Have you ever seen an OXPS file on your Windows PC? Most likely you've seen the Microsoft XPS Document Writer functionality when printing documents in Windows.

OpenXPS, or Open XML Paper Specification, is a file format created by Microsoft. First introduced in Windows Vista, it was intended as a competitor to PDF. Like that format, it allows you to create a document that won't change when viewed on different platforms.

However, XPS didn't enjoy the widespread adoption of PDF. You can't even open them on a Mac without installing additional software.

Nowadays, everyone uses PDFs while OXPS remains a strange format to most. Though it's faced a fate similar to Silverlight, Microsoft still includes XPS Writer in Windows 10. If you're like most people and don't ever use the OpenXPS format, you can remove it from your printing menu to reduce clutter.

How to Remove Microsoft XPS Document Writer

  1. Open the Settings app (using the Windows Key + I shortcut if you like).
  2. Select Devices > Printers & scanners.
  3. Find Microsoft XPS Document Writer in the list. Click it, then choose Remove device.
  4. Confirm the removal by clicking Yes.

This will remove Microsoft XPS Document Writer from your list of printers when printing a document. If you'd rather completely remove it, follow these steps:

  1. Type Windows Features into the Start Menu and open Turn Windows features on or off.
  2. Find Microsoft XPS Document Writer in the list of features and uncheck its box. You can also uncheck XPS Viewer to remove the program that opens XPS files.
  3. Click OK and Windows will process the removal.

Thankfully, Windows 10 can print to PDF on its own, so you don't have to install any extra software to work with the widespread format.

Have you ever used an OXPS document? Did you know about the history of this format? Talk to us in the comments!

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