A default printer by definition is the printer used unless an alternate device is explicitly selected. At least that’s the way it should work, and has worked in every version of Windows until Win 10. Now though the “default” settings for the “default” printer is to let Windows manage it, which means Windows will automatically change your default printer to the last used printer. I can’t imagine the tortured logic that led to this setting, nor can I imagine the number of print jobs that will be misdirected in corporate America as a result.
Thankfully, unlike so many Win 10 settings that are held in obscure databases, this one is a simple registry setting:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\LegacyDefaultPrinterMode
Set to 1 and you’ll have the old behavior back, where your default printer really is a proper default – and stays that way.
Yet another example of developers fixing something that wasn’t broken. At least they’ve left a ‘legacy mode’ for people to find. The trick is having network admins who do something other than shrug and tell you “it’s a new feature.”
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