Edited By Piyush Kashyap, Reviewed By Gulshan
Printers have become such an integral part of our lives that they have found utility in everyday households, small businesses, and multinational corporations.
While you can automatically install printers to your Windows 10 device, adding a printer over a network or sharing it with others can require technical know-how.
Naturally, with so many types of tools out there, compatibility and installation challenges are common. Hence, we've curated a list of all how you can add a printer in Windows 10. Let's take a look.
Adding a Printer with the Windows 10 build-in printer driver
Step 1
Configure your device to update driver software automatically. To do this:
- 1Got to Control Panel → System and Security → System
- 2Select "Advanced system settings."
- 3In the "System properties" dialog box, select the "hardware" tab.
- 4Select "Change device installation settings."
Alternatively,
- 1Go to Control Panel
- 2Open "Devices and Printers"
- 3In the top left corner, search for "Change device installation settings."
- 4Select the result that appears
When the Change device installation settings window appears, select "Yes" and click "Save changes."
Step 2:
Connect your printer to the computer before starting the driver software installation. There are three main ways in which you can achieve this.
Using a USB connection:
One of the easiest ways to connect your printer to the computer is with a USB cable. For this:
- 1Turn ON your printer
- 2Make sure your computer is connected to the internet
- 3Connect the USB cable from your printer to the USB port (not USB hub) in your computer
Using a WiFi connection:
If your computer does not detect a network-enabled printer through USB, you might have to configure it manually. For this, you can connect the printer to your network using the following methods.
Using a Wireless Setup Wizard
This kind of setup can be used for wireless-capable printers. For this, you need to keep a few things handy like your network name (SSID), Network security password (WEP key), and WiFi connected laptop. Once you have the above, follow the steps below:
- 1Switch ON Bluetooth pairing in on your printer
- 2On your desktop, open the Start menu (Windows icon at the bottom left corner)
- 3Go to "Settings" (Gear icon above the power button)
- 4Go to "Devices"
- 5Select "Bluetooth & other devices."
- 6Toggle ON the Bluetooth switch
- 7Click on "Add Bluetooth or another device."
- 8Find your printer in the list of available devices and click on "Ready to pair" Pair
- 9the two devices. (The pairing is automatic in most cases, but sometimes you might have to enter a PIN for pairing your computer or printer)
NOTE: Follow these steps to check your COM port:
Step 3:
Now comes the final step in installing your printer. First, we will see how you can install the inbuilt driver over a network (wired or wireless) in Windows 10.
Install using the printer software CD
- 1Refer to the installation guidelines for your specific printer model. (This is important as different printers require different configurations and installation steps. A manufacturer user manual should make easy work of this)
- 2Make sure your printer and computer are connected with a USB cable. (Computer connection should be in a USB port and not a USB hub)
- 3Turn on the printer and wait for the page feed mechanism sound to stop.
- 4Windows should automatically detect your printer and install the drivers for you.
- 5Install the driver/software CD that comes with the printer. (If your computer did not auto-detect any additional drivers)
- 6Alternatively, you can manually download and install any missing drivers from the printer manufacturer website (Search for "Printer model/ support"). Find the links to some popular manufacturers below:
How to Set Up or Install a Printer on Windows 10 Laptop (2020)
Using a USB Printer
- 1Connect your printer to the computer using a USB cable (depends on the printer model)
- 2Switch ON the printer.
- 3On your desktop, open the Start menu (Windows icon at the bottom left corner)
- 4Go to "Settings"
- 5Click on "Devices"
- 6Select "Add printer or scanner."
- 7From the printers list, click on your printer name and follow the installation prompts to add the printer.
In case, Windows cannot detect your printer, follow the steps below.
- 1Under the Refresh button, click "The printer that I want isn't listed."
- 2Select the first option "My printer is a little older. Help me find it" and click "Next."
This should automatically search for available printers and guide you to download the driver.
Connect with a TCP/IP port
- 1Open the Start menu (Windows icon at the bottom left corner)
- 2Go to "Settings" (Gear icon above the power button)
- 3Click on "Devices"
- 4Select "Add printer or scanner."
- 5Under Refresh, click on "The printer that I want isn't listed."
- 6In the window that appears, select "Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings" and click "Next" to continue.
- 7Select "Create a new port."
- 8Choose "Standard TCP/IP" from the drop-down box.
- 9Type in your Printer's IP address and click on "Next."
- 10From the drop-down menu that appears, select the type of device corresponding to your printer brand
- 11Windows will now detect the device model, driver, and add your printer to your printer list.
NOTE: You can find the printer IP address with these simple steps:
Install on your network (for shared printers)
Make sure your printer is shared if you want to access it from multiple computers. Control panel → Hardware and Sound → Devices and Printers → Right-click on your printer name and choose "Sharing.." to share your printer.
- 1Go to "Settings" (gear icon)
- 2Go to "Devices"
- 3Select "Printers & scanners."
- 4Click on "Add a printer or scanner."
- 5If your printer does not appear, select "The printer that I want isn't listed."
- 6In the Add Printer window, choose "Select a shared printer by name" and type in the network path of the shared printer. You can also type in the shared printer IP address here. (See the Step 3 NOTE)
- 7If prompted, enter the user account credentials for the remote PC.
- 8In the printers dialog box, click on "Install driver."
- 9Your printer will now be installed and added to the printers list
Step 4:
Print a document to make sure your printer is working. If it does, your printer has been added to Windows 10 successfully.
Conclusion
The steps for adding a printer to Windows 10 can variably depend on the brand, model, and connectivity capabilities of the printer. While the steps for a USB connection are quite straightforward, a WiFi connection requires more elaborate steps.
Although this list covers all possible steps for adding a printer, you can always refer to the manufacturer's support page for more FAQs.