Fix 0x00000705: Unknown Printer Driver on Windows

The 30-Second Fix: Restart the Print Spooler

This sounds too simple, but here's why it works sometimes. The Print Spooler service caches driver information. If that cache gets stale or corrupt, Windows throws 0x00000705 because it can't match the driver GUID to a known driver. Restarting the spooler flushes that cache.

Hit Win + R, type services.msc, press Enter.
Scroll down to Print Spooler. Right-click it and select Restart.
Now try adding your printer again. If the error's gone, you're done.

If that didn't help, the spooler cache wasn't the problem. Move on.

The 5-Minute Fix: Nuke the Old Driver from the Driver Store

What's actually happening here is Windows has a corrupted or partial driver package sitting in its driver store (C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository). When you try to install the printer, Windows picks up that broken package instead of a fresh one. The fix is to remove all traces of that printer driver and let Windows reinstall from scratch.

Open Devices and Printers from the Control Panel (not Settings — the old-school one).
Right-click your printer and select Remove device.
Now we kill the driver: Open a Command Prompt as Administrator (right-click Start, choose Command Prompt (Admin) or Windows PowerShell (Admin)).
Run this command to list all printer drivers:
```
pnputil /enum-drivers /class {4d36e979-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
```
That GUID is the printer class — it's hardcoded in Windows for all printers.
Look for your printer's driver in the list. You'll see a Published Name like oem0.inf. Copy that name.
Delete it with:
```
pnputil /delete-driver oem0.inf /uninstall /force
```
Warning: This removes the driver from the driver store entirely. Windows won't find it again unless you re-download it. That's what we want.
Repeat for any other drivers related to your printer manufacturer if you're not sure which one is the bad one.
Restart your PC, then download the latest driver from your printer manufacturer's site and install it fresh.

The reason step 5 works is that pnputil removes the driver package from the driver store, not just from the device manager. That breaks the corrupted reference that causes 0x00000705.

The 15+ Minute Fix: Manual Driver Store Cleanup and Registry Hunt

If the above still fails, you've got a stubborn driver store corruption or a registry remnant. This is where we get surgical. I've seen this occur most often after a Windows Feature Update (like 22H2 to 23H2) that didn't migrate printer drivers properly, or after uninstalling a printer manufacturer's bloatware suite that left orphaned entries.

Step 1: Clear the Driver Store Queue

Windows has a built-in cleanup tool that doesn't always remove third-party drivers. Use this:

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

Then:

pnputil /cleanup-driverstore /force

This forcibly removes all driver packages that aren't currently in use. The catch: it might also remove drivers for other hardware you're not using right now, but that's generally safe — Windows Update will reinstall them if needed.

Step 2: Hunt the Registry for Ghost Printer Entries

Open Registry Editor (regedit) as Administrator. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows x64\Drivers\Version-3

Look for a subkey named after your printer model or manufacturer. If you see one, right-click and Export it first (backup), then delete it. Do the same under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Providers\LanMan Print Services\Servers\Printers

Again, export before deleting. These registry keys are where Windows stores the printer's connection info. If they're corrupted, the spooler will refuse to load the driver.

Step 3: Reinstall the Print Spooler (Nuclear Option)

If nothing else worked, the spooler's binaries themselves might be damaged. On Windows 10 or 11, you can reinstall the service without losing your other printers (though I'd back up any custom printer settings first).

Open an elevated Command Prompt.
Stop the spooler:
```
net stop spooler
```
Rename the spooler folder:
```
ren C:\Windows\System32\spool spool.old
```
Restart your PC. Windows will recreate the spool folder with fresh defaults.
Now reinstall your printer driver.

This last step is drastic because it removes all print jobs and printer preferences. Only do this if you're desperate and the previous steps didn't clear the 0x00000705 error.

Preventing This from Happening Again

The root cause is usually a mismatch between the printer driver version and the Windows build. Always download drivers directly from your printer manufacturer's site — not through Windows Update. Windows Update often pushes generic drivers that don't handle your printer's specific features, and those generic drivers are more prone to corruption during updates.

Also, avoid using third-party driver updater tools. They'll happily install the wrong driver version and leave you with 0x00000705. I've seen this a dozen times with HP and Canon printers specifically.