How to Establish a Wireless Connection to the Printer

The ability to send print jobs over a wireless connection can be extremely useful. Most newer printers connect directly to a wireless network, allowing you to send commands to the printer from any computer on the network. You can also do it from an Android or iOS device. Usually, though, you’ll have to do a bit of configuration to use this functionality.

Table of Contents

Connect the printer

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Place the printer within range of the wireless router. Most modern printers have wireless connectivity, allowing setup to be done without connecting to any computer. The printer will have to be within range of the wireless router to be able to connect to it.

If the printer does not have Wi-Fi reception, proceed to the next section.

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Turn on the printer. You’ll be connecting the printer to the wireless network, so there’s no need to first connect to the computer.

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Connect the printer to the wireless network. This process is not uniform in different printers. You need to know the name (SSID) and password of your Wi-Fi network. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Many printers connect to the wireless network through the built-in menu system. Refer to the printer’s manual to determine its exact location. If you can’t find the documentation, you can almost always download a PDF version of it from the manufacturer’s Support site.
If the printer and router both support the WPS push-to-connect function, simply press the WPS button on the printer and press the WPS button on the router within two minutes. The connection will be established automatically.
With some older wireless printers, to establish a wireless connection, you may need to connect to a computer first. This is very common in printers that do not have a control menu but still support wireless networks. Connect the printer to the computer via USB and use the software that came with the product to establish its wireless connection. After you have configured the wireless network parameters on the printer, you can disconnect the computer and place it in the desired location.

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Add the printer to your Windows computer. Once you’ve networked the printer, you can add it to your computer to start sending print jobs. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Open the Contrp Panel from the Start menu with Windows 7 and earlier, or by right-clicking the Windows button with Windows 8 and later.
Select “View devices and printers” or “Devices and Printers”.
Click the “Add a printer” button at the top of the window.
Select your printer from the list. The list may take a while to display.
Install the driver if required. Windows has the ability to automatically install drivers for most popular printers.

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Add the printer to your Mac. If you’re using a Mac and the printer is compatible with the Mac operating system, you can add it to your computer after you connect to the network.

Click the Apple menu and choose “System Preferences”.
Click the “Print & Scan” button.
Click the “+” button at the bottom of the printer list.
Select the new printer from the list and follow the prompts to install any necessary software.

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Send print jobs to the wireless printer. Once the printer has been added to the operating system, you can select it from any print-enabled program. The new printer will appear in the “Printer” selection menu when you print pictures or documents. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

If the new printer doesn’t appear on that menu, make sure the computer is connected to the same network as the printer. Sometimes restarting the printer solves the problem.

Print from an Android device

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Set up the printer so that it is connected to a network or a computer. Before a print job can be sent from an Android device, the printer needs to be properly connected to your home network using the steps outlined above, or directly connected to the computer via the USB port. You’ll add the printer to Google Cloud Print, a service that allows you to send print jobs from anywhere and from any application that supports printing.

If your printer supports Google Cloud Print, it’s pretty straightforward. If the printer doesn’t support Google Cloud Print, you’ll have to add it from the computer it’s installed on.

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Connect your network printer directly to Google Cloud Print (if possible). If the printer supports Google Cloud Print, with the control menu available on the machine, you can establish a direct connection from the printer to your Google account. Follow the prompts to sign in to your Google account. Make sure it’s the same Google account associated with the Android device.

If the printer is connected to Google Cloud Print, you can skip to step 9.
If the printer doesn’t support Google Cloud Print, you can still add it through your computer.

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If the printer doesn’t support Google Cloud Print, open Chrome on your computer. At this point, you will have to manually add it to your Google account. The downside here is that the printer will only receive the command when you open and log in to the computer.

To set up the Google Cloud Print service, you need Chrome.
Make sure that the computer you are using already has access to the printer over the network. Follow the steps above to pre-set the connection between your computer and the wireless printer.

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Click the Chrome menu button and select “Settings” . A new tab will be opened.

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Click the “Show advanced settings” link and scroll down. You’ll find the Google Cloud Print section towards the bottom of the menu.

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Click the “Manage” button to open the Google Cloud Print manager. A list of your currently connected devices will appear.

If asked to sign in, make sure it’s the Google account associated with your Android device.

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Click “Add printers” and you’ll see a list of printers connected to your computer. It’s possible that the list will have multiple devices, especially when the printer is also a fax machine.

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Make sure your device is selected and click “Add printers” . As a result, your printer will be added to your Google Cloud Print account.

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Get the Cloud Print app on your Android device. As a result, you will be able to access the Google Cloud Print app’s printer from your Android device. You can download this app for free from the Google App Store.

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Send print jobs from your Android app. Once Google Cloud Print is installed, you can send a print job to the Google Cloud Print app’s printer from any print-enabled application. Each application has a different level of print support. However, most document readers, email, and photo viewer applications support printing. You can usually access the “Print” option from the ⋮ menu.

If you added the printer from Chrome, to use it, you will have to open the computer you used to work with, and open or let Chrome run in the background. If the printer can connect directly to Google Cloud Print, simply turn on the printer and let it connect to the network.

Print from iPhone or iPad

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Determine if your printer supports the AirPrint feature. This feature allows iOS devices to send print jobs directly to the printer. Look for the AirPrint logo on the printer or the AirPrint option in its Settings menu.

Some printers need to be configured to use AirPrint.
The AirPrint printer needs to be on the same network as your iOS device. Follow the steps at the beginning of this article to network the printer.
If the printer does not support AirPrint, you will have to find a printing application from the printer manufacturer.

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Open the application that you want to use to send the print job. Not all apps support AirPrint, but most apps from Apple and other major developers do. You’ll most likely find the AirPrint option in your document, email, and photo viewer apps.

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Open the item you want to print. Use the application to open the document, image, or email that you want to print.

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Click the “Share” button and select “AirPrint” . Thanks to that, you will be able to choose your AirPrint printer.

Make sure you are on the same network as the printer.

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Select the printer and press “Print” . The file will be sent to the AirPrint printer.

Steps

Connect the printer

Print from an Android device

Print from iPhone or iPad

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