Recently, some folks using Windows 10 or 11 PCs have been up in arms about the HP Smart app showing up out of the blue, even when they didn’t have an HP printer connected. Turns out, a report from Windows Latest suggests that the root of this issue might be wonky printer info floating around.
Apparently, HP, the printer maker, sent some new printer details to Windows Update towards the end of November. But oops, it seems there were mistakes in these details. The data tagged lots of printers as HP Laserjet M101-M106 models when they weren’t.
The twist? These details come straight from Windows Update, not as a separate software package, so they don’t pop up in the update history. Sneaky, right?
“An HP Laserjet for Everyone!”
Now, if you check your devices and printers using the Windows Control Panel, you might spot something odd. Some printers are labeled as HP Laserjet M101-M106, even though they’re totally different models. You’ll see this model name at the bottom of the window after picking a printer.
Even Microsoft’s own virtual printers—like Microsoft Print to PDF and Microsoft XPS Document Writer—are caught up in this mix-up. The Golem editorial team noticed this goof on their notebook too. But here’s the kicker: not all listed printers are affected; some still show the right model.
“Microsoft Store’s Surprise HP Smart Delivery”
Here’s where it gets interesting. If even one of your devices gets mistakenly tagged as an HP printer, it seems the Microsoft Store jumps in and installs the HP Smart app to manage that printer. The same thing happened on the Golem team’s notebook. But good news: Microsoft seems to have stopped spreading the wrong info, so no more new cases are popping up.
For those dealing with this printer identity crisis, Microsoft hasn’t dropped a fix yet to set things straight. The only way out for now is to manually uninstall the HP Smart app. But hang tight—it’s expected that Microsoft will swoop in with an update soon to fix this mess. The good part? This mix-up doesn’t seem to mess with how the printers actually work.
