What is ‘HP Printer error – Driver Is Unavailable’ error in Windows 10/11?
If you are facing HP Printer Driver Is Unavailable Error or ‘Drive is unavailable’ error for your HP Printer in Settings app/Control Panel app in Windows 10/11, and searching for ways to fix the issue on the web, then you are in right-place for the solution. You will be guided here with easy steps/methods to resolve the issue. Let’s starts the discussion.
‘Driver Is Unavailable’ error for HP printer:
It is common Windows Problem considered as HP Printer Driver issue. When you open Settings App/Control Panel app in your Windows in order to check the status of your HP printer, you may experience ‘Driver is unavailable’ error next to your HP Printer in printer settings page or in control panel. This error indicates driver for HP Printer is missing or not found, incompatible or corrupted in your Windows computer that’s why the error is occurred.
This issue can be occurred due outdated HP Printer driver, outdated Windows OS, corruption in system files or registry or in system image, corruption in Windows computer, and other issues. Printer driver is important software required to comminute your printer device with operating system installed in your computer. So, you should make sure printer driver is properly installed in your computer and is up-to-date to latest & compatible version if you don’t want to face this type of error in computer.
As mentioned, corruption in system files and system image could be a reason behind the issue. In such case, you can run SFC scan and DISM scan in computer, or run PC Repair Tool offers you to repair corrupted system files and system image, and fix this error as well. Updating Printer driver to latest version can resolve the issue, but there is also some other possible solutions to fix the issue as mentioned in the post. Let’s go for the solution.
How to fix HP Printer Driver Is Unavailable Error in Windows 10/11?
Method 1: Fix Driver Is Unavailable Error – HP Printer error with ‘PC Repair Tool’
‘PC Repair Tool’ is quick & easy ways to find and fix BSOD errors, DLL errors, EXE errors, problems with programs/applications, malware or viruses infections in computer, system files or registry issues, and other system issues with just few clicks.
⇓ Get PC Repair Tool
Method 2: Run Printer troubleshooter
Windows built-in Printer troubleshooter can resolve the issue.
Step 1: Open ‘Settings’ app in Windows PC via Windows Search Box and go to ‘System > Troubleshoot > Other Troubleshooters’
Step 2: Find and select ‘Printer’ troubleshooter, and click ‘Run’ to run the troubleshooter and follow on-screen instructions to finish. Once finished, check if the issue is resolved.
Method 3: Run ‘HP Print and Scan Doctor’ App
Another way to fix the issue is to run ‘HP Print and Scan Doctor’ app in your Windows PC. This app helps to diagnose and fix issues with HP printers. You can get this tool from ‘https://support.hp.com/us-en/help/printscandoctor’ page in your computer, and then run the tool to fix the issue.
Method 4: Update HP Printer Driver
Step 1: Open your browser and visit HP Driver Support official page, and download the latest & compatible version of Printer driver from there according to your printer device model and Windows OS version like 64-bit
Step 2: Once downloaded, open ‘Device Manager’ app in Windows PC via Windows Search Box and expand ‘Printers’ or ‘Print Queues’ category
Step 3: Right-click on your HP Printer, and select ‘Update Driver’, and follow on-screen instructions to finish update. Once done, restart your computer and check if the issue is resolved.
Download or reinstall HP Printer driver update in Windows PC [Automatically]
You can also try to update all Windows drivers including HP Printer driver using Automatic Driver Update Tool. You can get this tool through button/link below.
⇓ Get Automatic Driver Update Tool
Method 5: Update Windows OS
Updating Windows OS to latest version can resolve the issue.
Step 1: Open ‘Settings’ app in Windows PC via Windows Search Box and go to ‘Update and Security > Windows Update’ and click ‘Check for updates’ button
Step 2: Download and install all available updates and once updated, restart your computer and check if the issue is resolved.
Method 6: Uninstall and reinstall HP Printer driver
Another way to fix the issue is to uninstall HP Printer driver and then reinstall it in computer.
Step 1: Open ‘Settings’ app in Windows PC and go to ‘Bluetooth & Devices > Printers & Scanners’
Step 2: Select your HP Printer and select ‘Remove’ and confirm.
Step 3: Now, open ‘Device Manager’ and expand ‘Printers’ or ‘Print Queues’ category
Step 4: Right-click on your HP Printer, and select ‘Uninstall Device’ to uninstall it and after that, restart your computer
Step 5: After restart, open ‘Settings’ app again and go to ‘Bluetooth & devices > Printers & Scanners’, and select ‘Add Device’ and set up the HP printer, and once done, restart the latest Printer driver in your device, and then check if the issue is resolved.
Method 7: Switch to Generic Printer Driver
Another way to fix the issue is to switch to generic printer driver in your computer.
Step 1: Open ‘Device Manager’ app in Windows PC via Windows Search Box and expand ‘Printer Queues’ or ‘Printers’ category
Step 2: Right-click on your HP Printer, and select ‘Update Driver’ and choose ‘Browse my computer for drivers > Let me pick from the list of available drivers’
Step 3: Check ‘Show compatible hardware’ checkbox, and select ‘Generic Software Device’, and hit ‘Next’ and hit ‘Finish’ to install the generic printer driver in computer, and then check if the issue is resolved.
Method 8: Run SFC scan and DISM scan
You can run SFC scan and DISM scan in computer to repair corruption in system files and system image in computer and fix this error as well.
Step 1: Type ‘cmd’ in Windows Search Box and press ‘CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER’ keys on keyboard to open ‘Command Prompt as Administrator’
Step 2: Type the following commands and hit ‘Enter’ key after each to execute.
sfc /scannow
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth
Step 3: Once executed, restart your computer and check if the issue is resolved.
Conclusion
I am sure this article helped you on How to fix HP Printer Driver Is Unavailable Error in Windows 10/11 with easy ways. You can read & follow our instructions to do so. That’s all. For any suggestions or queries, please write on comment box below.
