When you bring home a New Wireless or USB printer, you won’t be able to print anything, unless you connect or add the printer to your Windows computer.
The actual process of adding a printer to computer varies, depending on whether you are connecting a Network printer or a Local Printer to your computer.
As the name suggests, Local Printer is directly connected to the computer using a USB Cable, while a Network Priner is wirelessly connected to the computer using Wi-Fi or Ethernet Network.
Add Wireless & USB Printer in Windows 11/10
Now that we understand the terms Local & Network Printer, let us go ahead and take a look at the steps to add both Local (USB conneced) and Network or Wireless printer to Windows 11/10 computer.
1. Add Wireless Printer to Windows Computer
You can follow the steps below to add a wireless printer to Windows 11 computer.
1. Plug the wireless printer to power supply source and start the Printer by pressing its Power button. Once, the Printer starts it will start scanning for nearby Wi-Fi Networks.
2. Go to LCD Panel of the Printer > open the Settings menu and select your Wi-Fi Network.
3. When prompted, enter the Password for your Wi-Fi Network and this will connect the Printer to your Wi-Fi Network.
4. On your computer, go to Settings > Devices > select Bluetooth & Devices in the left-pane and click on Printer & Scanners in the right-pane.
Windows 10: Go to Settings > Printers and Scanners > Add a Printer or Scanner > select printer > click on Add Device.
5. On the next screen, you may find your wireless printer already listed. If the printer is not listed, click on Add Device button and wait for Windows to scan and locate the printer.
6. Once the printer is listed, click on Add Device button located next to your printer.
Note: If Windows fails to connect to Printer, click on Add Manually option and follow the instructions to Add the Printer.
7. On the next screen, enter the WPS PIN for your printer and click on the Next button.
8. Follow the remaining onscreen instructions to complete the setup process.
Note: On certain printers, you may be required to install the printer software on your computer.
2. Add USB Printer to Windows Computer
You can follow the steps below to add a Local or USB printer to Windows 11/10 computer.
1. Connect the USB Printer to Power Supply Source.
2. Plug the Printer to computer using its supplied USB cable and press the Power button to switch on the Printer.
3. On your computer, go to Settings > Devices > select Bluetooth & Devices in the left-pane and click on Printer & Scanners in the right-pane.
Windows 10: Go to Settings > Printers and Scanners > Add a Printer or Scanner > select printer > click on Add Device.
4. On the next screen, click on Add Device button and wait for the computer to scan for available printers.
5. After the scan process is completed, click on the Add Manually button.
6. On the next screen, select “My Printer is a little older, Help me find it” option and click Next and wait for Windows to come up with a list of Printers.
7. Go through the list of printers, select your printer and click on Next to install the printer driver.
8. Follow the next set of onscreen instructions to complete the installation of USB Printer.
Note: If the printer does not appear in the list of printers, go to website of the printer manufacturer and download the latest driver software required to run the printer on your computer.