How To Add a Printer on Windows 10 (Local, Network, Shared Printer) 2021 .

Here How to install and configure a Local printer, Network printer, Wireless printer or Network Shared printer On windows 10 computer.

Looking for Install/Add A new printer on Windows 10 PC? This post discusses how to install a Local printer, Network printer, Wireless printer, or Network Shared printer On windows 10 computer. Let me first explain what is different between the local printer, Network printer and Network shared printer.

Local Printer: A local printer is one that is directly connected to a specific computer via USB cable. This printer is only accessible from that particular workstation and therefore, can only service one computer at a time.

Network/ Wireless printer. A printer connected to a wired or wireless network. It may be Ethernet-enabled and be cabled to an Ethernet switch, or it may connect to a Wi-Fi (wireless) network or both. This will connect and communicate through network address (IP address)

Network Shared printer: Printer sharing is the process of allowing multiple computers and devices connected to the same network to access one or more printers. This means If you have a local printer on your home network, Using the printer sharing option, you can allow multiple devices to use the printer on the same network only.

How To Add A local Printer on Windows 10

The most common way to connect a printer to your PC is by USB cable, which makes it a local printer. 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.

For Windows 10

1. Go to Start >Settings >Devices >Printers and Scanners.
2. Look in Printers & Scanners to see if your printer is installed.
3. If you don’t see your device, select Add a printer or scanner.
4. Wait for it to find available printers, choose the one you want, and then select Add device.
5. If your Windows 10 computer does not detect the local printer, click or tap on the link that says, “The printer that I want isn’t listed.”

Windows 10 opens a wizard called “Add Printer.” Here you have a few different options. They include options for adding network printers, as well as local printers. As you want to install a local printer, choose the option that says:

• “My printer is a little older. Help me find it.”, or
• “Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings.”

We recommend you choose to add a local printer or network printer with manual settings and click next to continue. On the Choose a printer port window, leave the default options selected and click Next.

• On the Install, the printer driver window, from the displayed list of printer manufacturers in the left section, click to select the one to which the connected printer belongs.
• From the right section, locate and click to select the specific printer model that is connected to the PC.Note: At this point, you can also click the Have Disk button and browse and locate the driver for the connected printer if you have downloaded it manually from its official website.
• Click Next to proceed to the next step. And follow on-screen instructions to install and configure the printer.

Windows 7 and 8 user

Control Panel, open the “Hardware and Devices” and then click on “Devices and Printers.” Click Add printer And follow on-screen instructions to install the printer.

Also, you run the printer driver software that came with the printer or download it from the device manufacturer’s website to install the printer.

Add Network Printer in Windows 10

In general, the procedure to Add Network or Wireless Printers in Windows 10 involves the following two steps.

1. Setup Printer and connect it to Network
2. Add Network Printer in Windows

Setup Printer and Connect it to Network

Local printer having only one USB port, so you can only install only one PC using USB port but Network Printer is different, It has a special network port with one USB port. You can either connect through a USB port or you can connect your network cable to Ethernet port. To Install and configure a Network printer First, connect the network cable, Then open Printer settings -> IP address and Set the IP address of your local network. For example: If your Default gateway / Router Address is 192.168.1.1, then Type 192.168.1.10 ( you can replace 10 with your chosen number between 2 To 254 ) and ok to make save changes.

Configure Network Printer in Windows 10

Now to install the Network printer on Windows 10 First download the printer driver from the manufacturer’s website and run the setup.exe or you can insert the printer driver media which comes with the printer box to the DVD drive and run the setup.exe. while install select option Add a network printer And follow on-screen instructions.

Also, you can open the Control panel -> device and printer -> Add a printer option on top of the window -> On add a device wizard select the printer that I want isn’t listed -> Select the radio button to add a Bluetooth, wireless, or network discoverable printer and follow the on-screen instruction to install the printer.

Add a Wireless Printer On Windows 10

Most Wireless Network Printers come with an LCD screen which allows you to go through the initial setup process and connect to WiFi Network. On most printers, you will be required to follow these steps.

• Switch ON the Printer using its Power button.
• Access Setup Menu on the LCD panel of the printer.
• Choose Language, Country, Install Cartridges and Choose your WiFi Network.
• Enter your WiFi Network Password to connect the printer

You should find your printer automatically added in the Printers & scanners section under Settings > Devices.

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

Add a Network Shared Printer On Windows 10

If you have a local printer on your home network, Using a printer sharing option, you can allow multiple devices to use the printer on the same network only. To do this, First Right Click on the local installed printer select properties. Move to Sharing Tab and tick on share this printer option as shown below image. Click on Apply and ok to make save changes.

Then After To Access the Shared Printer Simply note Down the computer name or IP address of the computer where the shared printer is installed. You can check the computer name by right click on This pc and select properties. Here on System properties, look for the computer name and note it down. Also, you can check the IP address from Command prompt type ipconfig and hit the enter key.

Now To Access the Shared printer On the different computer on the same network, Press Win + R, Then type \\computer name or \\IPAddress Of the computer where the local shared printer is installed and hit the enter key. If ask for username password, type the computer’s username and password where the printer is installed. Then right-click on the printer and select connect to install and connect shared printer on the local network.

Troubleshoot Printer problems on Windows 10

Suppose you run into trouble, Printing documents, printer results in different errors. First, make sure your printer is relatively close to your computer and not too far from your wireless router. If your printer has an Ethernet jack, you could also connect it directly to your router and manage it with a browser interface.

Also, open windows Services ( windows + R, type services.msc ), And check print spooler service is running.

Type troubleshoot on start menu search and hit enter. Then click on the printer and run the troubleshooter. Let windows to check and fix if any problem causing the issue.

That’s all, I am sure Now you can easily Install and Add a Printer on Windows 10 ( Local, Network, Wireless and Shared Printer ) PC. Face any difficulty while install and configure a printer, feel free to discuss in the comments below.

How To Add A Network Printer in Windows 10 Using WSD

In this guide, I’ll quickly explain how to set up a network printer using WSD plug&play so you can start using your network printers on Windows 10 right away. Let’s start printing!

Windows 10 is still very similar to Windows 8 and even 7 and adding a network printer is still possible to do in less than 5 minutes. If you know the IP of your printer or the name of the ‘share’ you will walk through this guide even quicker, so you may want to look that up first.

Using The Device Manager To Add It

1. Step Open the device manager either hit Windows key + R and type devmgmt.msc or open it via the traditional Windows user interface or enter ‘devices and printers’ into the Windows 10 search bar

2. Step On the device manager page, select Add printer at the top

IMPORTANT: Wait until the scan has been completed. If you’re lucky it will already list your network printer.

3. Step Nothing showing up? Select the blue link at the bottom ‘the printer that I want isn’t listed’:

4. Step Ok, do you EITHER know the IP or the printer share name? For example 192.168.2.35 or \\myPCname\HP200 – if you do, select the option Add a printer using a TCP/IP address or hostname or, respectively, the option Select a shared printer by name.

You can look up the printer IP via your router configuration panel that is accessible via 192.168.0.1 (Netgear), 192.168.1.1 (Linksys), 192.168.2.1 (AVM, Fritzbox) or a similar IP depending on your router manufacturer

Don’t know the IP or the share name? No worries, select the option Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings will work just fine

5. Step Windows 10 will ask you what port to choose. Say ‘use an existing printer port’ and from the dropdown select WSD. If you see multiple, pick the first

LTP, COM1, other ports can only can be used if you connect a printer via a device cable, but for home & small office network printers we use WSD, which is a special plug-and-play monitoring service that will auto-detect your printer.

6. Step Now we can finally install the printer driver. In order to do that you need to go to your printer (in-person) and on the bottom of the device you will find the exact model, for example HP LaserJet 200 color (MFP M276 PCL6 Class Driver).

Tip: If you can’t find the model, go through the list and see if you find a similar name. If not, google your printer and find out what model you are using. Once you know the exact model you can install the correct drive and continue:

7. Step Windows will most likely tell you that it found an existing driver, confirm that.

8. Step You will be given the option to share your printer, either don’t or provide a ‘share name’ that will be visible to others connected to your network.

9. Step You can now print a test page (which you should) and set it as the default Windows 10 printer that will print all documents and show up as default on the print dialog

The printer should show up with its icon:

If you see the default printer icon AND you are unable to print something may be wrong and you should repeat the steps and be more careful this time. Also try the other options I listed such as finding a printer by IP or share.

What is a WSD Printer Port?

WSD is a plug and play port scanning service and not a physical port. It can help you to auto-detect devices and printers – no USB cable is required whatsoever for devices connected via WSD. Windows 8 starts the WSDmon (monitor) service by default and so does Windows 10.

Please note that in corporate environments you may want to avoid WSD. WSD will stop working after a certain number of devices have been added. Using a fixed IP and share-name for each device is recommended. WSD may come in handy if you own only a bunch of network devices, but if you own over 100 network devices this is not the way to do it.

Why Network Printers

Network printers are extremely handy if your printer is not plugged into your computer. For example if you have a home office or regular office, chances are you will have your own room for a printer. Then it’s really handy to know how to install a network printer so you can simply hook up the printer to your switch and start printing.

Pro Tip: Using A NAS For Network Printing

Windows users can also connect a printer to a NAS (if it supports network printers) and then access a network printer via the NAS. We outlined how this works in this NAS guide

So if you have a NAS that is accessible via \\HMNHD-TI2N0L\ then you only have to assign a share name to your printer e.g. HP200 and then you can use the option Select a shared printer by name.

Turning On File And Printer Sharing

If you don’t mind typing, simply hit Windows key + R and enter control.exe /name Microsoft.NetworkandSharingCenter , then in the sidebar you’ll find the option Advanced Sharing settings, proceed with step 5 to turn printer sharing on.

If you don’t have a keyboard plugged in or prefer to use a GUI to see where you’re going:

1. Step Simply open the control panel by entering control panel into the Windows 10 search bar and it will pop up at the top

2. Step Click on Network and Internet

3. Step Open the Network Sharing Center

4. Step Select the option Change Advanced Sharing Settings

5. Step Now you can turn on File and Printer Sharing: