Automatically publish new printers in Active Directory
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 only
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Printers Description
Determines whether the Add Printer Wizard automatically publishes the computer's shared printers in Active Directory. If you enable this setting or do not configure it, the Add Printer Wizard automatically publishes all shared printers. If you disable this setting, the Add Printer Wizard does not automatically publish printers. However, you can publish shared printers manually. The default behavior is to automatically publish shared printers in Active Directory. Note: This setting is ignored if the "Allow printers to be published" setting is disabled.
Registry
HKLM
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\Wizard Value name: Auto Publishing
Enabled: Auto Publishing = 1
Disabled: Auto Publishing = 0
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Printing2/AutoPublishing Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Automatically publish new printers in Active Directory
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 only
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\Wizard]
"Auto Publishing"=dword:00000001More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Automatically publish new printers in Active Directory
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 only
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\Wizard'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'Auto Publishing' -Value 1 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Printing2/AutoPublishing
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Automatically publish new printers in Active Directory
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 only
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\Wizard' -Name 'Auto Publishing' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Automatically publish new printers in Active Directory
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 only
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\Wizard'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'Auto Publishing' -Value 1 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Automatically publish new printers in Active Directory
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 only
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Automatically publish new printers in Active Directory
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 only
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\Wizard' -Name 'Auto Publishing' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Automatically publish new printers in Active Directory
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 only
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\Wizard'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'Auto Publishing' -Value 1 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.