Prune printers that are not automatically republished: registry value PruneDownlevelComputerHKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers
- Policy ID
- PruneDownlevel
- Scope
- Computer Configuration
- Supported on
- At least Windows 2000
- Source
- Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11 2026 Update (26H2) (version 1.0)
- Category
- Printers
Registry
PruneDownlevel
REG_DWORDComputer- Enabled value
- Depends on the option value
- Element
- Prune non-republishing printers:
| Item | Stored value |
|---|---|
| Never | 0 |
| Only if Print Server is found | 1 |
| Whenever printer is not found | 2 |
Apply with .reg · CMD · PowerShell
.reg
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers] ; Options (use only one) ; Never "PruneDownlevel"=dword:00000000 ; Only if Print Server is found "PruneDownlevel"=dword:00000001 ; Whenever printer is not found "PruneDownlevel"=dword:00000002
CMD
:: Options (use only one) :: Never reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers" /v "PruneDownlevel" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f :: Only if Print Server is found reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers" /v "PruneDownlevel" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f :: Whenever printer is not found reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers" /v "PruneDownlevel" /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f
PowerShell
# Common: create the key New-Item -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers' -Force | Out-Null # Options (use only one) # Never New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers' -Name 'PruneDownlevel' -PropertyType DWord -Value 0 -Force | Out-Null # Only if Print Server is found New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers' -Name 'PruneDownlevel' -PropertyType DWord -Value 1 -Force | Out-Null # Whenever printer is not found New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers' -Name 'PruneDownlevel' -PropertyType DWord -Value 2 -Force | Out-Null