FEBRUARY 8, 2026 marks the culmination of Microsoft’s two-year transitional period for deprecating legacy V3 and V4 print drivers in Windows 11, with these drivers set to be disabled by default in the February 2026 cumulative updates. In late January, the optional Windows 11 updates officially withdrew support for the antiquated driver models, and the rollout will extend to Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 depending on the driver versions installed.
According to Microsoft, no new printer drivers will be published to Windows Update for Windows 11+ and Windows Server 2025+, though existing drivers on Windows Update can still be updated on a case-by-case basis. The change is framed as a security and maintenance measure intended to reduce the attack surface and focus on modern printing solutions, with interoperability remaining for many contemporary printers.
For users with legacy hardware, the article notes possible disruptions and advises seeking driver updates from manufacturers or adopting modern printing paradigms, such as IPP, with uninstallation of the update as a last resort if no viable driver exists.