How to Connect to a Printer Remotely?

By Bennett Gavrish

If you are on the same local network as a remote printer with networking capabilities, you can connect to the printer and send documents to it without a cable connection. Both PC and Mac systems can connect to remote network printers, as long as you know the host name of IP address of the device you are trying to print to. Once you have established the initial connection with the remote printer, you can begin sending files to it.

PC Instructions

Open the Start menu by clicking on the icon in the lower-left corner of the screen and select "Printers and Faxes."

Choose "Add a printer" from the list of printer tasks on the left side of the pop-up window.

Click on the "Next" button to start configuring the remote printer connection.

Choose "A network printer" from the list of descriptions in the pop-up window and click "Next."

Type in the remote printer's host name or IP address and click "Next."

Choose whether or not to print a test page and then click "Finish" to add the remote printer to your computer. The new printer will now appear in the main "Printers and Faxes" window and you can begin sending files to it.

Mac Instructions

Open System Preferences by clicking on the icon in the dock.

Go to the "Print & Fax" control panel underneath the "Hardware" heading.

Click on the plus sign on the left side of the window.

Go to the "Default" tab at the top of the pop-up window. The computer will begin searching for remote printers on your local network.

Click on the remote printer you want to connect to and then click on the "Add" button. This printer will now show up in the list available printers the next time you print a file.

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