Why Tray Selection Resets to Auto After Printing From Edge on Windows 11

When you print from Microsoft Edge on Windows 11, the printer tray selection often resets to Auto instead of keeping your manually chosen tray like Tray 2 or Manual Feed. This happens because Edge overrides the printer driver’s default tray setting during each print job. The issue is not a hardware failure or a corrupted driver, but a design behavior in how Edge communicates with the Windows print spooler. This article explains why the tray resets, how to work around it using printer preferences, and what to do if the problem persists.

Why Edge Overrides Your Manual Tray Selection

Microsoft Edge uses a print ticket system that resets the paper tray to Auto each time you open the print dialog. This behavior is not a bug, but a design choice made to simplify multi-page printing across different paper sizes. When Edge sends a print job to the Windows print spooler, it includes a default print ticket that does not preserve any manual tray change you made in the print preview window. The printer driver then interprets this ticket as a request to use Auto tray selection.

The root cause lies in how Edge handles the DEVMODE structure, which is the data block that stores printer settings like tray, duplex, and paper size. Edge generates a fresh DEVMODE for each print job, discarding any user modifications made in the print preferences dialog. This is different from applications like Word or Adobe Reader, which retain the last-used DEVMODE and send it with the print job. Because Edge does not save the modified DEVMODE, the printer falls back to its default behavior of Auto tray selection.

Another contributing factor is the printer driver itself. Some drivers are designed to honor the print ticket’s tray request strictly, while others ignore it and rely on the driver’s default tray setting. If your printer driver does not have a built-in override for Auto selection, the reset will happen every time you print from Edge. The fix involves either changing the driver’s default tray or forcing the driver to retain your manual choice through a registry modification.

How Edge’s Print Dialog Differs From Other Apps

When you print from Edge, the print dialog is a Chromium-based interface that does not load the full printer driver UI. Instead, it uses a simplified set of options. This means you cannot access the printer’s full Properties dialog from within Edge’s print preview. If you click More Settings and then select a tray manually, Edge still sends the default print ticket, ignoring your manual selection. In contrast, printing from Notepad or File Explorer launches the standard Windows print dialog, which loads the driver’s full settings and preserves your tray choice.

Steps to Stop Tray Resetting to Auto in Edge

There are three effective methods to prevent Edge from resetting the tray to Auto. The first method changes the printer driver’s default tray. The second method modifies the Windows registry to force the driver to retain your manual tray choice. The third method uses a workaround by printing to a PDF first and then printing from another app.

Method 1: Set a Default Tray in Printer Preferences

1. Open Windows Settings
   Press Windows + I to open Settings. Go to Bluetooth & Devices > Printers & Scanners. Select your printer from the list and click Printer Properties.
2. Access the Device Settings tab
   In the Printer Properties window, click the Device Settings tab. Look for a section labeled Tray Assignment, Paper Tray, or Form to Tray Assignment. The exact name varies by driver.
3. Change the default tray
   Find the entry for the tray you want to use, such as Tray 2 or Manual Feed. Change its setting from Auto to the specific paper size or type you use, such as Letter or A4. Click Apply and then OK.
4. Test printing from Edge
   Open Edge and print a test page. Check if the tray selection now stays on your chosen tray instead of resetting to Auto. If the problem persists, proceed to Method 2.

Method 2: Add a Registry Key to Force Tray Retention

This method adds a DWORD value named IgnoreDefaultFormTraySetting under the printer’s registry key. This tells the spooler to ignore the default tray setting from the print ticket and use the driver’s last-saved tray selection. Only perform this step if you are comfortable editing the registry. Create a backup of the registry before proceeding.

1. Find your printer’s registry key
   Press Windows + R, type regedit, and press Enter. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\YourPrinterName. Replace YourPrinterName with the exact name of your printer as shown in Printers & Scanners.
2. Create a new DWORD value
   Right-click in the right pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it IgnoreDefaultFormTraySetting.
3. Set the value data
   Double-click the new DWORD. Set Value data to 1 and ensure Base is Hexadecimal. Click OK.
4. Restart the Print Spooler
   Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter. Find Print Spooler, right-click it, and select Restart. Close the Services window.
5. Test printing from Edge
   Print a test page from Edge. The tray should now retain your manual selection from the printer’s Properties dialog instead of resetting to Auto.

Method 3: Print to PDF First, Then Print From Another App

1. Print to Microsoft Print to PDF
   In Edge, press Ctrl+P. Under Select Printer, choose Microsoft Print to PDF. Click Print and save the file.
2. Open the PDF in Adobe Reader or Microsoft Edge
   Open the saved PDF file. Press Ctrl+P. In the print dialog, click Properties or Preferences, then select your desired tray. The tray selection will now stay for this print job.
3. Print the PDF
   Click Print. Because the PDF viewer uses the standard Windows print dialog, it respects your manual tray choice and does not reset it to Auto.

Common Issues and Limitations

Tray Still Resets to Auto After Registry Edit

If the registry key does not work, the printer driver may not support the IgnoreDefaultFormTraySetting parameter. Some older or generic drivers ignore this setting entirely. In that case, use Method 3 as a permanent workaround. Also verify that the DWORD value is under the correct printer key and that the spooler was restarted.

Edge Updates Reset the Workaround

Microsoft Edge updates can occasionally change how the print dialog handles DEVMODE. If a future Edge update breaks the registry fix, reapply Method 2 or switch to Method 3. Check the Edge release notes for any mention of print dialog changes.

Multiple Users on the Same PC

The registry key in Method 2 applies to all users on the machine. If you need per-user tray settings, this method will not work. Instead, each user must set their default tray in Printer Preferences under their own user account. The tray selection then applies system-wide for Edge print jobs.

Edge Print Dialog vs Standard Windows Print Dialog: Tray Behavior

Item	Edge Print Dialog	Standard Windows Print Dialog
DEVMODE retention	Discards manual changes, sends default print ticket	Retains last-used DEVMODE from printer properties
Tray override behavior	Resets to Auto for every new print job	Keeps the tray selected in the printer properties
Access to full driver settings	Limited to simplified options, no Properties button	Full Properties or Preferences button available
Workaround required	Use registry edit or print-to-PDF method	No workaround needed

This table shows that the Edge print dialog is the source of the tray reset issue. The standard Windows print dialog, used by most other applications, does not have this problem because it loads the full printer driver UI and preserves user changes.

You can now prevent Edge from resetting your printer tray to Auto by applying the default tray setting in Printer Preferences, adding the registry key to force tray retention, or using the print-to-PDF workaround. For a permanent solution, test Method 2 first, as it requires only one registry edit. If that fails, use Method 3 for a reliable but slightly slower workflow. As an advanced tip, consider creating a desktop shortcut that runs a PowerShell script to toggle the registry key on demand, giving you quick control over the behavior without navigating the registry each time.