The Print to PDF option in the Windows Print menu lets you save documents in PDF format. It’s an easy way to convert your traditional word or other text documents to PDF. However, if you accidentally delete the option or find it missing, it can be confusing how to get it back.
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You can restore the Print to PDF feature from the Windows Features dialog. If that doesn’t work, you can add it manually or reinstall the printer drivers. We have discussed all these steps in detail below.
1. Add Print to PDF Using Windows Features Dialog
Windows 11 and 10 come with a set of additional features known as optional features. Some of these features come pre-installed, and some are available on demand which you can download and install as per your requirement.
If Print to PDF is disabled on your PC, you can enable it from the Windows Features dialog. Here’s how you can easily add or remove optional features in Windows with just a few clicks.
If the Microsoft Print to PDF option was already enabled/selected, deselect the option and click OK. This will prompt the OS to correctly uninstall the feature. Once uninstalled, relaunch the Windows Features dialog and then enable the Print to PDF option to install the driver.
If the problem persists, turn off the feature in the Windows Features dialog and restart your PC. After the restart, open Optional Features and re-enable the feature to see if that restores the Print to PDF option.
2. Add Print to PDF Using the Add Printer Wizard
Another easy way to restore the missing Print to PDF option is to add a new printer from Settings. When adding a new printer, you can select the Print to File option to add the Print to PDF option.
3. Disable and Enable Print to PDF Feature Using Command Prompt
If you prefer to use the Command Prompt, you can use the Deployment Image Service Management (DISM) command-line tool to disable or enable optional Windows features.
this much only. Close the PowerShell window and launch your Documents app. Press Win + P to open the printer interface, and you should now be able to access the Print to PDF feature. If not, restart for the changes to apply and try again.
5. Use doPDF to Save Documents as PDF
doPDF is a third party PDF converter app for Windows. It comes with Microsoft Word add-on that offers Print to PDF integration for Office applications. But it’s also compatible with other apps like your web browser and other document editors that offer print functionality.
It works the same way as the original Print to PDF feature but opens the save dialog in the app. From here you can save the file by selecting the save location.
Restore Print to PDF Feature in Windows 11 and 10
Print to PDF is a handy feature to save documents as PDF without using third party converters. If the option is missing on your Windows computer, you can re-enable it from the Windows Features dialog or use the other troubleshooting steps in the article.
In addition, you can also use third-party apps like DoPDF to replace the built-in Print to PDF functionality. These apps also offer additional features, including PDF editing, conversion, multiple file format support, and more.