In Windows 7, we can set default printer from control panel -> Devices and printers. For Windows geeks and system administrators, here’s a command line tip for doing the same with a simple wmic command. Read on…
First, let’s get the list of printers installed on the computer. You can run the below command for this list.
wmic printer get name,default
Example: the above command prints the following on my computer.
c:\>wmic printer get name,default Default Name FALSE Send To OneNote 2010 FALSE Eng_Printer_1stFloor FALSE HR_printer_2ndFloor TRUE HP_COLOR_PRINTER FALSE Microsoft XPS Document Writer FALSE Fax
As you can see it also tells us which one is the default printer. Now the syntax for setting a new default printer:
wmic printer where name='printername' call setdefaultprinter
The default printer on my computer is ‘HP_COLOR_PRINTER’. Now let’s change it to ‘Eng_Printer_1stFloor’. The command for this is given below.
wmic printer where name='Eng_Printer_1stFloor' call setdefaultprinter
This command also works on Server 2008. Though I have not verified it, it should work for other Windows editions also(XP, Vista, Server 2003).
Related Posts:
Printer management in XP, Server 2003 from Windows command line.
Manage printer jobs from Windows command prompt.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
how do you query or set default a network printer…
it say ERROR when i query a network printer such as
“invalid query”
wmic printer where name=’\\printserver\printername’ call setdefaultprinter
thanks
Problem seems to be that you are using the printer UNC path. Instead use the printer name. You can get the name field using
wmic printer get name.Also the printer should have been added to the computer before running the command. From the added printers list you can choose one of it as the default one. This list can be obtained from
wmic printer getcommand.You need to delimit your printer name, ie
wmic printer where name=’\\\\printserver\\printername’ call setdefaultprinter
thanks andrewb.. work for me. cheers.