Written by If you recently added a new printer, you might notice that Control Panel on Windows 10/11 or settings app on Windows 11 will not display the printer name sometimes. However, should you go to any program and select the print menu, you will be able to see the printer as one of the selections. You might be wondering what’s up with that?
The issue stems from a weird Windows bug, that initially occurred on Windows Server 2012, then was still there on Server 2016. It has since been resolved in newer versions of Windows Server, however, it is still appearing in Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11. Essentially, if the default computer name is DESKTOP-XXXXXXX (or any combination of characters over 15 in length) you will experience the issue of missing printer in the RDP session in Windows Server 2012/2016 or in Windows 10/11. Shortening the name of the PC to 14 characters or less and subsequent reboot for the changes to take effect solves this weird issue instantly. Important to note though: If you have network shares from this PC to other computer using PC’s shared name, you might want to re-establish those connections, as effectively your PC name has changed. Or better yet, just use the IP address of the machine instead of the PC name.
So if you find yourself with weird printer behaviors, give this solution a try and let me know if this worked for you.