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My Cannon printers installed fax machine as a sub-printer / sub-driver:

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Even though this is a sub-printer and does not appear in the list (depicted in background) of system enabled / available printers, it clutters the printers list. Here is an example from Word:

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Is there any way in Windows 11 to remove a sub-printer (sub-driver), while keeping main printer (driver) not touched at all?

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3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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Actually, there is a way to do this in Windows 11. The frustration is that you used to be able to do this in the Windows 7 control panel (pictured above in OP), but all those links now send you back to the new settings in the newer versions of Windows 11. But here's how you get back there:

  1. Open Settings ⇒ Bluetooth & Devices ⇒ Printers & Scanners

  2. Now locate the "grouped" icon for your printer (in example, Canon 920) and click to open the settings for it. (Don't right-click it, just open it up)

  3. Now scroll all the way to the bottom of the options, and click on "More Devices & Printers settings"

  4. Now it opens the old familiar Windows 7 Devices & Printers window (viewed in pic from OP above).

    Here's how you get rid of the fax:

  5. Right-click the printer (in example Canon MX920).

  6. Choose "Delete print queue" in the menu ⇒ Then click on the fax. Confirm deletion and you are done.
    Optional: Find the printer you wish to make default, right-click and choose "Set as Default Printer" from the menu.

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This question was raised in the Canon Support forum in the post Can I get rid of FAX. It dates from 2016, but surely does still apply.

The official Canon answer is:

The fax, scan and printer components come together. The fax component takes little to no space on your hard drive. You can delete the icon from Devices and Printers if you do not wish to see it. However, removing the "MP Driver" from your program listing will remove the printer driver, scanner driver and fax driver.

The answer is then that this comes as one package, it's all-or-nothing. You may get rid of the icon for the device, but not delete the driver. I would guess that it's one driver that exposes all these devices to Windows, but that cannot be programmed to expose only the printer device.

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  • Seems that this answer (Canon's) isn't valid for Windows 11. I cannot get rid of the icon for the device, as it does not appear within Printers section. I can see it listed as a regular printer (for software like depicted Word), but in the same time it does not appear as a regular printer in Printers list.
    – trejder
    Commented Feb 18, 2023 at 22:04
  • The same way as the ubiquitous "print to file" function is "seen" by the programs as a printer but it not being an actual physical device but a virtual one it isn't listed in the Printers list of the OS' settings like any other virtual "printer". It has been like this since the first Windows version. Furthermore the part about getting rid of the icon seems to be a harrymc's assertion, not part of the Canon's answer. Anyway, things are what things are and you have to live with it (or obtain a different MPF device without fax capabilities) and you should accept this answer because correct.
    – ChanganAuto
    Commented Feb 19, 2023 at 14:09
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It depends.

If the printer and scanner are installed separately, yes, they can be uninstalled separately.

However this is not always the case. If the Printer package includes the Scanner (my HP does) then they are not separately uninstallable.

If the scanner is causing issues, then uninstall the complete package, restart and try installing again.

Sometimes is best to let Windows install the printer package and then install the Vendor package.

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