How to Add a Printer on a Chromebook: Wi-Fi and USB Steps

To add a printer on a Chromebook, open Settings, go to Print and scan, then Printers, and click Save next to your printer under “Available printers to save”. ChromeOS finds printers on your Wi-Fi network automatically and prints to them without drivers. If your printer is not listed, you can add it by IP address in under a minute. This guide covers both routes, plus USB printers and scanning.

Your printer needs to be on the same network as the Chromebook. If it is still in setup mode, follow the wireless printer setup guide first.

Before you start: a quick checklist

A minute of preparation saves most of the “printer not found” frustration on ChromeOS:

• Printer finished its own setup. Ink or toner installed, paper loaded and any first-run prompts on the printer’s screen completed. A printer still waiting on alignment or language selection may not answer network requests yet.
• Same network, not a guest network. Check the Wi-Fi name on the Chromebook (click the time, then the Wi-Fi icon) and compare it with the network shown on the printer’s screen or network report. Guest networks usually block devices from seeing each other.
• No VPN running. A VPN app or extension can send local traffic away from your home network. Pause it while you add the printer.
• The printer’s IP address to hand. You only need it for a manual add, but it is worth having. Print the network configuration report from the printer’s menu or see our guide to finding a printer’s IP address.
• ChromeOS up to date. Open Settings, then About ChromeOS, and check for updates. Driverless printing support has improved over the years, so an out-of-date Chromebook can miss printers a newer one finds straight away.
• A USB-C adapter, if needed. For a USB printer, most recent Chromebooks only have USB-C ports, so a USB-A to USB-C adapter or a USB-B to USB-C cable is needed.

Step 1: open the Printers settings

1. Click the time in the bottom-right corner, then the Settings gear.
2. Find the printer settings. On current ChromeOS versions they are under Device, then Print and scan, then Printers. On older versions look under Advanced, then Print and scan. The quickest route on any version is to type printers in the search box at the top of Settings.

You will see two lists: Saved printers (already set up) and Available printers to save (found on the network).

Step 2: save a printer that ChromeOS found

1. Find your printer under Available printers to save.
2. Click Save.

That is all. The printer moves to Saved printers and is ready to use. If ChromeOS cannot work out the printer type automatically, it shows Set up instead of Save and asks you to pick the manufacturer and model. Choose the closest match.

Step 3: add a printer manually by IP address

If the printer does not appear, add it yourself:

1. Click Add printer (sometimes shown as a plus icon next to Saved printers).
2. Fill in the form:

Field	What to enter
Name	Anything you like, for example “Study printer”
Address	The printer’s IP address, such as 192.168.1.45
Protocol	Internet Printing Protocol (IPP). Use IPPS if your printer supports secure IPP.
Queue	Leave the default ipp/print unless the manual says otherwise

3. Click Add.

Find the IP address on the printer’s network configuration report, on its screen under network or Wi-Fi details, or in your router’s list of connected devices. Reserving the address in your router keeps the setup working long term.

Older office printers may need AppSocket (TCP/IP) or LPD as the protocol. Try IPP first.

Adding a USB printer

Plug the printer into the Chromebook with a USB cable (a USB-C adapter may be needed) and switch it on. A notification appears saying the printer has been connected and is ready to use. If it asks you to set it up, pick the manufacturer and model when prompted.

Step 4: print a test page

1. Open any page in Chrome and press Ctrl + P.
2. Next to Destination, choose See more and select your printer.
3. Set copies, colour and two-sided options, then click Print.

To follow progress or see an error, open the launcher and search for Print jobs. That app lists current and recent print jobs and lets you cancel one that is stuck.

Editing or removing a saved printer

If the printer later gets a new IP address or you want a clearer name, you do not need to add it again from scratch. In Settings, open Printers, find the printer under Saved printers and click the three-dot menu next to it. Edit lets you change the name, address and protocol; Remove deletes it so you can save it fresh. Removing and re-saving is a sensible step after replacing a router, because the printer may have joined the new network with a different address.

Scanning from a Chromebook

ChromeOS has a built-in Scan app. Open the launcher, search for Scan, choose your all-in-one in the Scanner menu, pick the source (flatbed or document feeder), file type and destination folder, then click Scan. It works with scanners that support driverless scanning (eSCL), which covers most current network all-in-ones. More on scanning in our printer scanner setup guide.

Managed school and work Chromebooks

On a Chromebook managed by a school or employer, the administrator may control printers centrally. You might see printers already listed that you did not add, or find that the Add printer button is missing. In that case, ask the administrator to add your printer, or use the printers they provide.

Things that no longer apply

Older guides tell you to connect printers to Chromebooks through Google Cloud Print. That service was shut down at the end of 2020 and the steps no longer work. Maker apps from the Chrome Web Store designed for Cloud Print are also obsolete. Use the built-in printing described above instead.

If several people in the house use different devices, our guide to sharing a printer on a home network explains how to make one printer available to all of them, and phones can print directly with AirPrint on iPhone or the Android print service. If one of the household computers runs Linux, our guide to adding a printer on Ubuntu Linux covers it; like ChromeOS, Ubuntu prints through CUPS and handles most network printers without a separate driver.