Printer Icon Not Showing Devices and Printers? Fix

If the printer icon is missing from the Devices and Printers folder in Windows, the most common cause is a corrupted or stalled Print Spooler service, or a hidden system file. Restarting the Print Spooler service and showing hidden items usually restores the icon within a minute, without reinstalling drivers.

Why the Icon Disappears

The Devices and Printers folder is a special Windows shell view, not a regular folder. It lists printers, scanners, and other connected devices. The icon itself is a shortcut to shell:::{A8A91A66-3A7D-4424-8D24-04E180695C7A}, and Windows hides it when the underlying service that populates the folder fails to respond. Common triggers include:

• A crashed Print Spooler service (spoolsv.exe) that hasn’t restarted.
• Leftover entries from a failed printer driver installation.
• Windows Explorer cache corruption.
• Group Policy or registry tweaks that hide the icon.
• A pending Windows Update that hasn’t finished applying.

In most cases the icon is not actually deleted—it’s just not being drawn because the folder view is waiting on a hung process.

Quick Fix: Restart the Print Spooler

The Print Spooler is the service that manages the print queue and communicates with printer drivers. When it stops or crashes, the Devices and Printers folder can appear empty or lose its icon. Here’s how to restart it:

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
2. Scroll to Print Spooler. Right-click it and select Restart. If it’s not running, choose Start.
3. Close the Services window, then open File Explorer and navigate to Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Devices and Printers.

If the icon still doesn’t appear, open an elevated Command Prompt (search for “cmd”, right-click, “Run as administrator”) and run:

net stop spooler && net start spooler

This forces a clean restart. After that, press F5 in the Devices and Printers window to refresh.

Show Hidden Icons and System Files

Sometimes the icon is present but hidden because Windows filters out system files or the “Devices and Printers” shortcut was removed from the desktop. To reveal it:

1. Open File Explorer, click View tab, then check Hidden items.
2. Click Options on the right, go to the View tab, and uncheck Hide protected operating system files. Confirm the warning.
3. Navigate to C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Control Panel and look for a shortcut named “Devices and Printers”.

If the shortcut is missing, you can recreate it by right-clicking the desktop, choosing Personalize > Themes > Desktop icon settings, and checking Control Panel. That will put a Control Panel icon on the desktop; from there, open it and pin Devices and Printers to the Start menu or taskbar.

Repair the Shell Folder View

When the spooler is fine but the icon still won’t show, the shell view itself may be corrupted. Windows has a built-in tool for this: sfc /scannow. Open an elevated Command Prompt and run:

sfc /scannow

This checks system files and replaces corrupted ones. It can take 10–20 minutes. After it finishes, reboot. If that doesn’t help, run the Deployment Imaging Service and Management tool:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

These two commands fix most shell-level corruption that hides icons. They are safe and don’t touch your personal files.

When It’s a Driver or Registry Issue

If the icon appears but the folder is empty, or if the icon is missing only for a specific printer, the problem is usually a bad driver. Open Device Manager (right-click Start) and expand Print queues. If you see a yellow exclamation mark, right-click the device and choose Uninstall device, then restart. Windows will reinstall the driver automatically.

For registry-level issues, you can try adding the missing shell key manually. Open Registry Editor (regedit) and navigate to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{A8A91A66-3A7D-4424-8D24-04E180695C7A}\ShellFolder

If the key is missing, the icon won’t render. However, editing the registry is risky—back up first and only proceed if you’re comfortable. A safer alternative is to create a new user account and check if the icon appears there. If it does, the issue is profile-specific.

Alternatives to the Icon

Even if the icon never returns, you can still access your printers through other routes:

• Type control printers in the Run dialog (Win + R) and press Enter. This opens the same folder directly.
• Go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners (Windows 11) or Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners (Windows 10).
• Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager to see printers under “Print queues”.
• Use the search bar next to Start and type “printers”—the first result is usually the Devices and Printers folder.

These methods bypass the desktop icon entirely and work even when the shell shortcut is broken.

Preventing Future Disappearances

To avoid the icon vanishing again, keep your printer drivers updated from the manufacturer’s support site, not just via Windows Update. Also, regularly restart the Print Spooler if you notice print jobs hanging. If you use a network printer, ensure the printer’s IP address is static—a changing IP can cause Windows to lose track of the device and hide it from the folder.

Another preventive step is to disable the “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” option in Device Manager for your printer’s USB hub. That setting sometimes causes the printer to drop off the bus, and Windows then removes it from the Devices view.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my printer not showing in Devices and Printers even after restart?

If a restart doesn’t help, the driver is likely corrupted or the printer connection is faulty. Uninstall the printer from Device Manager, unplug it, restart, then plug it back in. Windows will re-detect it. If it’s a network printer, verify the IP address and that the printer is on the same subnet.

Can I add a printer without the Devices and Printers icon?

Yes. Open Settings > Printers & scanners, click “Add device”, and follow the prompts. For network printers, you can also use the “Add a printer using an IP address or hostname” option in the classic Add Printer wizard, which you can launch by typing control printers in Run.

Is it safe to delete the Print Spooler service?

No. The Print Spooler is a core Windows service. Deleting it will break all printing functionality. If you’re troubleshooting, only restart it, never remove it.

Does the icon missing mean my printer is broken?

No. The icon is just a shortcut. If you can print from other apps, the printer is fine. The issue is purely with Windows’ shell display. Check if the printer appears in Device Manager or Settings to confirm it’s still installed.

Will a system restore fix the missing icon?

Often yes, if the icon disappeared recently. System Restore rolls back registry and system file changes to an earlier point. Choose a restore point from before the problem started. It won’t affect your documents or personal files.

Why does the icon keep coming back and then disappearing?

This usually points to a flaky USB connection or a power management setting. Check the printer cable, try a different USB port, and in Device Manager, open the USB hub’s properties and uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device”. Also, update the motherboard chipset drivers.

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