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How do I COMPLETELY remove a printer in Win10

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Tags: Microsoft, Operating Systems, Windows

Frequently, when I send a print job, it hangs up. (That’s a problem in itself, but let’s move on.) But when I go into the Control Panel to delete the document and try again, the document won’t delete. I end up having to remove that printer and reinstall it, and then the document will print on the “new” printer.

But the next time I print something, when I’m looking at the Print page of my Office app, if I click on the printer choices, the printer I removed is still showing as a choice, still with that document hung up in it. Also, the printer I removed earlier. And the printer before that. So, how do I completely remove those phantom printers that do not appear on the Devices and Printers page in my Control Panel, but show up on the Print page of my Microsoft Office apps?

I’m guessing I should remove the printer as usual, but then go into the application files, find any printer files connected to the removed printer, and manual delete everything relating to that printer. Is that right? If so, how do I locate those files?

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[kees_b]

Reply To: How do I COMPLETELY remove a printer in Win10

In reply to How do I COMPLETELY remove a printer in Win10

The last post in https://www.sevenforums.com/microsoft-office/330805-microsoft-office-2007-shows-phantom-printers.html gives a possible solution.

Another possible solution in https://www.beringer.net/beringerblog/the-phantom-printer/ .

It seems to happen if you uninstall the printer while there still are spool files for it. So apparently it makes sense to delete those spool files before uninstalling the printer.
https://support.logmeininc.com/central/help/how-do-i-clear-the-print-queue-if-a-document-is-stuck tells how to do that if it can’t be done the regular way.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by kees_b.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by kees_b.

Reply To: How do I COMPLETELY remove a printer in Win10

In reply to Reply To: How do I COMPLETELY remove a printer in Win10

I will try out the suggested links.
Note that part of my issue is that when I attempt to cancel the print job, it won’t cancel, so it is impossible for me to delete the document first.
I will let you know if the suggestions work.

Not yet a complete fix

In reply to Reply To: How do I COMPLETELY remove a printer in Win10

Using the provided links, I did learn how to delete the documents that have refused to delete. That mostly solves my problem (although I wonder why the docs aren’t deleting when I do the normal process).
But the suggestion to go to Print Management does not work because I don’t see any Print Management tab under Administrative Tools. Either the suggestion was for an earlier version of Windows, not Win10, or else some Win10 updates have changed how to display printers. In any case, I’m still stuck with “phantom printers” on my printer selection page in Office applications.

Reply To: How do I COMPLETELY remove a printer in Win10

In reply to How do I COMPLETELY remove a printer in Win10

1] Uninstall Printer using Settings
Open up your Windows settings.
Among the categories, you’ll find one named ‘Devices’. Click on it.
Scroll through the options on the left side and choose ‘Printers and Scanners.’ There, you’ll find the list of all printers and scanners that have, to date, been installed into your computer.
Click on the one you wish to uninstall, and you will be presented with a ‘remove device’ option.

2] Uninstall Printer using Control Panel
Open Control Panel by typing so on your computer’s search pane.
Go to the ‘Hardware and Sound’ category.
Click on the option that says ‘Device and Printers’.
Here, right-click on the printer you want to uninstall, and from the subsequent drop-down that will appear, click on ‘Remove device’.
You should follow the aforementioned steps regarding the uninstallation of any printer-related software if you choose to delink printers using this method too.

Regards,
J Wick

[Author]

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