Microsoft has cured this Windows 11 printer nightmare – but the fix might surprise you
Solution requires installing a separate troubleshooting utility, which is unusual
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Windows 11 users(as well as those onWindows 10) have been experiencing weirdness around a frustrating bug withprinters, but the good news is that there’s now a fix.
The bad news is that it’s not quite a straightforward solution, as rather unusually,Microsoftrequires the installation of a standalone troubleshooting utility in order to facilitate repairs.
As we’ve previously reported, the problem is that PCs are getting theHPSmart app installed when they haven’t got anHP printerconnected – or even a printer at all, in some cases – and printers are being renamed as a specific HP LaserJet (whatever their model).
As a result of this, some functionality is failing to work with affected printers, and there’s been quite a lot of head scratching going on (especially for those who don’t have a printer at all, who are apparently suffering at the hands of the Microsoft Print to PDF icon being renamed).
At any rate, the fix is here as noted, but you’ll have todownload the aforementioned troubleshooting tool from Microsoftand run it.
This will reverse any printer renaming which has taken place, and reinstate the correct icons for printers, and uninstall the HP Smart app if it shouldn’t have been installed.
You can check out Microsoft’s support page for the full instructions on how to use the toolhere.
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Analysis: Metadata issue confirmed
The theory behind this bug was that the printer weirdness was happening because of incorrect metadata supplied in a Windows update, which led to printers being wrongly identified as an HP LaserJet.
It seems that idea was bang on as the tool which brings in the fix is called the ‘Microsoft Printer Metadata Troubleshooter.’
Normally, we’d expect the fix to be piped through via Windows Update, so as noted, it’s rather unusual to have to go through a separate download. It’s a slightly clunky process, in short, but at least it is a fix, which was much-needed for some folks, because in some cases, this bug could prevent functions beyond basic printing from working.
ViaTom’s Hardware
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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - ‘I Know What You Did Last Supper’ - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).
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