Windows Protected Print Mode and the Modern Print Platform: What Financial Services Firms Need to Know

Executive summary

The Windows print system has accounted for 9% of all security cases reported to Microsoft’s Security Response Center (MSRC) over the past three years. While that might sound modest, consider what this means: a business function that most users never think about, unless they need to print, scan or copy, has generated nearly one in ten security vulnerabilities across Microsoft's entire ecosystem since 2022

To address this, Microsoft is set to complete its transition away from third-party, legacy (V3) print drivers by July 2027. This transition introduces Windows Protected Print Mode (WPP), which fundamentally changes how the entire system handles printing. Enable it prematurely and incompatible devices disappear from your printer list, which can cause a ruckus in your day-to-day operations. Wait until 2027, however, and you'll manage a forced migration under deadline pressure.

This article explains what's changing, why it matters for financial firms and how to prepare without disruption.

What is Windows Protected Print Mode (WPP)?

Windows Protected Print Mode (WPP) is a Group Policy setting that forces Windows to use only Microsoft's Modern Print Platform for all printing. Rather than allowing thousands of manufacturer-specific drivers that Microsoft can't control or verify, WPP enforces a standardised printing route, using exclusively Microsoft-provided drivers.

The system is designed to work with Mopria certified printers and once enabled, WPP permanently uninstalls printers using legacy V3 drivers. It's worth keeping in mind, however, that WPP doesn't actively verify Mopria certification status, but certification ensures compatibility. If you're still using non-Mopria certified devices, secure cloud print management software such as uniFLOW Online can help bridge the security gap (more on this topic below).

The legacy driver problem: Why Microsoft had to act

Many print drivers are 10-25 years old and incompatible with modern security protections that Microsoft has built into Windows, features like Control Flow Guard (CFG), Control Flow Enforcement Technology (CET) and Arbitrary Code Guard (ACG).

As Microsoft states, these modern security protections work on an "all-or-nothing basis"; essentially, they only work if every piece of code in the process supports them. So if even one legacy driver doesn't comply, the entire protection layer shuts off. Most printer manufacturers never went back to rebuild or update their drivers, leaving Microsoft's security protections effectively disabled.

This matters because these protections need to work inside the Print Spooler, the Windows background service that loads printer drivers and manages all printing. The Print Spooler runs with SYSTEM privileges, the highest level of access in Windows and an attractive target for attackers. When it loads an old driver that doesn't support modern security mitigations like CFG or CET, those protections can't activate. The result: a service with near-total system control running unprotected. Compromise it, and attackers control the machine. To put it bluntly, every time you print, you're trusting manufacturer-written code with near-absolute control over your computer. It’s what made PrintNightmare (2021) so severe, and it's the architectural trap that's forced Microsoft's hand.

WPP Mode addresses the root cause: it blocks printing via all legacy (V3) driver models. Instead, Windows uses standardised Microsoft-controlled drivers built on IPP and Mopria protocols. You can still use legacy drivers if needed, but only by disabling WPP (which means accepting the security trade-off).

The key takeaway: Microsoft is making a stand against continuing to patch individual vulnerabilities. Instead of issuing another driver blocklist update, they're replacing the architecture entirely. By eliminating third-party drivers and moving to a standardised, Microsoft-controlled print stack, WPP addresses the fundamental security flaw that has plagued Windows printing for over two decades.

Why this matters to Financial Services

For financial services firms, the stakes are materially different from other industries. Consider what passes through your printers on any given day:

• Client portfolio summaries containing net worth and holdings
• Trading strategies and proprietary investment models
• Compliance reports with details of regulatory breaches
• KYC documentation, including passport scans and proof of address
• Wire transfer authorisations and account opening forms

Regulations, including GDPR, GLBA, PCI-DSS, DPA 2018, SOX, and MiFID II, along with principles from the FCA's Handbook, all require organisations to secure this information throughout its lifecycle, including the print process. Yet print security has historically been an afterthought, a box-ticking exercise rather than a genuine risk management priority.

The operational burden on IT teams

Beyond the security risks, legacy drivers have historically created an operational nightmare for IT departments:

• Driver conflicts after Windows updates requiring emergency patches during business hours
• Architecture incompatibility when firms deployed ARM-based devices that legacy drivers didn't support
• Vendor abandonment when printer manufacturers stopped updating drivers for older models still in production use
• Testing overhead requiring IT to validate hundreds of driver versions across different hardware configurations
• Support burden when users couldn't print because the "wrong" driver was installed

IT teams often describe driver management as "playing whack-a-mole with printer drivers every Patch Tuesday", a recurring tax on productivity that consumes time better spent on strategic initiatives. The operational cost (which can be measured in IT time, user productivity and incident tickets) is a large hidden expense of printing infrastructure.

The question isn't whether the transition to WPP makes sense, because it does. The question is how to manage the transition without triggering widespread disruption across your organisation.

Below, we explore how the Modern Print Platform works, Microsoft's phase-out timeline, and the risks of enabling Windows Protected Print Mode before your infrastructure is ready.

Understanding the Modern Print Platform (MPP)

The Modern Print Platform represents Microsoft's “architectural foundation” for secure Windows printing. The platform uses IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) as its communication standard, meaning it works with any Mopria certified printer, and rather than depending on thousands of manufacturer-specific drivers, it depends on three inbox drivers native to Microsoft/Windows:

1. Microsoft IPP Class Driver - Manages Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) communication
2. Microsoft Universal Print Class Driver - Enables cloud-based Universal Print infrastructure
3. Microsoft Virtual Print Class Driver - Supports virtual printing scenarios

This approach delivers two significant advantages. First, it ensures consistent printing behaviour across Windows devices, whether Intel/AMD, or ARM-based, and secondly, because Microsoft develops and maintains these drivers themselves, they integrate with Windows' modern security protections in ways third-party code/legacy drivers never could.

Important consideration: While the MPP provides comprehensive baseline functionality, some advanced features available with legacy drivers may require Print Support Apps (PSAs) or may not be available at all. This is why compatibility testing before deployment is critical.

MPP vs WPP: What's the difference?

Windows Protected Print Mode and the Modern Print Platform are not the same thing.

The Modern Print Platform is the technical infrastructure, the actual drivers, protocols and security architecture that handle printing. Meanwhile, Windows Protected Print Mode is a Group Policy setting that forces PCs to print using only the Modern Print Platform by blocking legacy (V3) drivers entirely. Enabling WPP doesn't add security capabilities; it simply prevents the usage of the old and vulnerable print stack.

You don't need to enable Windows Protected Print Mode to start using the Modern Print Platform. Organisations can run both systems simultaneously and in doing so, gradually migrate compatible devices to modern printing while maintaining legacy driver support for speciality equipment, such as label printers, wide-format plotters, or older devices that lack Mopria certification.

This gives IT teams the flexibility to test, validate and migrate methodically rather than forcing a cutoff date. Once the entire fleet is confirmed working on the Modern Print Platform, Windows Protected Print Mode can be enabled to lock down the environment completely.

Microsoft's phase-out timeline

Microsoft has outlined a phased approach to ending support for legacy (V3) printer drivers:

• January 15, 2026: No new printer drivers will be published to Windows Update for Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025 and later versions. Existing drivers can still be updated on a case-by-case basis.
• July 1, 2026: Printer driver ranking will be modified to always prefer the Windows IPP inbox class driver over third-party options.
• July 1, 2027: Third-party printer driver updates will no longer be allowed except for security-related fixes. Existing third-party drivers can still be installed from Windows Update or via installation packages provided by printer manufacturers.

For financial services firms with complex, multi-location print infrastructures, this timeline means compatibility assessments should begin immediately, particularly for firms planning hardware replacements in 2026 or beyond.

The risks of enabling WPP too early (What IT teams need to know)

Windows Protected Print Mode sounds appealing: better security, no driver management, simpler infrastructure. The temptation is to enable it immediately and move on.

Don't.

What actually happens when you enable WPP

Once Windows Protected Print Mode is enabled, printers that use third-party drivers are uninstalled. The print driver is deleted from the print driver store, and it can't be used while WPP is active. Microsoft provides a full breakdown here.

This is permanent until you disable WPP again. If you disable Windows Protected Print Mode, you'll have to manually reinstall any non-compatible printers. There's no "undo" button either; it's a manual recovery process that can take hours in a multi-device environment.

For an IT team supporting 200 users across three offices, enabling WPP prematurely could mean:

• Immediate loss of printing for users with non-Mopria devices
• Help desk overwhelm as users report they can't print critical client documents
• Emergency procurement of replacement hardware at retail pricing with no negotiated terms
• Rollback complexity requiring manual driver reinstallation on every affected machine
• Reputational damage internally when "the IT department broke printing right before quarter-end reporting"

The mixed fleet problem

Most financial services firms don't have uniform hardware. Your London office might have Canon imageRUNNER devices from 2019. New York might have HP Enterprise MFPs from 2022. The home office setup your CFO insisted on might be using a Brother printer from 2017 that "works fine."

If a Mopria certified printer was originally installed using a third-party driver, the printer is uninstalled when Windows Protected Print Mode is enabled, but can be reinstalled. Notice the critical detail: it can be reinstalled, but Windows won't do this automatically. Your IT team will need to manually reinstall compatible devices, a task that scales poorly across distributed locations.

The feature loss problem

Advanced features like stapling, colour management and custom tray selection are supported by the Mopria IPP standard, but may not be available if vendors haven't implemented the specification correctly or if Print Support Apps (PSAs) are needed to expose these options in the user interface.

For users accustomed to printing pitch books with custom finishing or compliance reports that pull from specific secure trays, discovering that these features are gone after enabling WPP creates a support nightmare. You can't communicate this issue to users before they experience it because you don't know which workflows depend on which features until something breaks.

The right approach: Test, document, then deploy

The operationally sound approach for IT teams:

1. Enable WPP on a single test machine in a non-production environment
2. Attempt to print to every device type in your fleet from that test machine
3. Document which printers work and which disappear from the available printer list
4. Test critical workflows like secure release, departmental billing, scan-to-email and custom finishing
5. Identify the gaps between what works now and what users need
6. Deploy a print management solution (like uniFLOW Online) that bridges those gaps
7. Run parallel systems with some users on WPP, most still on legacy, for at least a month
8. Only then roll out firm-wide, and start with low-risk user groups first

This approach takes longer. It's also the only way to avoid a self-inflicted operational crisis.

Microsoft's own caution

Windows Protected Print Mode will be enabled by default at a future date, but Microsoft hasn't specified when. That's telling. Even Microsoft recognises that flipping this switch has consequences that require careful management.

The deadline for third-party driver support is July 2027. That gives IT teams (at the time this article is published) less than 24 months to prepare. 

The security benefits of WPP for financial services

For firms in finance, printer security represents a critical yet often overlooked vulnerability. Unsecured print management prevents financial institutions from meeting regulatory requirements and leaves them open to fines and legal consequences. GDPR and PCI-DSS are just two of the many data protection regulations that require organisations to secure personal and financial information. Failure to comply can result in hefty fines, not to mention the loss of client trust.

How WPP strengthens security 

Windows Protected Print Mode would have mitigated over half of the past reported security issues for Windows print, according to a 2023 article published on the Microsoft Community Blog. By removing third-party drivers that run with elevated privileges, WPP:

1. Eliminates SYSTEM-level vulnerabilities that attackers have historically exploited
2. Reduces attack surface by standardising on Microsoft-maintained code
3. Improves patch management by removing the burden of tracking driver updates from dozens of manufacturers
4. Enables modern security mitigations like CFG, CET, and ACG that many legacy drivers couldn't support

For family offices, hedge funds and asset managers handling confidential client data, this represents a material improvement in operational risk management.

The hidden costs of delayed action

Most financial services firms haven't tested their printers for Windows Protected Print compatibility yet. When they do, they typically discover:

• Incompatible hardware that requires replacement or manual driver management
• Missing functionality for advanced features like secure release, departmental billing, or custom finishing
• Workflow disruptions when users can no longer print to specific devices or access familiar features

The cost of testing now: an afternoon per location. The cost of discovering gaps during a forced migration: considerably higher.

The risk multiplies for multi-location firms. If your London office, New York trading desk, and Hong Kong branch all run different hardware, the compatibility matrix becomes exponentially more complex.

uniFLOW Online: Purpose-built for the Modern Print Platform

Canon's uniFLOW Online supports both Windows Protected Print Mode and the Modern Print Platform, providing financial services firms with a secure, cloud-based print management solution that maintains full functionality in the new “modern print” environment.

How uniFLOW Online supports WPP

uniFLOW Online 2025.2 supports the transition to WPP in two ways: 

1. Microsoft Universal Print Class Driver: uniFLOW Online connects to Microsoft's Universal Print infrastructure, which has been part of the platform since Microsoft introduced cloud-based print management. This enables secure printing through Azure without requiring on-premises print servers.
2. Microsoft Virtual Print Class Driver: The newly released Virtual Print Support App (available on the Microsoft Store) enables printing from Windows devices with Windows Protected Print Mode enabled without requiring the traditional uniFLOW SmartClient installation. Users download the app from Microsoft's store, authenticate with their organisation's uniFLOW Online tenant and can immediately submit secure print jobs. The experience is consistent across Intel, AMD and ARM architectures.

This dual approach ensures uniFLOW Online works whether your organisation adopts Microsoft Universal Print, enables Windows Protected Print Mode, or operates in a hybrid environment during transition.

Security features for Financial Services

uniFLOW Online addresses the specific security and compliance requirements of financial services firms in several ways.

1. Secure Print Release: All print jobs stay in a user's personal secure print queue until the user authenticates at a device and releases them. Print jobs follow users from device to device, allowing the release of print jobs on a printer of their choosing. This prevents sensitive client documents from sitting unattended in printer trays, a common compliance violation.
2. User Authentication: Flexible authentication options, including proximity cards, key fobs, or PIN codes, ensure that only authorised personnel can access networked printers. This creates an audit trail for compliance purposes and prevents unauthorised access to sensitive financial documents.
3. Audit & Accounting: uniFLOW Online allows administrators to track their organisation's printing, copying, faxing and scanning costs, enabling the allocation of costs to a user or department. For firms operating under SOX or similar regulations requiring detailed activity logging, this provides the necessary compliance documentation.
4. Cloud-Based Management: Using uniFLOW Online's technology means there is no requirement for a local server. All configuration and management of the system takes place in the cloud, providing administrators with online reporting tools and dashboards. This eliminates the security risks and maintenance burden associated with on-premises print servers.
5. Data Protection: Print jobs are encrypted and compressed as they are sent directly from the client PC to the printer. Documents never traverse public cloud infrastructure unnecessarily, addressing data residency and sovereignty concerns critical to financial services compliance.

Multi-vendor fleet support

uniFLOW Online supports multi-vendor, mixed fleet environments and integrates with existing devices, including non-Canon equipment. For firms with established hardware investments, this means you can modernise your print security without forklift replacements.

Implementation roadmap for financial services firms

Phase 1: Assessment (Start now)

1. Inventory your print estate across all locations
2. Verify Mopria certification for all devices at mopria.org/certified-products
3. Test critical workflows on at least one WPP-enabled machine per location
4. Document feature gaps where functionality may be lost
5. Assess compliance implications with your information security and legal teams

Phase 2: Planning

1. Align with normal equipment replacement cycles to minimise waste
2. Develop a phased rollout plan prioritising high-security environments first
3. Select a print management solution (like uniFLOW Online) that supports both legacy and modern print stacks during transition
4. Train IT staff on the new architecture and troubleshooting approaches
5. Budget for replacement hardware where incompatibilities can't be resolved

Phase 3: Deployment (Q1 2026 – Q2 2027)

1. Deploy print management infrastructure before enabling WPP
2. Migrate users in waves rather than a firm-wide cutover
3. Monitor for issues and maintain legacy fallback options during transition
4. Enable Windows Protected Print Mode once confidence is established
5. Complete migration before the July 2027 deadline

Why this matters for Financial Services

The convergence of Microsoft's security-focused modernisation and the financial services industry's escalating compliance obligations creates both risk and opportunity.

The Risk: Firms that defer action until 2027 will face:

• Compressed timelines for hardware assessment and procurement
• Potential workflow disruptions during peak business periods
• Higher costs as service providers become capacity-constrained
• Increased security exposure from continued reliance on vulnerable legacy drivers

The opportunity: Firms that act proactively will:

• Align print infrastructure upgrades with planned hardware replacement cycles
• Reduce the total cost of ownership through consolidated, cloud-based print management
• Strengthen security posture ahead of regulatory examinations
• Eliminate print server maintenance burden and the associated IT overheads

For family offices managing ultra-high-net-worth client relationships, hedge funds processing confidential trading strategies and asset managers handling sensitive portfolio data, the reputational cost of a print-related data breach far exceeds the investment required to modernise infrastructure.

Next steps

The transition to Windows Protected Print Mode is not optional, as it’s not too far off in the near future. The question is whether your firm will manage the transition strategically or scramble to adapt under deadline pressure.

For IT teams:

1. Conduct a compatibility assessment by enabling WPP on a test machine and attempting to print to all your current printers (Vine Street Solutions can help you verify your devices and determine if upgrades or alternative solutions are needed)
2. Document feature dependencies by testing critical workflows users rely on
3. Evaluate cloud print management solutions that support both legacy and modern architectures during transition
4. Time your migration to align with your normal equipment replacement cycles (most firms replace printers every 3-5 years as they age out or break down)

For procurement teams:

When replacing printers from 2025 onwards, add "Mopria certification" to your requirements. This prevents you from purchasing equipment that will be immediately obsolete under Windows Protected Print Mode.

Talk to us: www.vinestreet.solutions