Allow pruning of published printers
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows 2000
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Printers Description
Determines whether the domain controller can prune (delete from Active Directory) the printers published by this computer. By default, the pruning service on the domain controller prunes printer objects from Active Directory if the computer that published them does not respond to contact requests. When the computer that published the printers restarts, it republishes any deleted printer objects. If you enable this setting or do not configure it, the domain controller prunes this computer's printers when the computer does not respond. If you disable this setting, the domain controller does not prune this computer's printers. This setting is designed to prevent printers from being pruned when the computer is temporarily disconnected from the network. Note: You can use the "Directory Pruning Interval" and "Directory Pruning Retry" settings to adjust the contact interval and number of contact attempts.
Registry
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers Value name: Immortal
Enabled: Immortal = 0
Disabled: Immortal = 1
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Printing2/ImmortalPrintQueue 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: Allow pruning of published printers
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows 2000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers]
"Immortal"=dword:00000000More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Allow pruning of published printers
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'Immortal' -Value 0 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Printing2/ImmortalPrintQueue
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Allow pruning of published printers
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers' -Name 'Immortal' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Allow pruning of published printers
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'Immortal' -Value 0 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Allow pruning of published printers
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# 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: Allow pruning of published printers
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers' -Name 'Immortal' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Allow pruning of published printers
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'Immortal' -Value 0 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.