How to Fix "Driver Is Unavailable" for a Printer in Windows 11

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Ankit Kumar
Windows 11PrinterDriversFix

The Problem

You open Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners, click your printer, and see Driver is unavailable. Printing fails, or the printer shows as Unspecified in Devices and Printers.

This usually appears after a Windows feature update, a failed driver install, or moving from Windows 10 to Windows 11. The printer is fine. Windows has either lost the driver files, is holding onto a broken copy, or is blocking the driver because of a newer security setting.

Printer shows as offline instead? See fix printer offline. Online but jobs never print? See printer not printing.

Symptoms

  • Driver is unavailable under the printer in Settings.
  • The printer appears under Unspecified in Devices and Printers.
  • Print jobs fail immediately, or the print dialog does not list the printer.
  • Reinstalling the printer brings back the same error.

Quick Checks

  1. Restart both the PC and the printer.
  2. Run Windows Update → Advanced options → Optional updates → Driver updates. If your printer is listed, install it and restart.
  3. Note your printer's exact model number from the label on the printer — you will need it to download the right driver.

The Fix: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Check Windows Protected Print Mode

Recent Windows 11 versions include Windows protected print mode, which blocks traditional manufacturer drivers and only allows the built-in Mopria-compatible driver. Older printers without Mopria support show Driver is unavailable when it is on.

  1. Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners.
  2. Scroll to Printer preferences and look for Windows protected print mode.
  3. If it is on and your printer is not Mopria-certified, turn it off, restart, and re-add the printer.

If your PC is managed by work or school, this setting may be locked by policy — speak to your IT team.

Step 2: Remove the Printer

  1. Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners.
  2. Click the printer → Remove → Yes.
  3. Unplug the USB cable if the printer is connected by USB.

Step 3: Delete the Old Driver Package

Removing the printer leaves the driver behind. If it is corrupt, Windows reuses it every time.

  1. Press Win + R, type printui /s /t2, and press Enter. This opens Print Server Properties on the Drivers tab.
  2. Select every driver for your printer brand and model.
  3. Click Remove → choose Remove driver and driver package → OK → Delete.

If Windows says the driver is in use, go to Step 4 first, then come back.

Step 4: Clear the Print Spooler

  1. Open Terminal (Admin) and run: 
    net stop spooler
  2. Open File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS. Delete everything inside the folder, but not the folder itself.
  3. Back in Terminal: 
    net start spooler

Now repeat Step 3 if the driver would not delete before.

Step 5: Install the Correct Driver

  1. Go to your printer manufacturer's support website (HP, Canon, Epson, Brother, and so on) and search for your exact model.
  2. Choose the driver for Windows 11 64-bit. If there is no Windows 11 driver, the Windows 10 64-bit driver almost always works.
  3. Prefer the full driver package or basic driver over "driver update" tools or web installers.
  4. Run the installer and connect the printer when it asks you to.

For printers the manufacturer no longer supports, try the Microsoft IPP Class Driver in Step 6 — most network printers made in the last ten years support it.

Step 6: Add the Printer Manually

If automatic detection picks the wrong driver:

  1. Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners → Add device.
  2. Wait a few seconds, then click Add manually (next to The printer that I want isn't listed).
  3. For a network printer, choose Add a printer using an IP address or hostname and type the printer's IP address (printed on its network configuration page).
  4. When asked for the driver, click Have Disk and point to the manufacturer driver you extracted, or choose it from the list by brand and model.

Step 7: Repair Windows System Files

If driver installs fail with errors for every printer, the print subsystem itself may be damaged. Run SFC and DISM: how to run SFC and DISM.

What Not to Do

  • Don't install driver-updater utilities to find a printer driver. The manufacturer's site has the correct one, and those tools often bundle adware.
  • Don't install a driver for a similar model. A driver for the next model in the series can install, but prints garbled output or fails silently.
  • Don't delete the spool folder itself — only the files inside PRINTERS.

Still Not Working?

Check Event Viewer → Applications and Services Logs → Microsoft → Windows → PrintService → Admin for the exact error when the driver installs. Search the error code together with your printer model. See how to read Event Viewer.

If the printer worked before a recent Windows update, rolling back that update is a valid short-term fix: roll back a bad Windows 11 update.

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