Did you see the error “Printer Driver is Unavailable” on your computer when your printer is not working? If so, you’re likely dealing with an outdated driver issue, or driver incompatibility, which makes your computer fail to recognize your printer. Worry not! This is easy to fix. Try the following tips and you will sort it out.

  1. Update your printer driver
  2. Install Windows updates
  3. Run an SFC scan

Before we start troubleshooting, please restart your computer to flush the buffer. After that, proceed with the steps below.

1. Update your printer driver

When the printer driver is reported unavailable on Windows, one of the first things you should do is to update your printer driver, since an up-to-date printer driver always ensures the best printing performance and fewer bugs.

To update your printer driver, we recommend you remove the current driver first and then let Windows reinstall a newer one for you. So, here’s what you can do (please note that the following screenshots are taken on Windows 11, but the instructions work on Windows 10 as well):

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows key and X at the same time, select Device Manager.
  2. Double-click to expand the category Print queues. Then right-click your printer driver and click Uninstall device (the name of the device can be different on your computer).
  3. Then, tick Delete the driver software for this device and click Uninstall to confirm the operation.
  4. Once uninstalled, restart your computer and Windows will reinstall the latest printer driver for you.

If you’re not sure whether to reinstall your driver, then you can consider updating your printer driver in a different way with the help of Driver Techie.

Its ever-growing driver database allows you to always have access to the latest device drivers that you need. More importantly, Driver Techie simplifies the driver update process, so all it takes is just 3 clicks (for Pro users), and all your drivers are updated.

To use Driver Techie to find you the latest drivers:

  1. Download and install Driver Techie, then launch it.
  2. Click Scan Now.
  3. After the scan, select all the drivers you need to update and click Update All. Then all your drivers will be updated automatically without you having to do anything else.

Please note that Update All is available for Pro subscribers only, otherwise, you can only manually update the driver one at a time. To see how to manually update the drivers one by one, please check this post.

If you’re a Pro user of Driver Techie, and need our technical support to help with the “Printer Driver is Unavailable” error, please feel free to contact <support@drivertechie.com>.

2. Install Windows updates

If your Windows system is out-of-date, it might not be compatible with the printer you’re using, and showing you the “Printer Driver is Unavailable” error. In general, we recommend you always keep your system updated, as it fixes many of the system errors.

To do so:

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and I together to open Settings.
  2. From the left sidebar, select Windows Update, and then click the Check for updates button on the right.
  3. If there is any update available, install it and restart your PC.

Once complete, check if the error persists. If so, move on to the next tip.

3. Run an SFC scan

Another possibility is that there are corrupted or missing files on your system, which cause your computer unable to recognize your printer. In this case, doing a System File Checker scan would help. Here are the steps:

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R together to invoke the Run prompt, type cmd, and press Shift, Ctrl, and Enter together to launch the Command prompt.
  2. Paste the following command lines and press Enter to execute:
    sfc /scannow
  3. Wait until the verification is 100% complete. The scan results will be shown after this process is finished.

SFC is a system repair tool that fixes system file corruption. Hopefully, it will resolve the “Printer Driver is Unavailable” error for you. If you have other solutions to share, please feel free to comment below.