print jobs to go to a specific printer by default? Here’s how to quickly set that up on Windows 11.

A default printer is the device that print jobs are automatically assigned to unless the user selects otherwise. You can set a default (otherwise preferred) printer in Windows 11 in various ways.

It might not seem especially important to do so if you only have one printing device, but even then, there are still alternative print-to-file options like Print to PDF. Here are five ways you can set your default printer within Windows 11.

1. How to Set Your Default Printer in Settings

The Settings app has a Printers & scanners section from which you can set printing preferences. That section includes an Allow Windows to manage my default printer option you’ll need to disable to choose a default printer with any method. If that option is enabled, Windows will manage your default printer by setting it according to the most recently used. This is how to choose your default printer in Settings:

Open Settings with its pinned app shortcut on the Start menu or the Win + I hotkey.
Click Bluetooth & devices to view navigation options for that Settings tab.
Select Printers & scanners to access the printing options.
Turn off the Allow Windows to manage my default printer option if enabled.
Then click a listed printer device you want to set as default.
Press the Set as default button.

2. How to Set Your Default Printer in the Control Panel

The Control Panel has a Devices & printers applet that provides an overview of hardware connected with your PC. There you’ll see printers linked with your PC and can set one to be the default printing device. These are the steps for setting a default printer within the Control Panel:

First, click the Search box or button (a magnifying glass) on Windows 11’s taskbar.
Input a Control Panel search phrase within the text box.
Click Control Panel to bring up that window.
Choose the Large icons option on Control Panel’s View by menu.
Select Devices and Printers to access that applet.
Right-click a printing device and select the Set as default printer option. Now you’ll see a tick mark on the default printer’s icon.

While you’re in the Devices and Printers applet, you can also create a desktop shortcut for your default printer from there. Right-click your default printer and select Create shortcut > Yes. Then you’ll see an icon for your default printer on the Windows 11 desktop.

That shortcut enables you to access default printer settings by right-clicking its icon and selecting Show more options. You can select or deselect a Set as default printer option for the shortcut on the classic context menu. Click See what’s printing to view a print queue window. Or select Printing preferences to bring up a window that includes numerous print options.

3. How to Set Your Default Printer in Windows Terminal (Command Prompt/PowerShell)

The Windows Terminal app includes the Command Prompt and PowerShell command shells. Both those command shells share the same command for setting a default printer in Windows 11. This is how to set a default printer in Windows Terminal with Command Prompt or PowerShell.

First, click Start on the taskbar with the right mouse button to view a Power User shortcut menu.
Select the Windows Terminal (Admin) menu shortcut.
To choose a command shell, click Open a new tab (the down arrow button) and select PowerShell or Command Prompt.

Enter this command for setting the default printer:

 rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /y /n printer name

Press Enter to set the default printer specified in the command.

You’ll need to replace printer name in that command with an actual printer model to set as the default device. To ensure you enter the name correctly, you can check it by executing a command that displays a list of your PC’s printers. Execute the following command to view that list:

 wmic printer get name

You can also modify that command to show you the current default printer. To do so, input this modified command in PowerShell or Command Prompt:

 wmic printer get name,default

4. How to Set Your Default Printer From the Print Window

Some pre-installed Windows 11 apps, such as Notepad, Paint, and WordPad, have the same Print dialog from which you can configure the default printer. For example, you can use one of the ways to open WordPad and press the Ctrl + P hotkey to bring up the window shown directly below.

Right-click a listed printer there and select the Set as Default Printer. Click Apply to save the new default printer setting.

5. How to Set Your Default Printer From the System Tray

Windows 11 doesn’t have a printer system tray icon from which to set a default printing device. That’s a pity since such an icon would provide a convenient shortcut for setting your default printer from the system clock area. Nevertheless, you can add such a shortcut to Windows 11’s system tray with the freely available WPrinter Lite app. This is how to set your default printer with WPrinter Lite.

Open the WPrinter Lite page.
Click the WPrinter Lite Download link.
Next, launch Windows File Explorer with its taskbar shortcut (the folder library button).
Navigate to the folder containing the downloaded WPSetupX.exe installer file.
Double-click WPSetupX.exe to bring up the Setup – WPrinter – Lite window.
Click the Next > I accept the agreement buttons.
Keep clicking Next to reach an Automatically launch WPrinter when Windows starts option, which is selected by default. If you want the program to start with Windows, keep that checkbox enabled.
Click Next again to get to the Install button.
Select WPrinter Lite’s Install option.
Click Finish with the Launch WPrinter now checkbox selected.
Now you’ll see a WPrinter icon in your system tray. Right-click that icon and select one of the printers to set as default on its context menu.
You can check what your default printer is by hovering the cursor over the WPrinter icon. The app’s tooltip includes your default printer’s model name.

WPrinter Lite is a rather basic but useful app for users who need to change their default printer setting more regularly. It has little else in the way of extra options, but you can also right-click its icon to select Printing Defaults. Clicking that option will bring up the properties window for your default printer from which you can adjust numerous printing settings.

Set Your Preferred Printer in Windows 11

By selecting a default printer, you’re setting your preferred printing device in Windows 11. Your default printer should be the one you utilize most often. Choose whatever method above for setting the default printer in Windows 11 you prefer.

Ref: makeuseof

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