Share a printer
If you have a printer attached to your computer, you can share it with
anyone on the same network. It doesn't matter what type of printer it is, as
long as the printer is installed on your computer and directly attached with
a universal serial bus (USB) cable or other type of printer cable. Whoever
you choose to share the printer with will be able to use it to print,
provided they can locate your computer on the network.
Note
Printers that are directly connected to a network rather than attached to a
computer are available to anyone on the same network. Such printers must
have a network port or wireless connection that allows them to connect
directly to the network.
To share a printer attached to your computer
Click to open Network and Sharing Center.
Click the arrow button next to Printer sharing to expand the section, click
Turn on printer sharing, and then click Apply. Your printer is now shared on
the network. If you are prompted for an administrator password or
confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Click the arrow button next to Password protected sharing to expand the
section, and then check to see if this option is turned on or off. If
password-protected sharing is turned on, only people with a user account and
password for this computer will be able to access your printer. Turn this
off if you want anyone on the network to be able to access the printer you
are sharing. To change this setting, select the option you prefer, and then
click Apply. If you are prompted for an administrator password or
confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Note
Anyone using this computer can already use any printer attached to the
computer. Printer sharing allows you to share your printer with people using
other computers on the network.
To print using a shared printer
Follow these steps to connect to a shared printer over the network. You must
know the name of the computer that has the printer attached to it. If you
don't know this name, ask someone who uses that computer, or go to the other
computer yourself and look it up. For information on how to find this name,
see Find your computer name.
Click the Start button , and then, in the Search box, type \\ followed by
the name of the computer with the shared printer you want to use (for
example, \\mylaptop).
Press ENTER.
If Windows can find the computer on the network, a folder will open for the
computer. Double-click Printers. If any shared printers are connected to
this computer, they will appear here. If you don't see the shared printer
you want to use, ask a person who uses that computer if the printer is
connected, turned on, and shared with other users on the network.
Double-click the printer. Windows will automatically add the printer to your
computer and install the printer driver. When the process is complete, click
Next.
Click to open Printers.
The printer should appear in your Printers folder. You can select this
printer when you want to print a document or other type of file.
Note
If Windows can't automatically find and install the printer driver that
allows this shared printer to work with your computer, you need to install
the driver before you will be able to print. For more information, see Find
and install printer drivers.
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