Windows Ready Print (WRP) and Windows Protected Print Mode (WPP) may sound similar. But while they’re sort of the same thing…they’re also not the same. Basically, WRP is Microsoft’s preferred way for modern Windows to talk to printers, while WPP is a security mode that enforces WRP and blocks third-party printer drivers. Here’s the easiest way to remember it: WRP is the modern printing path. WPP is the mode that enforces it.
If you’re managing a Windows printer fleet, understanding that distinction matters big time. One changes the preferred printing path (WRP); the other can fundamentally change which printers and drivers your users can install (WPP).
What is Windows Ready Print (WRP)?
Windows Ready Print is Microsoft’s way of describing its preferred means of communicating with printers. It encompasses modern standards and technologies like Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) and Universal Print. It’s designed to work with Mopria-certified printers and basically helps Windows users become less reliant on traditional print drivers.
In the old days, installing a printer on Windows meant installing a driver supplied by the printer manufacturer. That driver translated Windows print jobs into instructions the specific printer could understand.
WRP takes a totally different approach. Now, Windows can communicate with compatible printers using built in printing technology, without the need for third-party software. It’s like we’re living in the future.
This has a few perks for Windows users:
- SECURITY: By definition, there are now fewer third-party components in the Windows print environment.
- COMPATIBILITY: WRP means a more consistent approach across different PC architectures, including ARM.
- RELIABILITY: No need to keep individual manufacturer drivers updated all the time.
The important aspect for IT teams to remember is this: WRP is a preferred printing path, not a black-and-white lockout deal. So you’ve got some flexibility there. A Windows environment can use WRP while still allowing traditional drivers (where they’re required by non-compatible printers). Unless, of course, you’re also running WPP…
What is Windows Protected Print Mode (WPP)?
Windows Protected Print Mode is a security setting that allows Windows to print exclusively using Windows Ready Print. When WPP is enabled, third-party printer drivers are blocked.
With WPP switched on, Windows can remove printers that depend on third-party drivers and then replace them with compatible printers using WRP.
So WPP is really less about choosing a different printing technology and more about enforcing it – an absolute way of locking out all those messy legacy drivers.
For organizations considering these options, WPP should be treated as more of a fleet compatibility decision, not simply a Windows setting that can be switched on and off without considering the consequences. It literally determines what printers your users can and can’t use.
How WRP and WPP differ: the key distinction IT teams miss
While WPP predates the WRP terminology (and the naming can be a bit confusing because they share two out of three letters), the new structure actually makes the relationship clearer:
Windows Ready Print: Microsoft’s underlying print platform
Windows Protected Print Mode: the security mode that enforces it
As you can see from the table below, WRP and WPP are related but they’re not the same thing. WRP can exist without WPP. WPP depends on WRP.
Windows Ready Print (WRP) | Windows Protected Print Mode (WPP) | |
|---|---|---|
What it is | Microsoft's modern print platform | A security mode that enforces WRP |
Enforcement | It’s preferred, but not enforced | Enforced when enabled |
Third-party drivers | Can still be used | Blocked completely |
Compatibility | Designed for modern IPP/Mopria printing | Will only work with WRP-compatible printing |
Best for | Organizations in that ‘printing transition’ phase | Organizations ready to enforce driverless printing |
Why Microsoft changed the name: what it signals
In January 2026, Microsoft announced the end of servicing for legacy Windows print drivers.
Then, in June 2026, Microsoft renamed the Modern Print Platform Windows Ready Print, making it official. From July 2026, WRP became the default installation preference for supported new printers. This reflects a larger shift away from traditional third-party print drivers and toward standards-based printing.
What does this mean for your printer fleet and drivers?
What Microsoft’s new preferred print platform means for you depends most significantly on how reliant your environment has become on traditional print drivers.
WRP is designed around IPP and Mopria-certified printers. While Microsoft says tons of existing printers are compatible (the official WPP documentation says more than 120 million printers are already sold as Mopria-certified), compatibility should never be assumed.
Before making WPP a fleet-wide policy, IT teams should:
- Inventory existing printers and print queues.
- Check which devices support Mopria and IPP.
- Identify which queues are dependent on manufacturer drivers.
- Test basic features, like duplexing, paper selection and finishing.
- Pilot WPP with representative users and devices.
- Plan how unsupported printers will be handled.
This will likely be more relevant in mixed environments containing a bunch of older printers, specialized workflows, or devices that rely on manufacturer-specific functionality.
How PaperCut fits into the picture
Here’s the good news. PaperCut can help organizations manage the WRP transition without requiring your entire printer fleet to become WPP-compatible at once.
Mobility Print: supporting WPP-enabled Windows devices
PaperCut Mobility Print provides IPP-based print queues that can be deployed to WPP-enabled Windows computers using Print Deploy. This means users can keep printing through PaperCut, even when the physical printer itself isn’t directly WPP-compatible!
The basic workflow looks like this: the job flows from your Windows PC to the PaperCut Mobility Print queue, then to the PaperCut server, and finally to the printer itself.
Mobility Print handles all the communication between the Windows print workflow and your existing printer infrastructure. That means we can even support printing to non-IPP-compatible printers from WPP-enabled computers!
Global Print Driver: simplifying mixed environments
If you’re not ready to enforce WPP, or you’re managing a mixed-brand environment, PaperCut’s Global Print Driver can simplify driver management by providing a common driver across supported printer brands.
What should IT teams do next?
The WRP/WPP transition is easier to understand once the terminology is separated (and all the acronyms become less confusing):
- WRP simply makes modern, IPP-based printing the preferred (default) Windows approach.
- WPP then enforces that approach and blocks third-party printer drivers.
- Mopria certification is an indicator of WRP printer compatibility.
- Existing printer fleets should be strategically tested (not just assumed to be compatible).
- PaperCut Mobility Print and Print Deploy can help you print across mixed environments while you make the WRP/WPP transition.
The key takeaway is this: don’t treat Windows Ready Print and Windows Protected Print Mode as two names for the same thing. They’re not the same thing. WRP is the path, WPP is the guardrail that keeps you on that path.
For IT teams, that distinction makes it way easier to decide what needs to change now, and what can be safely put off till tomorrow.
If you’d like to discuss your next steps talk to a PaperCut specialist.
