- Microsoft is changing the way some older printers are supported in Windows 11
- This doesn’t mean those devices will no longer work in the OS, though
- A poorly worded statement in a roadmap gave this impression, but Microsoft has clarified that these printers will still work fine – and can have driver updates applied, just not via Windows Update
There’s some confusion about older printers and Windows 11 right now, so it’s worth making it clear that, despite what you may read elsewhere – due to a badly worded support update from Microsoft – said printers aren’t about to stop working with the operating system.
As Windows Latest reports, this stems from an update to the Windows 11 roadmap in which Microsoft noted that: “Starting in January 2026, Windows will no longer support V3 and V4 printer drivers. These older driver models were announced as deprecated in September 2023.
“Most customers use newer printer drivers or modern printing solutions, which continue to work and are recommended. If your printer depends on a V3 or V4 driver, it may stop installing or working after support ends.”
The latter sentence obviously sounds like bad news, suggesting that any printer running on these older drivers might just stop working after the latest Windows 11 update. However, thankfully, this isn’t the case, as Microsoft clarified to Windows Latest.
Indeed, the quoted statement is no longer present in the Windows 11 roadmap, so seemingly it’s been removed by Microsoft, perhaps due to the confusion that it’s now causing.
In a support document on its Learn portal, Microsoft provides an FAQ that makes the situation much clearer. These are the key questions and answers to bear in mind:
Q: Will Windows prevent installation of new printer drivers [for these older third-party printers]?
A: Windows will continue to allow vendor-supplied printer drivers to be installed via separate installation packages.
Q: Will installation of Microsoft-signed printer drivers already released to the market be prevented from installing on Windows?
A: Existing printer drivers can be installed on Windows PCs, even after the end of servicing.
What does this mean if you own one of these printers?
If you have an affected printer – one which isn’t a Mopria-compliant device (which are covered by Microsoft’s IPP Class Driver) – going forward, you’ll have to install new drivers yourself, getting them from the manufacturer. (Note that all modern printers have moved away from these V3 and V4 drivers, and indeed, you’re looking at devices that are likely over a decade old.)
In other words, as of the latest (rather problematic) January update, Windows 11 won’t supply any new drivers from the device manufacturer; you’ll have to get them directly from the source. You’ll still be able to install those drivers in Windows 11, though, and your printer won’t suddenly stop working. Indeed, Microsoft clarifies that it has no plans to disable any existing printer features that are supported by V3 and V4 printer drivers (never mind printers themselves).
In practical terms, if you have one of the affected V3 or V4 driver printers, your device will continue to work just fine with its current driver. If you want to stay up to date with the latest drivers, you’ll need to keep tabs on them yourself via the manufacturer’s website (in the support section, or downloads – wherever new drivers are offered, and that could also be via the vendor’s associated software).
If you’re primarily worried about security – and that’s understandable – it’s worth noting that Microsoft will still pipe through any ‘critical’ security fixes for these printers via Windows Update. And if your printer is working just fine as it is, that’s all you need going forward, really.
To sum up, then, there’s nothing to worry about here, despite some of the scary headlines you might have seen. That said, Microsoft’s wording in the above quote does admittedly sound worrying, but clearly enough, it’s misleading (and has apparently been removed as a result).
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