Win 10 network printer default name setting

Kye Lippmann 16 Reputation points
2022-11-09T09:33:58.297+00:00

According to everything I can find regarding this topic, Win 10 assigns a default name to a printer (network printer) based on make, model etc. when adding a new printer to the list of installed printers. Even if the network printer itself has a unique name set up via the web interface, (Brother MFC series) as soon as you add the printer that has its unique name visible under 'list of available printers' in the Win 10 printer and scanner settings, the name gets changed back to its default 'Brother MFC xxxxx Printer'

This is a particular headache for an organization that has 10+ PCs and several different printers in different office locations on the network. You go to all the trouble of setting up each network printer as a stand alone unique unit on the network with their own names. When you go to each PC to add the relevant printer, you can find it no worries because you can see its unique name, then windows renames it to a default name, which you then have to rename in each PC to be able to tell the difference again.

Is there any way to prevent Windows from changing the network printer name upon installation so that the name remains as set in the printer settings?

Windows 10 Network
Windows 10 Network
Windows 10: A Microsoft operating system that runs on personal computers and tablets.Network: A group of devices that communicate either wirelessly or via a physical connection.
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  1. Andrew Porter 0 Reputation points
    2023-03-08T16:56:30.4633333+00:00

    I have ran into the same issue. On the Brother printers you can change the AirPrint printer name as well as the nDNS printer name. The printer will show up with the new name in the list, but once installed, Windows will revert back to the Brother xxxx naming convention.

    You can obviously manually change the name to whatever you would like after the fact, but it doesn't help those of us with a number of the same make/model of printers to install.

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