Printer stuck on Removing device on Windows PC

If your printer is not getting deleted and is stuck in the Removing device stage on Windows 11/10, then this post will help you resolve the issue.

You can remove a printer device from your computer using the Settings app. Open the Windows Settings app and go to the Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners section. Select your printer and then press the Remove button. However, some users have reported that whenever they try to remove or reinstall a printer, it doesn’t get removed and keeps showing a Removing device status.

This issue could be caused due to a temporary system cache issue. So, you can try restarting your PC and see if the printer is removed or not. It can also occur if there is an issue with your printer queue or the printer driver.

Printer stuck on Removing device on Windows

If your printer is not getting deleted and is forever stuck in the Removing device stage on Windows 11/10, then follow these suggestions to resolve the issue.

1. Delete the printer queue.
2. Try removing your printer using Settings.
3. Use Print Server Properties to remove the printer.
4. Remove the printer using Device Manager.
5. Use Print Management to delete a printer device.
6. Remove a printer driver via Command Prompt or PowerShell.

1] Delete the printer queue

There is a queue of print commands that is generated by the Printer Spooler. In case this queue has too many commands or there is some corruption, you might face difficulty in deleting a printer. Thus, it gets stuck on the Removing device status. So, delete the printer job queue and check if the problem is resolved.

Hit the Win+R hotkey to evoke the Run command box and enter services.msc in its Open box to launch the Services app quickly.

Scroll down to the Printer Spooler service, select it, and then press the Stop button to stop this service.

Press Win+E to open Explorer and navigate to this location:

C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS

Once you enter the PRINTERS folder, select all files and data using CTRL+A and then press the Delete button to clear all the files.

When done, open the Services again, select the Printer Spooler service, and click on the Start button to restart the service.

Check if you can delete a printer without getting stuck in the Removing Device mode.

Read: Print Spooler Service keeps stopping automatically in Windows.

2] Try removing your printer using Settings

You can also try removing an installed printer from Settings > Apps > Installed apps.  Under the app list, locate your printer and click on the three-dot menu button present next to it. After that, click on the Uninstall option and follow the prompted instructions to remove the printer driver. When done, reboot your PC and check if the problem is fixed.

Read: Can’t remove Printer; Deleted Printer keeps reappearing

3] Use Print Server Properties to remove the printer

Another method you can use to fix this issue is to force-remove the printer device using Print Server Properties.

• First, open Settings and navigate to the Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners option.
• Now, under the Related settings section, click on the Print server settings option.
• Next, move to the Drivers tab and select the problematic printer from the list.
• After that, press the Remove button to delete the printer driver. This should resolve the issue for you.

See: Fix Printing problems in Firefox

4] Remove the printer using Device Manager

You can also uninstall the problematic printer driver using the Device Manager app and check if the issue is fixed. Here are the steps to do so:

• First, press the Win+X hotkey and choose the Device Manager app from the shortcut menu.
• Now, click on the View menu and choose the Show hidden devices option.
• After that, expand the Print queue category and right-click on the printer device you want to remove.
• From the context menu, choose the Uninstall device option and then follow the instructions shown on your screen.
• Once done, reboot your computer and check if the problem is gone now.

Read: How to fix Excel printing problems?

5] Use Print Management to delete a printer device

Windows offers an inbuilt Print Management tool that lets you install, view, and manage printer devices on your PC. In case you are unable to remove the device using the regular method i.e., Settings, you can use it to remove the printer. Here are the steps to do that:

• First, open the Run command box using Win+R and enter printmanagement.msc in the Open box to open Print Management.
• Now, expand the Print Servers section from the left-side pane and select Printers to check the list of all installed printers.
• Next, right-click on the printer with which you are facing the problem with.
• After that, click on the Delete option from the context menu and confirm the printer removal.

Your problem should be resolved now.

Note: If your Windows can’t find Print Management, you can follow the linked guide to resolve the issue.

FIX: Windows computer freezes when printing.

6] Remove a printer driver via Command Prompt or PowerShell

If your printer is not deleting and is stuck on Removing Device, you can uninstall the driver using Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell.

Command Prompt

First, open the Command Prompt with administrator rights; type cmd in the Windows Search box, hover the mouse over the Command Prompt app and select the Run as administrator option.

Now, type the below command to get the names of all installed printers and press Enter:

wmic printer get name

After that, enter the below command to delete the problematic printer device:

printui.exe /dl /n "Printer-Name"

Once done, reboot your PC and see if the problem is resolved.

Windows PowerShell

First, open Windows PowerShell as an administrator using Windows Search.

Now, enter the following to name all your printer drivers:

Get-PrinterDriver | Format-List Name

Next, type the below command and press the Enter button to remove a printer:

Remove-PrinterDriver -Name "Printer-Name"

Finally, restart your computer and your printer should be removed now.

Read: Remote Desktop Printer redirection is not working

I hope this post helps you resolve the issue of your printer being stuck on the Removing Device status.

How do I stop my printer from removing?

If you want to prevent other users from deleting or removing a printer device on Windows, open the Local Group Policy Editor and navigate to the User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Printers section. After that, double-click on the Prevent deletion of printers setting policy and set it to Enabled. Besides that, you can also use the Registry Editor to stop other users from deleting a printer.

How do I cancel a print job that won’t delete?

To cancel a printing job on your Windows PC, follow the below steps:

• First, open the Settings app using Win + I and click on the Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners option.
• Now, select your printer from the list and then click on the Open print queue option.
• After that, right-click on the job you want to cancel and choose the Cancel option from the context menu.

Now read: How to Fix Slow Printing in Windows PC?