I'm migrating printer deployments on Windows Server 2022 from the older Deployed Printers policy to Group Policy Preferences. The original queues were configured under both Computer Configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Deployed Printers and User Configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Deployed Printers. After removing the printers from the policy, they still remain on clients, and gpresult continues to show them as applying.
I've already tried removing the GPO, deleting printer-connection registry entries, configuring GPP printer items with the Delete action, re-adding and removing the queues in Group Policy Management, and deleting them from Print Management. The older setup worked with a Windows Server 2012 R2 print server, but the issue appeared after the PrintNightmare-related changes and migration to Windows Server 2022. Point and Print Restrictions are configured to allow approved print servers and driver installation.
When I try deleting all printers through GPP, client Event Viewer reports Access Denied after gpupdate /force. Has anyone successfully removed legacy GPO-deployed queues or worked around this behavior?
1 Answer
One workaround that fixed this was opening the affected policy from a domain controller running Windows Server 2019. That version still exposed the complete legacy Deployed Printers policy interface, allowing the old printer entries to be deleted directly from the GPO. If possible, temporarily add a Server 2019 domain controller and edit the policy there. The forest functional level may also matter, although this was done in a domain with a 2016 forest level.
Thanks—I tried editing the policy from multiple domain controllers and the print server, but I haven’t yet tested whether using a Server 2019 domain controller restores the missing legacy policy interface.