How Do You Add A Printer To Your Laptop

To Install Or Add A Local Printer

How to Add a New Printer To Your Computer on Windows 11

In most cases, all you have to do to set up a printer is to connect it to your PC. Simply plug the USB cable from your printer into an available USB port on your PC, and turn the printer on.

Select Start > Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners .

Select Add a printer or scanner. Wait for it to find nearby printers, then choose the one you want to use, and select Add device.

If your printer isn’t in the list, select The printer that I want isn’t listed, and then follow the instructions to add it manually using one of the options.

Notes:

If you use wireless access points, extenders or multiple wireless routers with separate SSIDs, you’ll need to ensure that you’re connected to the same network as the printer for your PC to find and install it.
If you have a new wireless printer that hasnt been added to your home network, read the instructions that came with the printer, and check the printer manufacturers website to learn more and to get up-to-date software for your printer.

Setup Wireless Printer And Connect To Network

Most Wireless Printers come with a LCD screen which allows you to go through the initial setup process and connect to WiFi Network.

1. Switch ON the Printer by pressing its Power button.

2. Access Setup Menu on the LCD Panel of the printer.

3. Choose Language, Country, Install Cartridges and Choose your WiFi Network.

4. Enter your WiFi Network Password.

If your printer does not have a LCD screen, you will have to connect the printer to the computer, in order to complete the setup process and connect to WiFi Network.

Setting Up Your Printer On A Network

But what are you supposed to do if you have multiple computers, laptops, and other devices such as tablets and cell phones that you want to print from? This is where the second option we referred to earlier comes into play.

There once was a time when a computer network only existed in business offices. That is no longer the case. In fact, home networks are the norm these days. A home or business network will allow multiple computers to connect to each other and print from the same printer.

In order to get your Windows computer to connect to your network printer, you must have a router set up and configured. Not to worry, as we will walk through this together.

In its simplest form, a router allows computers, laptops, smart TVs, speakers, tablets, cell phones and printers to talk to each other. You probably have a router in your home that is connected to your modem, which allows you to have Wi-Fi access to route your house. Without a router, Wi-Fi access would not be possible.

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Add A Printer To Your Printer List So You Can Use It On Mac

To use a printer, you must add it to your list of printers using Printers & Scanners preferences.

In most cases, when you add a printer, macOS uses AirPrint to connect to the printer or automatically downloads the printers software . Dont install the software that came with the printer or from the manufacturers website follow the instructions in one of the tasks below, and macOS prompts you to download the latest software if its needed.

For information about using a printer with an iPhone or iPad, see Use AirPrint to print from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Set The Default Printer On Windows 10

To make a printer the default on Windows 10, first, open the Settings app. Do this by pressing Windows+i keys together.

In Settings, click Devices.

On the Devices page, in the left sidebar, click Printers & Scanners.

Scroll the Printers & Scanners page to the bottom. There, disable the Let Windows Manage My Default Printer option. If you keep this option enabled, Windows will not let you set the default printer.

You dont have to do anything if that option is disabled already.

On the same page, in the Printers & Scanners section, click the printer you want to make the default.

In the menu that expands, click Manage.

Your printers page will open. Here, click the Set as Default button.

Next to Printer Status, you will see a Default message, which indicates your selected printer is now the default printer on your PC.

Youre all set.

If you use Dropbox on Windows 10, you might want to learn how to stop Dropbox from prompting you to import files.

please Scroll Down For Mac Instructions

Make sure your computer is on and connected to the network via an Ethernet cable. Note: You cannot add printers via WiFi

Go to the start menu.

Select the second option in the window, Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer.

In the next window, select Find a printer in the directory, based on location or feature.

Search for the printer in the entire law school directory by either Name, Location, Model, etc.

Once you have found the printer you want to connect to, double click on it and a window will pop-up with the message of Connecting to XXX on XXX.law.harvard.edu

Installing the printer to your PC may take a few minutes.

Once it has installed , print out a document to the network printer you have just connected to, to make sure you have successfully connected to that printer.

Change The Default Printer

Windows will attempt to set the default printer by selecting the one used most recently on the connected network. This is toggled on by default and will mean that the OS can remember which printer to use when switching between networks. Not everyone needs or wants this functionality, and luckily it’s really easy to turn it off.

Open Windows search by pressing Windows Key + Q.

Type in “printer.”

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How To Set The Default Printer On Windows 10 Or 11

Mahesh Makvana is a freelance tech writer who specializes in writing how-to guides. He has been writing tech tutorials for over a decade now. Hes written for some of the prominent tech sites including MakeUseOf, MakeTechEasier, and Online Tech Tips. Read more…

Do you have a preferred printer that you use to print most of your documents? If so, make that printer the default so all your apps use it for printing by default. Well show you how to do that on Windows 10 and 11.

How To Add A Printer To Google Cloud Print

Add Printer to PC/Laptop

Turn On your printer.

Open the Google browser on your system.

Select the Setting option by clicking on the three vertical dots on the right of your web page.

Scroll down and choose the More settings option.

Go down on the page until you locate the Google Cloud Print option.

You will be navigated to the Printer Confirmation page.

Once again, click Add printer, then the option Manage your Printer.

You will be navigated to the page to where you can see the list of printers available. Click on the name of your printer.

If your printer is not listed, then try refreshing the page, and click the name of your printer. Now, you can print using Google Cloud Print.

How To Add A Printer In Windows 11 Via Wi

Not all printers have to be connected to an existing Wi-Fi network to enable wireless printing via the protocol. Many also support Wi-Fi Direct, which enables peer-to-peer connections between devices, and this option can be useful if you dont want to have a printer available to everyone on a network but dont feel like configuring it to prevent that kind of accessibility.

1. Enable Wi-Fi Direct pairing on your printer. Again, this is the kind of thing that varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model, so youll have to refer to your user manual. But this is often a distinct option from general Wi-Fi access.

2. This step is the same as when we connected via an existing Wi-Fi network, but were looking for something new.

3. This option only appears if there are Wi-Fi Direct printers available otherwise theres only an Add manually button. To learn about that, skip to step 7.

5. Enter any requested credentials. In our case a window appeared asking for a WPS PIN. Youll have to find yours somewhere on the printer, its packaging, or potentially the test sheet we mentioned before. Once you have it, enter it.

6. Rejoice or keep going to the next step. Ah, printers. Maybe its a problem with our hardware, perhaps its a pre-release bug in Windows 11, but entering the correct WPS PIN still prompted Windows to display the error message shown below. But we dont have to reach for a bat yetthis is where the manual option comes in.

10. Rejoice or accept your fate.

How To Add Bluetooth Printer

Adding a Bluetooth printer requires thatyou pair the device like you would pair any other Bluetooth device. You shouldalso check that the communication port or COM port that appears on Windows isthe same as the one on the print driver. Heres how to connect your Bluetoothprinter in Windows 10.

Go to Start > Settings > Bluetooth and Other Devices. Make sure to toggle on the switch for Bluetooth.

Then select Bluetooth as the kind of device to add. Windows will show you a list of Bluetooth devices it has detected. Select your Bluetooth printer from the list by clicking on Ready to Pair.

Pair your computer and printer. Some devices will pair automatically if your printer does not require a PIN. Otherwise, enter the PIN for your Bluetooth printer on your computer when prompted. Click Connect. If your printer has a user display, you might also be asked to enter a PIN on the printer. Follow the on-screen instructions on both devices to confirm the connection.

Check the COM Port in Device Manager. Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices & Printers. Right click on the Bluetooth printer and select Properties. In the Services tab, you could see the COM port used by the printer.

Print a test page. Ensure that your printer is connected by printing a test page.

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How To Add A Printer In Windows 11 Via Wireless Protocols

Who wants a cable running from their printer to their PC? Its a lot more convenient to have a wireless connection. Just note that both your printer and PC will need to support compatible versions of Bluetooth or Wi-Fi for this to work setting all of that up is outside the scope of this guide. Were going to focus on Wi-Fi, but the steps are similar for Bluetooth-capable printers.

1. Make sure your devices are on the same network. Theres nothing quite like troubleshooting printer errors only to discover the only problem was that the printer was connected to the Toms Hardware Rules network and the PC was connected to the Toms Hardware Rocks network. Its much easier to check that first.

2. This button should appear directly above the list of currently available printers, scanners, and fax machines. Clicking it will make a progress indicator and drop-down menu appear.

3. The original Add device button you clicked to discover this printer should be replaced by a Refresh button. If your printer was found you can now click the new Add device button that appears next to it in the list of discovered devices.

4. Enter a password, PIN, or other authentication method if prompted. Some printers will require authentication before theyll connect to devices on the same Wi-Fi network. The default information usually appears somewhere on the printers box, case, or a test sheet printed when its first set up. In our case we werent prompted for anything.

Add Wireless Or Network Printer To Computer

How to print from your Android phone or tablet

Once the Printer is connected to WiFi Network, you should be able to connect to it from your computer by following these steps.

1. Open Settings on your computer and click on Devices.

2. On the next screen, click on Printers & Scanners in the left pane. In the right-pane, click on Add a Printer or Scanner option.

3. Wait for Windows to search for the Printer and click on your printer as it comes up in search results.

5. Next, click on the Manage option.

6. On the next screen, you will see the option to Print a Test Page and Run the Troubleshooter, in case you are having problems connecting to the printer.

This is the simplest way to add a printer in Windows 10 and should work for most new models of printers. You can move to the next step, in case Windows 10 is unable to list your printer.

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Install A Printer In Windows

When you connect a printer to your PC or add a new printer to your home network, you can usually start printing right away. Windows 11 supports most printers, so you probably won’t have to install special printer software. Additional printer drivers and support might be available if you update Windows.

How To Add A Printer In Windows 11 With A Wired Connection

Heres the part that feels like magic: Windows 11 can handle printers connected via USB or Ethernet like a champ. This is more about confirming that the printers been added than anything.

1. Connect your printer to your PC. The available physical connections will vary by printer. We used an HP DeskJet 3630 All-in-One for our tests and it only supports a USB 2.0 Type-B connection on the printer side and a USB 2.0 Type-A on the PC side. Other printers will vary, so make sure you have the appropriate cable and corresponding port on your system before you commit to relying on a physical connection between the devices.

2. Open the Printers & scanners page in Settings. The quickest way to do this is to open the Start menu, search for Printers and select Printers & scanners from the results. You can also open the Settings app, select Bluetooth & devices from the sidebar, and then click Printers & scanners from the list of options. Either works.

3. Locate your printer. In our case it appeared as HP DeskJet 3630 Series right away. Windows 11 automatically identified the device and connected to it.

Once your printer appears here it should be available as a print destination across Windows as long as nothing happens to the cable thats connecting your devices.

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How To Add A Printer To Computer

The printer can be added to the list of external devices that are connected with your computer by following the steps that are given below.

You can add your printer by using either the Wired or Wireless connection.

Install an appropriate software that is necessary for your printer.

The how to setup files for the Windows operating system will be in the .exe format and for Mac operating system in the .dmg format.

If you choose the wired connection, then connect your printer with the USB cable when you are prompted to do so.

If you are choosing the wireless connection, choose the Home network.

Make sure you connect your printer and computer to the same network.

Turn on your Wi-Fi enabled printer, and choose the Setup option using the arrow keys on your printer.

Choose the Network from the Setup menu.

Now, select the Wireless Setup Wizard, which will start searching the available networks.

Add Network Or Wireless Printer In Windows 10

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Plug the wireless printer to power supply source and start the printer by pressing its Power button. Once, the Printer starts it will start scanning for nearby WiFi Networks.

Go to the LCD Panel of the Printer and open its Settings Menu. On the Printers Setup Menu, find the section for Wireless Settings and select your WiFi Network.

When prompted, enter your WiFi Network Password and this will connect the Printer to your WiFi Network.

On your computer, go to Settings> Devices> select Printers and Scanners in the left-pane. In the right-pane, click on Add a Printer or Scanner option.

Dismiss Sign-in to Microsoft Account pop-up and wait for your computer to detect the Wireless Printer. When the Printer appears, click on the Printer and then click on Add Device button.

On the next screen, enter the WPS PIN for your printer and click on the Next button.

Follow the remaining onscreen instructions to complete the setup process.

Note: Printers without LCD panel need to be connected to the computer in order to complete the setup process.

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How To Connect A Printer Via Wireless Network

If you want to connect a wireless printer, the connection process may seem more daunting, but youll be surprised to find how smooth the transition from wired to wireless can be.

Step 1: Locate your settings

Once turned on and ready for configuration, youll need to connect the printer to your home WiFi
While the steps on installation vary by manufacturer, most modern printers will have an LCD screen that lists the available WiFi networks
On this screen, click around and locate the setup page that allows you to adjust the Wireless LAN Settings

Step 2: Link your WiFi network

After accessing your LAN settings, youll need to locate your home network service set identifier – better known as your SSID
You can find your SSID by hovering your mouse over the WiFi icon located at the bottom right of your taskbar
Your SSID is also located on the bottom or side of your internet service providers router

Step 3: Complete connectivity

With the SSID selected, youre ready to enter your network password
Once entered, your printer is prepped for all printing activity

Step 4: Locate your printer settings

Locate the gear icon link to your settings window and click on the icon labeled Devices