How to fix Printer Properties that are grayed out

Today I was at a customer doing an onsite visit. I was working with a new printer they had just installed. I went to the advanced tab to change some settings and all of the printer settings were grayed out. I couldn’t make any changes. Printer Properties Grayed Out

However, the fix is really simple just go back to the General tabChange Printer Properties

and click Change Properties in the bottom left corner. The printer properties box will close and will reopen with administrator privileges. Now click on the advanced or port tab and you will be able to make changes since it opened the dialogue box with administrator privileges.

Note: If you are trying to change the properties on a printer that was shared from another computer, this isn’t possible. You need to go to the computer that the printer was shared from to be able to change the properties.

I hope this helps. This was posted by techspeeder

14 thoughts on “How to fix Printer Properties that are grayed out

    1. Merlin Halteman Post author

      This is one scenario where the button will be missing. If you installed a shared printer from another computer or server you won’t be able to change the properties. You will have to go to the computer that the printer is connected and change the settings there.

      Reply
  1. Ronnie

    This looks like the same software that Dell uses. I have a Dell 3100cn colour laser printer and have exactly the same problem. Your fix worked perfectly. I had been struggling with this for a few hours. Thanx

    Reply
  2. Still Need Help

    No shared printer, no another computer. Just one computer. “Change Properties” button does not exist. I changed my admin user name. This may be the problem, but I still don’t know how to make it work with my new user name (if that is the issue).

    Reply
  3. IT_Architect

    >“Change Properties” button does not exist. I changed my admin user name. This may be the problem, but I still don’t know how to make it work with my new user name (if that is the issue). Change Sharing Options. Then it will open with Administrator privileges. While you are at it, add yourself with rights.

    Whether or not you can uncheck “Enable advanced printing features” depends entirely on the driver.

    Reply
    1. Terri

      I can’t remember my administrator password and now I can’t get my Surface pro 3 to print directly to my printer, and I’m wanting to disable the “Print to File”, but can’t seem to do anything without my administrator password. Help!!!!

      Reply
  4. rihcard

    On a server i do have ‘Change Properties’ and it does open the window again yet when i got to the Advanced tab it is still greyed out 😮

    Reply
    1. dovo

      Another way is to use the shell: command. Click on START then RUN and type shell:printersfolder then press enter. (You can also just type it in the Devices and Printers address bar.) Now you can right click on the printer icon and select ‘Run as Administrator’.

      Reply
  5. Juan C. Cuevas

    This was helpful setting up an old LaserJet 1320n on a recently upgraded Windows 10 computer.Thank you.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.