USB Printers Output Garbled Text on Windows 10/11 — Faulty Update Resolved via Known Issue Rollback

Indicators

• USB printer outputs random, garbled, or nonsensical text characters instead of expected document content
• Issue is specific to dual-mode USB printers supporting both USB Print and IPP over USB protocols — single-mode printers unaffected
• Print jobs appear to complete normally in the Windows print queue but physical output is corrupted text
• Problem correlates with recent Windows cumulative update installation

Likely causes

• Faulty Windows Update introduced a regression in the USB printer communication stack affecting dual-mode printers that support both USB Print and IPP over USB
• Malformed data sent to printer due to corrupted protocol handling in the USB printing subsystem

Diagnostic steps

1. Run 'winver' from Run dialog or navigate to Settings > System > About to confirm Windows version and OS build. Verify the system is on Windows 10 22H2 or Windows 11 22H2/23H2.
   Confirm the system falls within the affected platform scope before proceeding with KIR-based remediation.
2. Open Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) and check for the printer listed under both 'Printers' and 'Universal Serial Bus devices', or verify via manufacturer documentation whether the model supports IPP over USB.
   Isolate whether the printer matches the affected hardware profile (dual-mode USB Print + IPP over USB) — single-protocol printers are not affected.
3. Review Windows Update history via Settings > Windows Update > Update History. Note the KB number and installation date of recent cumulative updates to correlate with when garbled output began.
   Correlate the onset of the issue with a specific Windows Update installation, confirming this is the update-induced regression and not a driver or hardware fault.
4. Check whether the Known Issue Rollback has already been applied by navigating to Settings > Windows Update and checking for pending updates. Force detection by running 'UsoClient StartScan' (Windows 11) or 'wuauclt /detectnow' (Windows 10) from an elevated command prompt.
   Determine whether the KIR has propagated to the device; if not, trigger a manual update scan to pull the rollback from Microsoft's servers.
5. After KIR propagation, print a test page: Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners > select printer > Print a test page.
   Confirm the Known Issue Rollback resolved the garbled output before closing the incident.
6. Attempt a test print to a non-dual-mode USB printer or a network printer to determine whether garbled output is isolated to the dual-mode USB device.
   Isolate the fault to the dual-mode USB print path rather than a broader print spooler or driver issue.

Resolution path

• 1. Ensure the affected Windows 10 22H2 or Windows 11 22H2/23H2 system is connected to the internet and Windows Update is not blocked by Group Policy or firewall.
• 2. Allow Microsoft's Known Issue Rollback (KIR) to propagate automatically via Windows Update — no manual update package download is required. The KIR mechanism reverts only the defective update component responsible for the USB printer regression.
• 3. Force a Windows Update scan if the rollback has not yet appeared: open an elevated Command Prompt and run 'UsoClient StartScan' (Windows 11) or 'wuauclt /detectnow' (Windows 10) to accelerate detection of the KIR.
• 4. Restart the system after the KIR is applied if prompted, then retest printing to confirm the output is correct.
• 5. If KIR has not yet released for your build, redirect print jobs to a network-shared version of the same printer (using a non-USB/IPP-over-USB path) as a temporary workaround.
• 5b. For enterprise environments managed via Group Policy, deploy the applicable KIR Group Policy published by Microsoft to force rollback of the problematic update component on affected machines — do not rely solely on automatic propagation.
• 5c. After KIR propagation, restart the Print Spooler service to ensure clean re-initialization: run 'net stop spooler && net start spooler' from an elevated command prompt, then retest printing.

Prevention

• Enroll endpoints in Windows Update for Business deferral rings (defer quality updates by 7–14 days) so Known Issue Rollbacks can be issued before updates reach production endpoints
• Monitor Microsoft's Windows Release Health dashboard (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/) for known issues tagged against your OS versions before approving cumulative update deployment via WSUS, Intune, or SCCM
• Maintain a test group of representative hardware — including dual-mode USB printers — in a pre-production Windows Update ring to catch printing regressions before broad deployment

Tools

• Windows Update (Settings > Windows Update) — apply Known Issue Rollback
• Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) — confirm dual-mode USB printer presence
• UsoClient (CLI) — force Windows Update scan on Windows 11
• wuauclt (CLI) — force Windows Update detection on Windows 10
• winver — confirm OS version and build number
• services.msc / net stop spooler && net start spooler — restart Print Spooler after KIR propagation
• Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) — deploy KIR Group Policy in enterprise managed environments

References

• BleepingComputer — USB printers print random text (KIR resolution coverage)
• Microsoft Windows Release Health Dashboard