How to set default printer using PowerShell 

Introduction

This PowerShell script shows how to set default printer in Windows.

Scenarios

In real world, we usually have multiple printers in our company environment. IT admins want to user regularly use specified printer, they have to let user to pick one as default printer.  

Script

Step1: Execute this script is simple, if you do not know how to execute it. You can type the command Get-Help C:\Script\SetDefaultPrinter.ps1 -Full to display the entire Help file for this function, such as the syntax, parameters, or examples.

Step2: Start the PowerShell Console with administrator. To run the script in the Windows PowerShell Console, type the one command< Script Path> with parameter at the Windows PowerShell Console.

For example, type C:\Script\SetDefaultPrinter.ps1 -PrinterName "Microsoft XPS Document Writer"

The step is shown in the following figure.

Here are some code snippets for your references.

Try
{
    Write-Verbose "Get the specified printer info."
    $Printer = $Printers | Where{$_.Name -eq "$PrinterName"}
 
    If($Printer)
    {
        Write-Verbose "Setting the default printer."
        $Printer.SetDefaultPrinter() | Out-Null
 
        Write-Host "Successfully set the default printer."
    }
    Else
    {
        Write-Warning "Cannot find the specified printer."
    }
}
Catch
{
    $ErrorMsg = $_.Exception.Message
    Write-Host $ErrorMsg -BackgroundColor Red
}
 

Try 
{ 
    Write-Verbose "Get the specified printer info." 
    $Printer = $Printers | Where{$_.Name -eq "$PrinterName"} 
  
    If($Printer) 
    { 
        Write-Verbose "Setting the default printer." 
        $Printer.SetDefaultPrinter() | Out-Null 
  
        Write-Host "Successfully set the default printer." 
    } 
    Else 
    { 
        Write-Warning "Cannot find the specified printer." 
    } 
} 
Catch 
{ 
    $ErrorMsg = $_.Exception.Message 
    Write-Host $ErrorMsg -BackgroundColor Red 
} 
 

Prerequisite

Windows PowerShell 2.0

Windows 7