How to prevent others from removing or adding printers in Windows

Adding or removing a printer on a Windows device is quite easy. However, it is frustrating when others keep adding or removing printers from your PC without your permission.

So let’s find out how you can prevent other users from removing or adding printers to your Windows device.

How to prevent others from deleting a printer in Windows

Let’s start by looking at how you can prevent others from deleting printers on your PC.

Use the Local Group Policy Editor (LGPE)

Local Group Policy Editor (LGPE) is a Windows feature that helps you configure various system settings. However, you can only access it if you are using Windows Pro, Education, and Enterprise editions.

If you are a Windows Home user, you should check out the tips on how to enable LGPE in Windows Home.

Now here’s how to use the LGPE to prevent others from deleting a printer on your device:

1. Press Win + R to open the Run command dialog box.
2. then type gpedit.msc in the search box and press Get into to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
3. navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Printers.
4. Then double click on the Prevent deletion of printers option on the right side.

Finally, select the Activated option to prevent others from deleting printers on your PC. From there, press Apply and then press okay.

If you want to allow others to delete printers, follow these options:

1. Open the LGPE and navigate to printers option according to the steps above.
2. double click Prevent deletion of printers and select not configured either disabled.
3. Finally press Apply and then press okay to save these changes.

Use Registry Editor

The Windows Registry is another brilliant tool that makes it easy for you to configure system settings. The only problem is that this tool is quite sensitive. Therefore, it is often a good idea to back up the Registry before you modify its settings.

Now, let’s take a look at how this tool can help you prevent others from deleting printers:

1. Press Win + R to open the Run command dialog box.
2. then type regedit in the search box and press Get into to open Registry Editor.
3. Next, copy and paste the following command into the address bar and press Get into:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

Then follow these steps:

1. expand the Policies key and then click Explorer.
2. If the Explorer key is missing, right-click on the Policies key and select New > Key. From there, name the new key as “Explorer.”
3. Click on the Explorer right-click in the right side panel and then select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. From there, name the value as “Don’tDeletePrinter” and then press Get into.

Then double click on the Don’tDeletePrinter worth. From there, set the value data a 1 to prevent others from deleting printers on your device. Finally, close the registry editor and restart your device to apply these changes.

To allow others to remove printers from your device, follow these steps:

1. Open the registry editor and navigate to Explorer key as in the previous steps.
2. Double click on the Don’tDeletePrinter option and then set your value data a 0 (zero).
3. Press okayclose the registry editorand then reboot your device to save these changes.

But then how did someone remove a printer from their device in the first place? Let’s take a quick look at this.

How to prevent others from adding a printer to Windows

Now, let’s see how to prevent others from adding a printer to your PC. We will use both the LGPE and the Registry Editor.

Use the LGPE

Here’s how you can use the LGPE to prevent others from adding a printer to your device:

1. Press Win + R to open the Windows Run command dialog box. Alternatively, try the different ways to open the Run command dialog.
2. then type gpedit.msc in the search box and press Get into to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
3. navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Printers.
4. Then double click on Prevent adding printers the right side.

Select Activated to prevent others from adding printers to your Windows device. From there, press Apply and then press okay.

If you want to allow others to add printers to your PC, follow these steps:

1. Open the LGPE and navigate to printers option using the steps above.
2. double click Prevent adding printers and select not configured either disabled.
3. Finally press Apply and then press okay to save these changes.

Use Registry Editor

Here’s how you can use Registry Editor to prevent others from adding printers to your device:

1. Press Win + R to open the Run command dialog box.
2. then type regedit in the search box and press Get into to open Registry Editor.
3. Next, copy and paste the following command into the address bar and press Get into:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

From there, follow these steps:

1. expand the Policies key and then click Explorer.
2. If the Explorer key is missing, right-click on the Policies key and select New > Key. From there, name the new key as “Explorer.”
3. Click on the Explorer key, right-click in the right side panel and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. From there, name the value as “NoAddPrinter” and then press Get into.

Then double click on the NoAddPrinter worth. From there, set the value data a 1 to prevent others from adding printers to your device. Finally, close the registry editor and restart your device to apply these changes.

If you change your mind, you can allow others to delete printers by following these steps:

1. Open the registry editor and navigate to Explorer key using the steps above.
2. Double click on the NoAddPrinter option and then set your value data a 0 (zero).
3. Press okayclose the registry editorand then reboot your device to save these changes.

Now how did someone else suddenly add a printer to their device? Let’s find out.

Prevent others from adding or removing printers in Windows, Done

Preventing others from removing or adding printers to your device is quite easy. All you need to do is apply the methods we’ve covered, and you’re good to go. And if your printers are not working in Windows, there are solutions for that too.