Hide or disable Devices in Devices and Printers

This article describes how to hide or disable Devices in Devices and Printers.

Applies to:   Windows 10 - all editions
Original KB number:   2018577

Symptoms

There is no way in the Windows interface to hide Devices within the Devices and Printers GUI.

Resolution

You can hide Devices and Printers from Control Panel using the supported GPO and then create a folder to view Printers only. To do this, use the policy "Hide specified control panel items" to remove the Devices and Printers item from the Control Panel window:

1. Edit a GPO.
2. Navigate to User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Control Panel.
3. Double-click Hide specified control panel items in the right pane, select Enable, click Show button, and type Microsoft.DevicesAndPrinters.

Once this policy is in place, go to Regedit and create this following Entry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\

Create a new key {2227a280-3aea-1069-a2de-08002b30309d}

On the right hand Pane Edit the Default Key and give it the value Printers.

This will create a folder on the Desktop as Printers which when opened gives only the Printer listing.

Data collection

If you need assistance from Microsoft support, we recommend you collect the information by following the steps mentioned in Gather information by using TSS for deployment-related issues.