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      Set the windows default printer

      Description

      Set a new windows default printer via Powershell.

      Solution

      To find the new printer the Get-WmiObject commandlet with the -Class Win32_Printer parameter can be used. The printer can then be set as the default printer by calling the function SetDefaultPrinter(): 

      $devicename = 'newDefaultPrinterName'

      $oldDefaultPrinter = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Printer -Filter "Default=True"
        
      $newDefaultPrinter = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Printer -Filter "DeviceID='$devicename'"
      $newDefaultPrinter.SetDefaultPrinter()
        
      #Perform actions with the new default printer
      #...

      $oldDefaultPrinter.SetDefaultPrinter()
       
      • Define the name of the printer that should be set as the default printer. In this example it is 'newDefaultPrinterName'
      • Save the current default printer
      • Get the printer that should be the new default printer by its name
      • Set the new printer as the default printer
      • Perform actions with the printer
      • The previous default printer can be restored

      List all available printers:

      To list all available printers and their names the Get-WmiObject commandlet can be used:

      Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Printer