What To Do When Printer Driver Is Unavailable?: The Best Hacks To Fix The Issue

From time to time, you may experience some problems with your printer. Many a time, you may find that your printer will not print anything at all. This issues generally occurs when the printer driver becomes unavailable. If you are facing this problem and thinking that what to do when Printer Driver is unavailable, then read this article. Well, in this article we have listed some tips that will help you to troubleshoot the issue on your own.

Moreover, in this article, we have also discussed some of the reasons that are responsible for the issue to occur. Please note that you have to follow all the steps without any skip to get the most effective results.

Reasons Why Printer Driver is Unavailable

In this section of the article, we have discussed some of the causes behind the occurrence of the issue. However, there are a number of reasons that are responsible for the error occurrence. Here we have discussed some of the most highlighting ones. Have a look at the reasons:

• The most common reason behind this issue may be that a wrong printer driver is installed in your system. If you have installed the printer driver that does not belong to the printer model version, which you are using, then it may result in the issue.
• The second reason can be that the printer drivers are outdated. If you are using an old version of the printer driver, then it may lead to the problem.
• Virus and malware attack to the printer drivers can also lead to the issue occurrence.
• The corrupt version of the printer drivers can also be a reason behind the issue.
• If the printer driver is not compatible with the Windows Operating System, then you may face the issue while printing.
• Using an old version of the Windows Operating System or having corrupt system files associated with Windows may also lead to the error.
• Another reason can be a recent update to Windows 10 Operating System. As you know that Windows 10 is a new Operating System, it may conflict with the drivers of your printer. Therefore, you may receive the issue while you are printing anything from your printer.

Now, you know the probable reasons responsible for the issue, we will now proceed to the solution part of the article without worrying what to do when Printer Driver is unavailable.

Easy Hacks: How to Fix Printer Driver is Unavailable

Here, in this section of the article, you will learn how to fix the issue on your own. The methods given below are tested and have proved to resolved printer issues. Therefore, you can have a look at the solutions that are given below:

• Uninstall and then, reinstall your printer.
• Manually update to the latest printer drivers.
• You can try to install the drivers manually.
• Install Windows Updates.
• Verify the Admin of your account.
• Reset your system and then, reinstall the Windows Operating System.
• You can also try to Troubleshoot your PC.
• You can also run the Printer Hardware Troubleshooter.

Hence, we will discuss each and every method in order to fix your printer driver problem.

Method 1: Uninstall and Reinstall the Printer

In the first method, you will get to know how to uninstall and reinstall your printer, in order to fix the issue. Follow the steps that are given below:

Uninstall:

• Initially, you have to press and hold the Windows logo key and the R key. This will open the Run dialog box. In the Run dialog box, you have to type in the word ‘control’ and then, click on the Enter button.
• Once the Control Panel window opens, make sure that you have chosen the ‘View by’ option as ‘Large Icons’. Now, from the list of options, you have to click on the ‘Devices and Printers’ option.
• A new window of a list of printers will appear on your screen. Now, you have to right click on the printer that you are using and then, from the list of options, select the ‘Remove device’ option. Close all the windows.

Reinstall:

• Again press the Windows logo key and the R key simultaneously.
• But, now you have to type ‘appwiz.cpl’ in the Run dialog box. Hit the Enter key and then, a list of applications will appear. From the list, you have to choose your printer application. Right click on it and then, select the Uninstall option.
• After performing all the above steps, disconnect the printer. If the printer uses a USB connection, then unplug the USB cable. On the other hand, if your printer is a wireless one, then disconnect the wireless connection. Now, shut down your computer and printer.
• Wait for about 10 to 20 minutes and connect all the devices and then, power on all of them. Now, wait for the Windows to automatically download and install the printer drivers.
• When the process finishes, go to the Control Panel and then, right click on the printer. Now, from the list of options, you have to select the ‘Set as default printer’ option.

Finally, you can try to print something from the printer to check whether the issue is resolved or not. If you are still facing the issue with your printer, then you can follow the next hack mentioned in this article.

Method 2: Update the Latest Printer Drivers

If uninstalling and then, reinstalling the printer does not help you to resolve the issue, then you can update your printer drivers manually. There are some cases where a lot of printer related issues are resolved just by updating to the latest printer drivers. In order to perform this method you can take the help of the steps that we have provided below:

• Reboot your PC and then, press and hold the Windows logo key. At the same time, press the R key from the keyboard.
• When the Run dialog box opens, type ‘devmgmt.msc’ and then, hit the Enter key. Now, the system will launch the Device Manager.
• Go through all the hardware options and then, open the Print queues menu. Next, right-click on the printer hardware name and from the options select the Update Driver option.
• A new window will open with two options. From the two options, you have to choose the second option, that is, ‘Browse my computer for driver software’.
• From the folders, select the driver software of the printer that you have initially downloaded from the printer’s website.
• When you have selected the driver software, Windows will start to install the driver automatically. Wait for a while as it may take some time to install the printer driver.

Once the printer driver is installed, check by taking a print out whether the issue of no printer driver is resolved or not. If the issue is still not resolved, then you can proceed to the next method.

Method 3: Install the Printer Drivers Manually

In this method, you can directly install the drivers from the printer’s website. If you don’t know the process, then we are here to help you out to perform the steps. The steps to perform this method are given here:

• To start with the process, first, you have to download the latest drivers of the printer and save the files at a particular folder.
• Next, you can disable the internet connection from the system and open the Device Manager.
• After that, go to the section of the Printer queues and expand that tab. Right-click on the printer and then, choose the option ‘Uninstall the device’.
• Next, you have to go to the location where you have stored the downloaded printer driver. After going to that section, right-click on it and from the list choose the option of Properties.
• When a new window appears, select the Compatibility tab.
• Inside the Compatibility tab, check the box ‘Run this program in compatibility mode’. Now, under that option click on the drop-down menu and then, select the option of previous versions of Windows.
• Click on the Apply button and then, click on the OK button to confirm all the changes.
• This action will start to run the driver installer program. When the program finishes its installation process, restart your system.

When your system restarts check if your printer issue is resolved or not. If the problem of your printer drivers still occurs, then you can proceed to the next section of the article.

Method 4: Install the Windows Updates

If the Windows Operating System is out-of-date and you have not updated to its latest version, then you may also face an issue with your printer drivers. So, in order to resolve the issue, you can perform a Windows update. If you don’t know the steps of the process, then follow the section below:

• From the taskbar, click on the Start logo menu and then, select the Settings icon from there.
• The Settings window will open and then, you have to click on the ‘Update & Security’ option. When another window opens, from the left panel, select the Windows Update option.
• After that, you have to select the ‘Check for Updates’. Now, Windows will look for updates and if it finds one, then it will automatically download and install the updates.

When the updates are installed, check if the printer driver issue of your printer is resolved or not. If you want more methods to resolve the printer driver issue, then you can follow the next few methods that are given below.

Method 5: Verify the Admin of the Account

If you have made some recent changes to your account on Windows PC, then it may result in the printer driver issue. In order to fix the unwanted changes, you can follow the steps that are given below:

• From the taskbar, go to the Control Panel. Once the Control Panel window opens, click on the User Accounts options.
• In the next step, you have to choose the ‘Make changes to my account in PC settings’ option and wait for a new window to open.
• In the new window, you will get a link to verify your account. Click on it.
• After that, you have to choose the email address linked with your account.
• Next, click on the Next button to enter the code.
• Save all the changes and then, check if the printer driver issue is resolved or not.

Hope that you have fixed your printer driver issue on your own, but if not then, there are more methods that can help you. Proceed with the article to learn more methods on what to do when printer driver is unavailable.

Method 6: Reset the System and Reinstall the Windows Operating System

If none of the above methods provide you with effective results, then you try to reset your system and then, reinstall the Windows Operating System. But, before proceeding with the steps, take a back up of your data, to prevent any data loss. Follow the steps if you want to reset your system:

• Open the Start menu and then, select the Settings icon. Now, when the Settings window opens, you have to choose the ‘Update & Security’ option from the list of tabs.
• From the left panel of options, select the Recovery option and then, click on the ‘Get Started’ option.
• A new window with the reset process with pop up. After that, you have to choose the ‘Keep my files’ option and then, follow the on-screen prompts to start the reset process.
• Wait for the reset process to finish its tasks and then, check for the issue.

If the issue associated with the printer drivers is not resolved, then you can follow the next few methods to fix your printer driver issue.

Method 7: Run Troubleshoot Tool on the PC

The Windows Troubleshooter is an inbuilt application of the Windows Operating System that helps to fix any minor or major issues of the PC. With the help of Windows Troubleshooter, you can also fix the printer driver unavailable issue easily. The steps of this method are simple and you can easily carry out the process without any problem. Therefore, follow the steps that are given below:

• Firstly, from the Start menu, you have to click on the Power icon. Holding the Shift Key, click on the Restart option.
• You have to continuously hold down the Shift key untill a new window of the Troubleshooter program pops up.
• In the new window, you will get a few options. From the list of options, you have to click on the Troubleshoot option.
• After that, you have to click on the ‘Rest this PC’ option. Now, the window will prompt another option.
• In another option, you have to click on the ‘Keep my files’ option. After clicking on that, Windows will start to reset the system. When the process finishes, you have a clean installation of the Windows Operating System.

After installing a clean version of the Windows Operating System, connect your printer and then, check for your printer issue. Additionally, there are more solving methods that you can apply to fix your printer driver issue. The methods are given below.

Method 8: Run the Printer Hardware Troubleshooter

If the method of troubleshooting the system does not work to fix your printer driver issue, then you can troubleshoot the printer hardware. If you are not used to the steps of printer hardware troubleshooting, then you can follow the steps given below:

• Open the Start menu and in the search box type ‘Troubleshoot’. From the list of results, select the Troubleshoot option.
• On the Troubleshoot window, you have to scroll down and then, look for the ‘Hardware and Device’ option. After finding the option, you have to click on it.
• Now, you have to click on your printer hardware icon to start running the Troubleshoot process. Windows will then search for the issues and fix them automatically.
• After that, you will get some prompt windows where you have to follow all the instructions. Then, wait for the process to complete its task.
• When the task finishes, you have to restart your system and then, check for the printer driver issue.

Hope that you were able to resolve the issue of the printer driver is unavailable with these methods. These methods are tried and tested and they provide the best results to fix any printer issue. If you have any comments, then you can post in the feedback section below. Additionally, if you are still facing any printer driver issue, then you can get additional guidance.