Windows 11 To Stop Supporting Legacy V3 And V4 Printer Drivers
Credit: Grok
Microsoft will stop supporting legacy printer drivers in the Windows 11 operating system starting in January 2026. This change will affect versions 24H2 and 25H2 as updates are rolled out, according to Windows Central. Users whose printers rely solely on these drivers will experience difficulties using their devices.
On the official support page, the company notes that starting in January 2026, Windows will no longer support printer drivers for versions V3 and V4.
These older driver models were deprecated back in September 2023, so Microsoft gave partners and customers time to prepare. Now the company states that the deprecation won’t affect most users, as most printers on the market use newer driver architectures.
However, it’s easy to imagine a situation where a small business, government agency, or educational institution is still using an older printer. True, it’s usually used with an older PC, but not always. In such cases, problems will arise.
This move is driven by the company’s desire to improve the overall security and stability of the operating system, as outdated printer drivers have long been a weak link in Windows security and have often caused system crashes or been used for hacker attacks.
