How to Print to a USB Printer

Connect your USB printer and computer through a USB cable.

Computer printers have made great strides in the way of connectivity. While you once had to link your computer and printer through a VGA cable, you may now send information between the devices through a wireless connection. If you do not have wireless printing capability, you can use a USB printer. Printing to a USB device entails establishing a physical connection between the device and your computer with a USB cable and installing the necessary drivers.

Things You'll Need

• USB cable

Instructions

1. Establish a physical connection between your USB printer and personal computer. Insert one end of the printer's USB cable into the device's USB port. Insert the other end of the cable into an available USB port on your computer.

2. Install the USB printer's drivers. Insert the printer's setup CD into your computer's CD-ROM drive and follow the installation wizard's on-screen instructions, as these vary by model. Alternatively, you may download and install the setup drivers from the printer manufacturer's website. Visit the "Resources," "Downloads" or "Drivers" page on the manufacturer's website to download your USB printer model's drivers.

3. Launch the utility from which you intend to print a file, such as a word processor or image editor.

4. Open the file you wish to print. Select "Open File" from the "File" tab in the utility's menu bar. Choose the file from the ensuing browser.

5. Execute the utility's print function. Select "Print File" from the menu bar's "File" tab. Alternatively, you may click a printer-shaped "Print" icon from the utility's toolbar, if applicable. Select your USB printer from the drop-down list of available printers if it is not highlighted by default. Click "Print" or "OK" to send the utility's data to your printer and start the print job.

References

• HP: Connect an HP Wireless Printer With a USB Cable