One of the important points for which it is necessary to have a network in our office or home is to be able to print from any computer that is there. For that, we will need a network printer. In this way, we avoid having to move the printer or the site computer to connect it using cables. We also avoid having to move the person from the computer that has the printer installed to allow us to print a document.

In this post, we are going to teach you how to configure your network printer from Windows 7, 8, and Windows 10 so that you can print from any computer.

How to set up a network printer in Windows?

  1. The first aspect that we must take into account is that in order for our printer to be networked, it must be connected to the network. It can be wireless, or via an Ethernet cable.
  2. When we set up a structured cabling network, it is very convenient that we take advantage not only to connect computers but also the other devices that we are going to use: printers, scanners, etc.
  3. If your printer has a network card, it will only have to be turned on and close enough to the router so that from Windows you can locate it. In case you want to connect it using cables, the printer cable must be connected to your office’s computer network.

Install the printer on one of the computers

  • Next, what you should do is install and configure your printer on one of the computers. All you have to do is connect it via a USB cable to the tower and make sure that the printer’s start button is on.
  • In Windows 7 we will go to Start> Control Panel> Hardware and Sound> Devices and Printers> Add a printer. In other operating systems, the form of access is the same or very similar.
  • We will get a window with two options: add a local printer and add a wireless network or Bluetooth printer.
  • Add a local printer: this option is for cases in which the printer cannot connect to our computer via a USB cable. The vast majority of modern printers have a USB cable and the installation starts automatically when you connect the cable.
  • Add a wireless network printer: this is the option that we will use if our printer does have a network card and we want to connect it wirelessly to our computer.
  • Then we must follow the corresponding steps to install the printer. This will include having to insert the installation CD if you ask us to.

How to install and Configure a Printer in Windows 10?

1. If you already have your printer installed and what you want is to share it on the network with the other devices, what you have to do is find your printer in the control panel, and entering the “Hardware and Sound” tab.

2. When we find our printer, we press the right button on it and in the options menu we will click on “Printer Properties”.

3. A new window will open, where we will have to look for the “Share” tab. There we will mark the option “Share this printer”. We must also enable the option “Present print jobs on client computers”.

4. We will give “apply” and then “accept”. Our printer will already be shared and the other equipment connected to a Wifi or wired network can detect it.

Note: However, there is still one point to complete: create a home or workgroup and install the printer on the other computers that will use it.

Create a work or homegroup

  • To create a homegroup, we will go to Control Panel> Networks and Internet> Homegroups. In this window, if we have not created a household group, we will click on the button “Create a new household group”.
  • In the options that will ask us, we will have to choose the folders that we are going to share in the group Music, Videos, etc.. These will include “printers” so that the network can work. 
  • When we finish, we will get a password that we will have to sign up for somewhere. It will be the password of our home group.

Join the group with the other computers

  • As long as your printer is connected to the main computer and shared on the network, other computers can access it. But first, they have to join the home group for it to work.
  • To do this, we simply limit ourselves to entering our control panel, going to the “Networks and Internet” option, and clicking on the “HomeGroup” or “Work Group” option. 
  • We will see that our computer already detects that a group has been created. Then we click on “Join Now”.
  • We will see that the “printer” option is checked, we click “next” and enter the password that we had previously entered.

Set up the printer on all other computers

  • In “Control panel”, “Hardware and Sound” and “Devices and Printers”, we will go to “Add a printer”. We will point to the option “Add wireless network or Bluetooth”, in case we do not have a wired network, and it will detect the printer that is installed on the main computer.
  • We select it and point it to “next” and again to “next”. Finally, it will give us the option to print a test page. If it works, you have done well.
  • Do you have doubts about how to make a computer network in your company? Do you want to create a more complex wired network that allows you to have a faster network? We invite you to contact us through our contact form.