Microsoft has
announced that it will end support for third-party printer drivers on Windows.
In general, printer OEMs provide their own installers, drivers, utilities, and so on to make their printers work with Windows PCs. Starting with Windows 10 21H2, Microsoft added inbox support for Mopria compliant printer devices over network and USB interfaces via the Microsoft IPP Class Driver. This native support for printers in Windows removed the need to install printer OEM provided drivers. Also, printer OEMs no longer have to create drivers for each version of Windows since Microsoft’s inbox solution is supported across all Windows versions and editions.
Because of the above changes, Microsoft is ending the servicing of the legacy v3 and v4 Windows printer drivers. This is a huge change, so the end of servicing will be staged over multiple years as per the below timeline:
For now, printer OEMs can continue to submit printer drivers to Microsoft for driver validation and signing. However, in 2026, Microsoft will no longer publish new printer drivers on Windows Update. After this date, printer OEMs can request customers to install drivers via separate installation packages.
Microsoft also mentioned that it will continue to deliver security fixes related to the legacy printer driver platform while the Windows OS version is still within the Microsoft Support Lifecycle.
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