When using a laptop for both Office and home, we often have to switch printers. Windows 10 doesn’t offer an easy way to switch printer, as it will make sure there is a default printer. It has happened with me so many times that I had put something to print only to realize it went to my Office printer instead of one at home. So how do you set a default printer in Windows 10? That is what we will look into this today.
How to set the Default Printer in Windows 10
To se the default printer on your Windows 10 PC, do the following:
- Open Windows 10 Device Settings (Win + I) > Devices
- Switch to Printers and scanners
- Click on the printer you want to set as default, and then click on Manage
- Then click on Set as default button to set the printer as default.
Once you do that, the printer will appear as the selected printer when you go ahead to print anything. Also, the printer will have status as Default in the printer list.
Automatically switch default printer based on location
While it is easy to change the default printer, it doesn’t help. If the default printer can change automatically based on the location of the computer. So if I go home, the default printer is my home printer, and the office printer when I go to work.
Let Windows manage my default printer
Under Printers and scanners, check the box which says “Let Windows manage my default printer.” When this is turned on, Windows will set your default printer to be the one you used most recently at your current location.
It has one drawback though in certain use cases. If you keep switching printers at the office, then the default printer will be the recently used printer at that location.
I hope the guide was useful for you, and you were able to set the default printer for Windows 10.
There is no Network-based option to change the default printer like in Windows 7, so you will have to let Windows manage the default printer.
PS: See this post if the Default Printer keeps changing in Windows 10.
- Tags: Printer
