9.5 Managing a Printer
9.5.3 Selecting a default printer
A default printer is the printer to which all print jobs are sent if another printer is not selected. With simple applications like Notepad, selecting the option to Print will send the document to the default printer. Other applications allow the user to choose any of the installed printers but will list the default printer as the first option.

Any computer with a printer installed has a default printer. If a single printer is installed, it becomes the default printer. As other printers are installed, the user must decide which printer to make the default printer.

Choosing or changing the default printer on a computer can be done in three ways:

  • During printer installation – Each time a printer is installed on a computer, the user will be given the opportunity to designate that printer as the default printer.
  • Manual selection – Opening the Printers folder in Windows allows the user to see icons representing all of the installed printers. A list of installed printer icons can be seen by clicking Start, then Settings, and choosing the Printer folder or opening the Control Panel from the Windows 9x desktop. The current default printer will have a small check mark in a dark circle on its icon. Designating a new default printer can be done by right-clicking on the printer icon and choosing Set as Default.
  • Using the printer queue – When viewing the queue of a particular printer, it can be designated as the default printer by choosing Printer from the menu bar and selecting Set as Default.