How to connect a printer in Windows 10

How to connect a printer in Windows 10

How to connect any printer to your Windows 10 computer using the Settings app. It's easy to add a printer to Windows 10. To install a printer to your Windows 10 computer, connect it to your PC and open the “Printers and Scanners” menu.


If you have a wired printer, make sure the USB cable is connected to both the printer and the Windows 10 computer. You must first add a wireless printer to your computer's network, using a pair button, network password, or other method.



While pretty much everything is digital these days, sometimes you need to print a hard copy. From employment contracts to college essays, it's helpful to have a printer in case you need one. Fortunately, adding a printer to Windows 10 isn't difficult.

Before you can connect the printer to your Windows 10 PC, however, you'll need to connect it to your computer. A wired printer will only need to be connected with a USB cable. A wireless printer might have a pairing button or some other way to connect it to the network. Here's how to add a wired or wireless printer to your Windows 10 computer.


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How to add a wired printer in Windows 10

  1. If you have a wired printer, connect it to your PC by plugging the USB cable into one of the ports on your computer before turning on the printer. If your printer is wireless, make sure it's connected to the same network as your computer - for more information, check the manual for your specific printer.
  2. In the search bar next to the Windows icon at the bottom right of the computer toolbar, type “Settings”. Once it appears in the search results, select it.
  3. Select the "Devices" option.
  4. In the "Devices" menu, choose "Printers and Scanners" from the left sidebar.
  5. Select "Add a printer or scanner". This will prompt Windows to start searching for available devices to configure. Click on the name of the printer you want to configure and click "Add Printer". Follow the instructions to complete the installation.

If Windows doesn't detect the printer, make sure it's plugged in and turned on. If Windows still can't find it, click "The printer I want is not listed". Windows will offer you a number of different options to help you install a USB printer to your Windows 10 computer.



How to connect a Wi-Fi printer to your Windows computer

If your Wi-FI printer is not automatically detected by Windows, you will need to configure it manually. This involves accessing the printer menu, configuring a TCP / IP port, and installing drivers. Follow the steps below to add network printer in Windows 10.

  1. Open the Windows Start menu and click on Settings.
  2. Then click Devices and select Printers and Scanners.
  3. Then click Add a printer.
  4. When Windows detects the printer, simply follow the on-screen instructions to install network printer. In this case, you can stop at this point. However, if Windows doesn't automatically detect the printer, go to the next step.
  5. Click "The printer I want is not listed." Once selected, the "Add Printer" screen will appear.
  6. Choose “Add a local printer or a network printer with manual settings” and click Next.
  7. Click "Create a new port" and select Standard TCP / IP from the drop-down box.
  8. Enter the IP address of the printer and click Next. At this point, the computer will try to detect the TCP / IP port. This may take some time.
  9. If you don't know how to find that information, check out our article on how to find the printer on your network in Windows 10
  10. Select the appropriate device type. In the drop-down menu for Standard Device Type, select the device type that matches your printer brand. For example, if you have a Canon printer, select Canon Network Printer or Canon Network Printing Device. Windows will then detect the driver model. You will notice that once the driver is detected, your printer will be added to the device list in the Printers & Scanners menu.
  11. Install the print driver. Choose your printer manufacturer in the left column and the driver for your printer model in the right column. Click Next.
  12. If you don't see the driver for your model, click on the box that says Have Disk. You will be prompted to install the driver from the manufacturer's installation disc and copy it from a drive where the driver is located.
  13. Select “Use the currently installed driver (recommended)” and click Next.
  14. Print a test page. We just finished connecting a Wi-Fi printer to the Windows computer.

How to connect a Bluetooth printer to Windows

Installing a Bluetooth printer requires you to pair the device as you would any other Bluetooth device. You also need to verify that the communication port or COM port that appears on Windows is the same as the one on the print driver. Here's how to connect your Bluetooth printer in Windows 10.




  1. Go to Start> Settings> Bluetooth and other devices. Make sure you turn on the switch for Bluetooth.
  2. Click "Add Bluetooth or other device".
  3. Then select Bluetooth as the type 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 Ready to pair.
  4. Pair your computer and printer. Some devices automatically pair if the printer does not ask for a PIN. If not, enter the PIN for the Bluetooth printer on the computer when prompted. Click Connect. If your printer has a user display, you may be prompted to enter a PIN on the printer. Follow the instructions displayed on both devices to confirm the connection.
  5. Check the COM port in Device Manager. Go to Control Panel> Hardware and Sound> Devices and Printers. Right click on the Bluetooth printer and select Properties. In the Services tab, you can see the COM port used by the printer.
  6. Install the printer driver with the corresponding COM port. Follow the on-screen instructions to configure the print driver. On the Ports tab of the printer driver installation window, make sure that the port in the Windows Device Manager is the same one set with the printer driver. For example, if you have COM3 in Device Manager, select the check box for COM3 during installation.
  7. Print a test page. Make sure the printer is connected by printing a test page.
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