How PaperCut solves the Windows on ARM printing problem

Windows 10 computers hold a 27% share of today’s global PC market, equating to approximately 600 million computers. So when end-of-life for Windows 10 occurred in October 2025, it sparked a massive hardware refresh across the globe, marking the emergence of a new era for PCs. These new PCs feature an ARM64 chip that enables longer battery life, reduces heat generation, and improves performance.

The initial wave of Microsoft’s CoPilot+ devices (launched in 2024) were primarily powered by ARM64 chips (there are now options for newer chip releases from Intel for x64 architecture), which use Microsoft’s AI SDK and are built for advanced, on-device artificial intelligence. The advantages of “multi-day battery life” and “on-device AI” for personalized learning that these Windows on ARM devices offer are starting to transform schools and institutions, and form part of Snapdragon’s strategy for growth in Education over the coming year.

The printer driver landscape is changing — traditional manufacturer drivers are incompatible with the new ARM64 architecture, and Microsoft is moving to a modern driverless print stack that eliminates the complexity of proprietary drivers.

Printer manufacturers are adapting to the change, and PaperCut has met with almost all of them. We found that some are preparing specific ARM64 printer drivers for their existing printers, whilst others are focused on Windows Protected Print (WPP) and Printer Support Apps (PSAs) for the next generation of printing.

Also, some of the printer manufacturers that are producing ARM64 drivers to unblock printing for users do not plan to offer ARM64 drivers for their older printer models. They are instead working towards driverless solutions with Printer Support Apps (PSAs).

SysAdmins need to be aware that with the rollout of Windows on ARM computers and a mixture of available Windows on ARM-compatible and non-compatible printer drivers, printing for end-users could be a problem that they need to solve now. Microsoft recently highlighted this industry-wide challenge—and PaperCut’s role in solving it—in their technical look at advancing print readiness across the Windows on ARM ecosystem.

At the core, x64 and ARM64 are completely different processor designs. Although you can use emulation software (Prism) to enable most x64-based applications to run successfully on Windows on ARM computers, it doesn’t enable printer drivers to work. That’s mainly because Prism is designed to only translate and run user-mode code, which doesn’t include the majority of printer drivers.

All of this means companies and educational institutions with plans to roll out the new wave of Windows on ARM consumer hardware, or who already have users with Windows on ARM laptops, will struggle to use their existing printers to print.

Many organizations still rely heavily on server-hosted print queues. The primary hurdle in these environments is ensuring seamless connectivity for users printing from Windows on ARM devices to these traditional x64 server environments. Review PaperCuts recommendations to optimize Windows on ARM printing for your Windows environment.

PaperCut makes printing work with Windows on ARM.

Both our cloud-based PaperCut Hive and PaperCut Pocket Print Queue Deployment solution, and our on-premise PaperCut NG and MF Print Deploy solution, offer a simple way to deploy a printer driver that works on Windows on ARM computers.

The PaperCut server simply identifies the end-user client’s architecture and automatically deploys and installs a compatible printer driver. The system administrator then uses the admin console to manage printer driver compatibility across different client architectures, which avoids manual administrative workarounds.

This solution provides sysadmins with a seamless printer driver deployment experience when administering a mixed fleet of end-user computer architectures.

End-users don’t need to know the details about their computer; they simply receive the right printer driver, wherever they are located, so they can print.

If you have end-users working on Windows on ARM computers and a printer fleet where an ARM64 printer driver is unavailable, keeping users printing is as easy as selecting PaperCut’s built-in Global Printer Driver in the admin console. Your organization can continue to use the existing printer fleet, even after rolling out new Windows on ARM laptops.

PaperCut’s Global Print Driver is compatible with most printers and compatible on x64 and ARM64 architectures across our product portfolio. For complex finishing options such as booklet finishing and advanced tray selection, the best option is the driver from your manufacturer. However when that driver is not available, our Global driver still enables the finishing capabilities and compatibility most users require every day.

For more information on Windows on ARM and PaperCut’s product portfolio, take a look at Windows on ARM Support across the PaperCut portfolio.

Whilst manufacturers are making the shift toward the modern print stack changes introduced from Microsoft, adoption is still in its infancy and many manufacturers are already starting to release Print Support Apps in preparation for this change. Eventually, the modern printing future will emerge, focused on IPP printing and the simplicity of driverless printing, which offers enhanced security through reduced complexity and attack surface.

In the meantime, however, printer drivers will be around for a little longer, and the immediate need is for Windows on ARM printing to work. PaperCut has already solved this and equipped customers for the transition. For customers adopting PaperCut solutions today, the good news is that PaperCut has plans to ensure that as this shift becomes the standard, we provide seamless compatibility between the legacy driver world and the new modern print stack.

The Windows on ARM hardware refresh is one of the biggest market shifts in years, and printing has been a key perceived blocker for adoption. This is where PaperCut transforms from a print management solution into a critical print enabler.

For our partners and IT teams, you now have the “unlock” you need to confidently deploy new Windows on ARM computers to your users and customers.