The Windows Printing Driver Isolation feature removes an isolated driver from the print spooler process and loads it into a sandbox. If an isolated driver experienced a crash, the print spooler process would not be affected.
Application Isolation feature in Windows 11/10
Application Isolation is a printing feature in Windows 11/10 that isolates applications from print drivers so that applications do not crash if a print driver crashes, making the application more stable. This feature extends an existing Windows feature (SplWoW64) to cover all printing scenarios in Windows Server and Windows 10/8.
Disable Application Isolation in Windows
If your printer driver does not have full functionality, you may change the setting to disable application isolation.
To do so, open Group Policy Editor and navigate to the following setting:
Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Printers/Isolate print drivers from applications
Double-click on Isolate print drivers from applications and then click on Enabled, and the Apply/OK to disable Application Isolation in Windows.
This policy determines if print driver components are isolated from applications instead of normally loading them into applications. Isolating print drivers greatly reduces the risk of a print driver failure causing an application crash. Not all applications support driver isolation. By default, Excel or Word and certain other applications are configured to support it. Other applications may also be capable of isolating print drivers, depending on whether they are configured for it.
If you enable or do not configure this policy setting, then applications that are configured to support driver isolation will be isolated. If you disable this policy setting, then print drivers will be loaded within all associated application processes.
This policy is supported on Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows Server or later.
What is the core isolation feature on Windows?
Core isolation is a security feature on Windows that protects against malware by isolating critical processes from the operating system. You can enable, disable, or change its settings via Core isolation details to manage core isolation.
What is isolated user mode in Windows?
Isolated User Mode (IUM) in Windows is a virtualization-based security feature that uses secure kernels to separate business data and processes from the main operating system, enhancing security for sensitive information and operations.
