Windows 10: Printer preferences lost

I have a HP ENVY 5540 printer which works perfectly I have tested it by printing from my phone but I have lost a number of printer preference options when trying to print from my laptop, namely: colour printing and photo quality print although I can select 'best'.

So when trying to print from my laptop a new Lenova, purchased in February with Windows 10 installed I can only print in black and white! I can only think this has happened since a Windows 10 update on Wednesday 13th May. It worked perfectly before this, but I don't print every day so can't be sure when the problem started. The test sheets say colour is supported and troubleshooting doesn't show any problems. In device settings I don't have an option to select colour or in printer preferences - no option to select colour or black/white as there were previously. What has happened? How can I get my colour printing back again?

:)

 

Can't change printer preferences in Windows 10

Hi Chris,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft community.

I apologize for the inconvenience caused. We are glad to help you.

• 
  What exactly happens when you try to go into printer driver settings from Control Panel?
  

I suggest you to try the steps given below and check if it helps:

Step 1:

• 
  Type change default printer and hit
  enter.
  
• 
  Check whether you are able to change the preferences and properties from here.
  

Step 2:

• 
  Type printers and scanners and hit
  enter.
  
• 
  Check whether you are able to change the preferences and properties from here.
  

Hope this information helps. Do contact us for further queries. We will be happy to assist you.

Regards,

Jenith

 

Finding printer preferences

Hi,

Thank you for posting on Microsoft Community. I understand the inconvenience you are facing. I will certainly help you with this.

I appreciate if you could answer few questions to narrow down the issue and to provide you better assistance.

• Does the right click works on all other apps/program/files?
• What happens when you try to right lick on the pics that you are trying to copy?

To set the printing preference, kindly follow the below given steps:

• Press the Start menu, type Devices and Printers and hit enter.
  
• Right-click the printer that you want to use, and then click Printing preferences.
• Make your choices, and then click OK.

Check if issue is resolved.

Please post back with the results and the information asked, we will be glad to assist you further.

Thank you.

 

Printer lost

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



We understand your concern as you are unable to print labels as you are unable to see the printer.
In order to get clarity and to assist you accordingly, please reply with the answers to the questions below.

• What is the Windows 10 version and Build installed? (Type
  winver in Windows search/Run command)
  
• What is the make and model of the Printer?
  
• When you say "One of my printers is lost, how can I recover without having to download it again?" is the printer not detected or is it not printing?

Meanwhile, we would suggest you to perform these steps from this article:

Fix printer connection and printing problems in Windows 10



Let us know how it goes.



Aditya Roy

Microsoft Community – Moderator