How to Install a Printer

Printers have quickly become a must-have home office tool, and their installation has been significantly streamlined over the years. While most printers will install automatically, adding the printer to a network or sharing the printer with other users can still be a bit tricky. Once you learn how to do it, you can even enable your printer to allow you to print from anywhere in the world!

Quick Steps

  1. Plug the printer into your computer (as well as a power source, if required).
  2. Turn the printer on and wait for your computer to detect the printer.
  3. Allow the computer to install the required printer files, or install via the disc.
  4. Eject the setup disc once it’s done installing and start using your printer.
Lots of printers can be very finicky, and if you have an installation guide you should follow its exact instructions before deferring to these general instructions. You can usually find the installation guide as a PDF file on the manufacturer’s support page for your model.
  1. Plug the printer into your computer (as well as a power source, if required).
  2. Turn the printer on and wait for your computer to detect the printer.
  3. Allow the computer to install the required printer files, or install via the disc.
  4. Eject the setup disc once it’s done installing and start using your printer.
  • Some printers will need to be plugged into a power source as well.

 This will usually install any drivers that weren’t installed automatically by Windows, and may install extra printing software that allow you to take advantage of additional features on your printer. If you don’t have the disc that came with the printer, and it wasn’t automatically detected by your operating system, read on.

  • As long as your printer was properly automatically installed, you usually don’t actually need to install anything else.
  • If you’re having issues connecting the printer to the computer, uninstall everything and download the new drivers and install everything all over again. A clean install can usually resolve software problems.
 After installing the drivers, your printer should now be ready to print from any program on your computer that supports printing.