What to Do When You Are Unable to Set Printer as Default in Windows?

6.1K

When setting up a printer in Windows, the user may want to set it as a default. Without your printer set as default, you will have to change the printer every time you want to print something. Unfortunately, some users report receiving the “Default printer cannot be set” error or the “Operation could not be completed (error 0x00000709)” error.

Force Windows to Set Default Printer

If you do not know how to fix the “Default printer cannot be set” error, do not worry. That is the kind of rare issue where you almost should not do anything. In Windows 10 November 2015 Update, Microsoft changed the way Windows manages the default printers. From now on, it automatically sets the last used printer as a default. If the Let Windows manage my default printer option is enabled, Windows automatically sets the most recently used printer as the default printer.

Go to the manufacturer’s website and download the newest supported drivers from there. Also, do note that old printers may have a hard time working with modern computers and the latest operating systems. Besides, you may face compatibility issues when using dongles and converters to plug old connectors into modern motherboards.

Windows sets default printers automatically by default. You can check whether you have this feature enabled by doing the following:

1. Make sure your device runs Windows 10 version 1511 or later, or any supported Windows 11 release (Win + R – winver).
2. Hit Win + I on your keyboard to run Windows Settings and go to Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners (on Windows 10: Devices → Printers & scanners).
3. Scroll down and check whether the option Let Windows manage my default printer is enabled. If it is not, place a checkmark and go print something.

   

When you let Windows manage printers, it changes the default one every time you select another printer. Such behavior may be somewhat confusing to people with two or more printers. In this scenario, you may want to force Windows to set up the default printer.

For your information. When troubleshooting printers in Windows, always make sure you have the latest drivers installed. Modern printers nowadays are plug-and-play, which means Windows automatically gets the required drivers. Still, it is a good practice to manually install the driver to ensure the best compatibility.

How to Set Default Printer in Windows?

On Windows, it is extremely easy to set up the default printer.

1. Go to Windows Settings – Devices – Printers and Scanners. Uncheck the Let Windows manage my default printer option;

   

2. On the next screen, press Set as default button to make this printer the default.

   

Older Windows versions do not have the settings above. Do note that you can use the instruction below to set the default printer in any Windows 10 and Windows 11 versions, as the latter keep the Classic Control panel for redundancy. If you run Windows 8 or Windows 7, set up the default printer in Windows by doing the following:

1. Open the Control Panel and go to the Devices and Printers section.
2. In the Printers section, right-click the printer you want to set up as the default. Select Set as default printer.

   

Check Installed Printers with PowerShell

If you are troubleshooting printer issues on a Windows machine, PowerShell can help you quickly identify installed printers and determine which printer is currently configured as the default. In order to list all installed printers and their drivers, run the command:

Get-Printer | Select-Object Name, Default, DriverName

You can also display only the current default printer. Use the following command:

Get-Printer | Where-Object Default

You can display the current default printer using the command:

Get-CimInstance Win32_Printer | Where-Object {$_.Default}

This can be useful when you are troubleshooting printer deployment issues, driver conflicts, or unexpected default printer changes on Windows devices.

Set Default Printer with PowerShell

You can also set the default printer from PowerShell. For example, you can use this command:

(Get-CimInstance Win32_Printer -Filter "Name='HP LaserJet'").SetDefaultPrinter()

You need to replace HP LaserJet with the name of your printer. This method can be useful in scripts, remote admin cases, and automated workstation deployments.

Note. The SetDefaultPrinter() method uses the legacy Win32_Printer WMI class, but it remains supported in current Windows versions.

Check the Print Spooler Service

Many default printer issues are caused by problems with the Print Spooler service. You need to check if the service is running and restart it if necessary. Run the following command:

Get-Service Spooler

If the Print Spooler service is stopped, start it using the following command:

Start-Service Spooler

In case the service is already running but printer issues persist, restart it with the command:

Restart-Service Spooler

You can also run the built-in Printer Troubleshooter before making changes to the Windows Registry.

Advanced Fix: Error 0x00000709 Using the Registry

In case restarting the Print Spooler service, reinstalling printer drivers, and running the Printer Troubleshooter did not resolve the issue, you can try the registry-based workaround described below. Note that this registry workaround is primarily intended for legacy Windows configs and you should use it only after standard troubleshooting steps have failed.

This is where things may go sideways. As we described above, sometimes a user may encounter weird issues when trying to set up the default printer in Windows. If nothing helped and you still cannot set up the default printer, try to use the Windows registry to bypass the nasty error.

1. Disable the Let Windows manage my default printer options in Windows settings.
2. Press Win + R and enter the regedit command. Press Enter. This command launches the built-in Registry Editor.

   

3. Expand the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\ Windows.
4. Right-click on the Windows key and select Permissions.

   

5. Select Administrators, then check the Full Control and press OK.

   

6. Next, assign Full Control permission for your user.
7. Close the permissions windows and go back to Registry Editor. In the right pane, find the registry value named Device and change its data to the printer name you want to set as the default printer. For, example if your printer has the name HP Color LaserJet 5550 PCL6 Class Driver, you need to set the value to HP Color LaserJet 5550 PCL6 Class Driver,winspool,TS001.

   

8. After saving the settings, the new printer will be marked with a green circle in the Control Panel. Also, you will see the Default string next to the printer in the Windows Settings.

You can use the gpresult /r command to check which Group Policies are applied to the current user and computer. Pay particular attention to printer-related Group Policy Preferences and printer deployment policies.

In AD environments, printer settings may be controlled through Group Policy. You should check if printer deployment/printer preference policies are overriding the user’s default printer selection.

Warning. Follow the procedure strictly and do not change other registry branches and values, otherwise you may end up with serious software problems and data loss.

Additional Troubleshooting Steps

• Restart the Print Spooler service
• Remove and reinstall the printer
• Update the printer driver
• Check Event Viewer → Applications and Services Logs → Microsoft → Windows → PrintService
• Verify that Group Policy is not overriding printer settings
• Create a new user profile and test printer config