Where to find official printer drivers (and how to avoid the fake ones).

Searching for "printer drivers" surfaces an industry of unofficial sites that have nothing to do with the manufacturers. Some are mildly annoying — they bundle drivers with toolbars or unrelated software. Some are actively harmful — the file they hand you is malware wearing a driver’s name. None of them are necessary, because every legitimate driver you might want is freely available from the original source.

This guide explains where the real drivers live, how to tell legitimate manufacturer pages from look-alikes, and why the entire category of "driver updater" software should be ignored.

The only places drivers should come from

For any printer made by a major brand, there are exactly two correct sources for the driver:

1. The manufacturer’s official support site. Each manufacturer maintains a dedicated support page where you can search for your specific printer model and download the current driver for your operating system. These are free and don’t require an account.
2. Windows Update or your operating system’s built-in printer setup. When you add a printer through Windows Settings or macOS System Settings, the OS often downloads a driver automatically. These come from a curated catalog maintained by Microsoft or Apple in coordination with manufacturers.

That’s the entire list. There is no third option that’s safer, faster, or more comprehensive than these two.

The official support sites

Here are the support URLs for the major brands. Bookmark these — you should be navigating to them directly, not arriving via a search-result click.

• HP: support.hp.com
• Canon: usa.canon.com/support
• Epson: epson.com/support
• Brother: brother-usa.com/support
• Lexmark: lexmark.com/en_us/support
• Xerox: xerox.com/en-us/support

For Canon and Brother specifically, note that the URLs above are the U.S. sites. If you’re in Canada, use the manufacturer’s Canadian site (canon.ca, brother.ca, etc.) for the correct regional drivers.

How to find your printer’s driver on an official site

The flow is consistent across most manufacturers:

1. Go to the manufacturer’s support site (from the list above, typing the URL directly).
2. Find the "Drivers & Downloads" or "Software & Drivers" section.
3. Enter your printer’s exact model number in the search box. Model numbers are usually printed on a label on the back or bottom of the printer.
4. Select your operating system from the dropdown (Windows 11, Windows 10 64-bit, macOS 14, etc.).
5. Download the listed driver.

Most manufacturers offer two types of driver:

• A full feature driver that includes the printer driver itself, scanner support (on multifunction printers), and the manufacturer’s utility software. This is the default choice for most users.
• A basic driver that just enables printing, no extra utilities. Useful in business environments where the utilities aren’t wanted.

For home use, the full feature driver is usually the right pick.

How to tell a real manufacturer page from a look-alike

Scam driver pages are designed to look as official as possible. They use manufacturer logos, official-sounding domain names, and the same color schemes as the real sites. A few things distinguish legitimate pages:

Check the domain carefully. The legitimate sites are on the manufacturer’s own domain — hp.com, canon.com, epson.com, brother.com (and country variants like canon.ca or brother-usa.com). Anything else is not the manufacturer. hpdrivers.com, canon-support.org, epson-printer-drivers.net — none of these are real manufacturer pages, however polished they look.

Real manufacturer sites don’t charge for drivers. If a page asks you to pay, enter a credit card, or sign up for a subscription to download a driver, it’s not a manufacturer page. Drivers from the real source are always free.

Real manufacturer sites don’t require you to install a "driver assistant" or "download manager" just to download a driver file. The download is a single executable or installer file that you save and run directly.

Real manufacturer sites don’t display a phone number urging you to call for "support" to install the driver. Driver installation is a few clicks; nobody needs to talk you through it.

HTTPS alone doesn’t prove legitimacy. Padlock icons in the browser only confirm the connection is encrypted, not that the site is who it claims to be. Anyone can put a padlock on a scam site.

Why "driver updater" utilities should be avoided

The "driver updater" software category exists specifically to convince users they have an ongoing problem only the utility can fix. The reality:

• Windows handles driver updates automatically through Windows Update for most hardware.
• When a manufacturer releases a new printer driver, you can simply download it from their site — the same way you got the current one.
• You don’t need a third-party tool to monitor whether updates exist.

Most driver-updater utilities are at best unnecessary and at worst:

• Bundled with adware or unwanted toolbars
• Set up to recurring-bill you for a "premium" version
• Designed to install older drivers when current ones work, just to demonstrate they "fixed" something
• Outright malware in some cases

If a search result for any printer issue recommends installing a driver updater, close the page.

When Windows Update doesn’t have your driver

Occasionally, Windows Update doesn’t have a driver for an older printer. In those cases, the manufacturer’s site is the right next stop — not a third-party "driver library." If the manufacturer doesn’t list a driver for your current Windows version either, the options are:

• Try the driver for the previous Windows version. Many Windows 10 drivers work on Windows 11.
• Use Windows’ built-in generic driver classes. They support basic printing for many printers.
• Consider that the printer may have reached end of support and replacement may be the right call.

The presence of an old printer in your home doesn’t justify downloading software from an untrusted source. If the legitimate options have run out, that’s information about the printer, not a reason to go to riskier places.

For driver-related issues

If you’re troubleshooting a driver problem, our guides on "Driver is unavailable" errors and Print Spooler service errors cover the common scenarios.

If those don’t resolve your issue, contact the manufacturer of your printer through their official support channels or consult a qualified local technician — not a third-party "driver fix" site, however confidently named.