printer drivers disappear every second Tahoe update

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Level 6

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printer drivers disappear every second Tahoe update

Through the beta cycle for MacOS 26 (Tahoe) my printers disappear. The next update usually brings them back with no effort on my part.

I recently went off the beta cycle to get the public version. I updated when the latest version came out and... my print drivers are gone again. This happens for a university wireless printer and a USB home printer. Both different manufacturers.

Resetting and reinstalling doesn't seem useful, and the institutional one can be troublesome to reinstall (their instructions haven't been updated in a while)

I tried the different commands to restart CUPS, but that doesn't fix it.

Is there a set of commands that will just refresh everything without reinstalling? Like I said, the next update they will be back, and then gone on the next. It's just annoying.

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 26.0

Posted on Sep 22, 2025 11:20 AM

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Answer 1

MrHoffman

Level 10

148,593 points

Oct 18, 2025 9:15 PM in response to Gerry Straathof

See this: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lost-all-printers-where-are-printers-stored.2467405/

The last comment over there is “Supposedly the fix for this is to go into System Settings/Sharing/Remote Management. Then click options, and turn off “Generate reports.””

Though not likely a factor here, and without going into details about past betas, I really don't prefer to continue to run a Mac that has had a beta installed, even if the Mac is now running a released macOS version. Much prefer to keep the betas entirely separate, wipe the Mac, and re-install a released macOS without a restore.

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Answer 2

Oct 18, 2025 8:01 PM in response to Gerry Straathof

FYI, it seems the issue occurs around midnight. Until Apple provides an update to macOS to fix this issue, you can shutdown the Mac at night which prevents the printers from being deleted. You can schedule the Mac to automatically shutdown & power on if you wish by using the information in the following Apple article:

Schedule your Mac to turn on or off in Terminal - Apple Support

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Answer 3

leroydouglas

Level 10

200,256 points

Sep 22, 2025 11:27 AM in response to Gerry Straathof

Gerry Straathof wrote:

Through the beta cycle for MacOS 26 (Tahoe) my printers disappear. The next update usually brings them back with no effort on my part.

I recently went off the beta cycle to get the public version. I updated when the latest version came out and... my print drivers are gone again.

Is there a set of commands that will just refresh everything without reinstalling? Like I said, the next update they will be back, and then gone on the next. It's just annoying.

To be proactive you can file a bug report / submit your Apple Feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple

I would just wait for the point update fix

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Answer 4

Sep 22, 2025 5:39 PM in response to Gerry Straathof

FYI, my organization has been seeing printers disappear with the most recent Sequoia update. It seems to only occur with some Macs. We haven't figured it out yet or why just some systems are affected.

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Answer 5

Gerry Straathof Author

Level 6

10,424 points

Sep 23, 2025 2:44 PM in response to KiltedTim

except that it has happened during two non-beta updates, so that implies a beta problem was not 'fixed' during the testing phase.

Betas are important if feedback is ignored (the lack of visual information on the iPadOS floating windows is still problematic compared to MacOS, for instance)

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Answer 6

Gerry Straathof Author

Level 6

10,424 points

Sep 23, 2025 2:50 PM in response to leroydouglas

Thanks. I have sent feedback since I first noticed this happening.

I did nothing but update macOS. (which means more feedback to Apple.)

I would like the development team to take this a bit more seriously than just ... doing whatever is making them disappear every second update.

This post, by the way, is to mark this problem for others.

[Edited by Moderator]

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Answer 7

Gerry Straathof Author

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10,424 points

Sep 23, 2025 2:52 PM in response to HWTech

Just curious if you have used the 'reset printers' on any of those Macs, and if the problem persists on those particular machines.

I had a motherboard die during the beta cycle and had to reinstall my drivers, but this problem is interfering with a home printer (usb) and the institutional one (wireless)... and the fact it disappears and comes back seems to be OS related.

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Answer 8

Gerry Straathof Author

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10,424 points

Oct 20, 2025 9:28 AM in response to MrHoffman

Thanks very. much for that link, MrHoffman. Now I know which folder to look into to see how things progress after the next update: /private/etc/cups

Right now things are working fine, but like I said, every second update (beta or otherwise) the printer drivers disappear. I will inspect this folder should it happen again.

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Answer 9

MrHoffman

Level 10

148,593 points

Oct 20, 2025 11:28 AM in response to Gerry Straathof

Gerry Straathof wrote:

Thanks very. much for that link, MrHoffman. Now I know which folder to look into to see how things progress after the next update: /private/etc/cups

Right now things are working fine, but like I said, every second update (beta or otherwise) the printer drivers disappear. I will inspect this folder should it happen again.

Per Apple, we shant discuss betas around here.

I wouldn’t suggest a beta mixed into any config that needs to work. And I prefer to wipe after running a beta.

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Answer 10

KiltedTim

Level 10

227,820 points

Sep 22, 2025 11:29 AM in response to Gerry Straathof

Anything that happened during the beta is not relevant at this point.

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