Unable to Re-add Universal Printer after removing it

Question

Unable to Re-add Universal Printer after removing it

Wilson Y 0

Hello,

Our Universal printer needed to be reconfigured/re-added and after removing it from the "printers & scanners" settings, it still shows up in the "add device" list as "installed". It does not show in my printer list to print to.

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2 answers

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Answer 1

VPHAN 21,780 Independent Advisor

Hello Wilson Y,

I am following up to check if you have successfully cleared the "ghost" instance of HQ-COPY02 from your Settings menu. As previously analyzed, this discrepancy between the modern Settings app and the legacy Print Management console confirms that the printer object exists only as a stale registry pointer within the Client Side Rendering Print Provider cache, rather than as a functional queue in the Spooler service. Executing the removal via PowerShell or manually deleting the corrupted keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Print\Providers while the Spooler is stopped remains the definitive fix for this specific synchronization error.

If the issue has been successfully resolved, please consider accepting the answer as it helps other people sharing the same question benefit too. Thank you!

VP

Wilson Y 0 Reputation points

2026-01-16T18:28:57.5333333+00:00
Hi VP,

After running thew PS command, it wasn't able to find the printer

PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-Printer -Name "HQ-COPY02" | Remove-Printer Get-Printer : No MSFT_Printer objects found with property 'Name' equal to 'HQ-COPY02'. Verify the value of the property and retry. At line:1 char:1

Get-Printer -Name "HQ-COPY02" | Remove-Printer

+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (HQ-COPY02:String) [Get-Printer], CimJobException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CmdletizationQuery_NotFound_Name,Get-Printer

I wasn't able to find any ghost instances of "hq-copy02" in Registry Editor either.
VPHAN 21,780 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-01-18T14:09:53.1666667+00:00

The PowerShell error ObjectNotFound actually confirms our diagnosis: the Print Spooler service doesn't "know" this printer exists, which is why you can't manage it. However, the screenshot you provided successfully identifies the "ghost" entry causing the conflict.

You likely missed it because it is prefixed with a Security Identifier (SID), but it is visible in your Registry Editor image.

To fix, first stop the Spooler: Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run: net stop spooler (Keep this window open).

Then remove the Registry Key: In your Registry Editor window (from the screenshot), look at the list under the Printers key again. You will see an entry named: S-1-5-21-1309812617-2068936756-1234779376-35449:HQ-COPY02

Right-click this specific folder and select Delete. This is the stale connection record that is tricking Windows into thinking the printer is still installed.

Clean Client Side Rendering (CSR) Cache: In the left pane, navigate down to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Print\Providers\Client Side Rendering Print Provider\S-1-5-21-1309812617-2068936756-1234779376-35449\Printers\Connections

(Note: This is under the S-1-5-21... SID folder, not the Servers folder you were looking at previously). If you see a folder named ,,[ServerName],HQ-COPY02 inside there, delete it as well.

Restart the Spooler: Return to your Command Prompt and run: net start spooler

Check your "Printers & scanners" settings again; the ghost entry should be gone, allowing you to re-add the printer cleanly.

VP
Wilson Y 0 Reputation points

2026-01-20T19:25:58.39+00:00

Hi VP,

In the image it's actually showing HQ-COPY01 and I can't see any entries for "HQ-COPY02"
VPHAN 21,780 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-01-24T09:46:05.3066667+00:00

Hello,

My apologies, I misread the 01 entry as 02. Since the entry is absent from the main HKLM printer list, this "ghost" device is almost certainly hiding in the per-user connection cache, which usually overrides the system-wide list in the Settings app.

Please check these two specific locations which were not fully expanded in your screenshot:

The Current User Hive:

Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Printers\Connections. This is the most common location for user-specific printer mappings that do not appear in Print Management. Delete any key referencing HQ-COPY02.

The Collapsed CSR Cache:

In your previous screenshot location (HKLM\...\Client Side Rendering Print Provider), you expanded Servers. Instead, look at the folder directly above it.

Expand: [SID ending in 35449] > Printers > Connections.

If HQ-COPY02 is listed there, delete it.

After deleting these keys, restart the Print Spooler service (net stop spooler / net start spooler) to force Windows to refresh the device list.

I hope you've found something useful here. If it helps you get more insight into the issue, it's appreciated to accept the answer. Should you have more questions, feel free to leave a message. Have a nice day!

VP

Answer 2

Dear Wilson Y,

To fix this, first attempt to remove the object using the Common Information Model (CIM) via PowerShell, which bypasses the GUI cache. Launch PowerShell as an Administrator and execute Get-Printer -Name "HQ-COPY02" | Remove-Printer. If this runs without error, restart the Print Spooler service (net stop spooler followed by net start spooler), and the device should disappear from the "Add device" list.

If PowerShell fails with an "Element not found" error—which is highly probable given the Print Management view—you must manually purge the corrupted registry keys. Stop the Print Spooler service via services.msc to ensure the files aren't locked. Open the Registry Editor (regedit) and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Print\Providers\Client Side Rendering Print Provider\Servers. Search through the subkeys here for any GUIDs or entries referencing HQ-COPY02 or the Universal Print ID associated with it, and delete those keys. Next, verify and delete any matching keys in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Print\Printers and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Printers\Connections.

Once the registry entries are removed, restart the Print Spooler service. The "Installed" status will clear from the Settings panel, allowing you to re-add HQ-COPY02 as a fresh Universal Print device.

I hope you've found something useful here. If it helps you get more insight into the issue, it's appreciated to accept the answer. Should you have more questions, feel free to leave a message. Have a nice day!

VP

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Unable to Re-add Universal Printer after removing it

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