Print from iPhone Without AirPrint: 4 Options That Work

iPhones and iPads print through AirPrint, Apple’s built-in printing system. When it works there is nothing to install. When the printer does not support it, the Print option shows “No AirPrint Printers Found” and it looks like a dead end. It is not. You can print from iPhone without AirPrint in several ways, and the first step is to check whether you really lack AirPrint at all.

First, check whether the printer supports AirPrint

Plenty of printers that seem not to work with an iPhone actually support AirPrint; they are just not on the network. Apple’s About AirPrint page links to a searchable list of AirPrint-enabled printers by brand, model or category, and says the list is updated as makers supply information. It also includes some print servers.

Two details from Apple matter here:

• Same network. Apple’s iPhone guide says the printer and the device must be on the same Wi-Fi network. If the printer is only connected by USB to a computer, the iPhone cannot see it.
• Some connections never work. Apple says printers connected to the USB port of an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule, or connected to a computer by Bluetooth, cannot use AirPrint. Printers listed as USB-only support driverless printing only from a Mac over USB.

If your model is in the list, connect it to Wi-Fi with our wireless printer setup guide, or change it from USB to wireless if it is still on a cable. Then follow our print from iPhone guide.

Option 1: use the printer maker’s app

Major makers publish iPhone apps that print to their own printers over Wi-Fi, independently of AirPrint. They usually show up in the app and often as a share option:

• Brother: Brother Mobile Connect on the App Store; see our Brother wireless setup guide.
• Epson: Epson Smart Panel; see our Epson Wi-Fi setup guide.
• HP: the HP Smart app; see our HP Smart setup guide.
• Canon: Canon’s setup site points to its app for each model; see our Canon PIXMA guide.

To print, open the document or photo, tap Share, and look for the maker’s app or a “print with” option. If it is not there, open the app itself and pick the file. The printer still needs to be on the same Wi-Fi network as the phone, or reachable through its own Wi-Fi Direct network; see Wi-Fi Direct printing.

This works well for printers from the last several years. Very old models may not be supported by the current app.

Option 2: add an AirPrint print server

A print server is a small device that sits on your network, connects to the printer (often over USB) and announces it to other devices. Apple’s AirPrint list includes some print servers, so a commercial one is an option; check the list for the exact model before buying.

A do-it-yourself alternative is a Raspberry Pi running CUPS. CUPS can share a printer on the network and announce it with DNS-SD (Bonjour), the same discovery system iPhones use. Whether a particular iPhone accepts the shared queue depends on the printer and its driver, so test it with your own devices before relying on it. Our Raspberry Pi print server guide walks through the setup, and the CUPS sharing documentation explains how shared printers are announced. Results depend on the printer: one that is already supported by a CUPS driver or by driverless printing is the best candidate.

Which option suits which printer

Your printer	Best option
Listed by Apple as AirPrint, but on USB	Move it to Wi-Fi, then use AirPrint
Wi-Fi printer, not in the AirPrint list	Maker’s app
USB-only printer you use often	Print server
Very old printer, occasional prints	Print through a computer

Option 3: print through a computer

If the printer works from a computer, use that computer as the middle step:

• AirDrop the file to a Mac and print from there.
• Email it to yourself, or save it to iCloud Drive, Google Drive or OneDrive, then open and print it on the computer.

It is not elegant, but it works with any printer and needs no setup. It also keeps full control over print options, because the computer’s driver exposes every setting the printer has, such as paper type and quality, which phone apps sometimes hide. If you print this way often, save the files to a shared folder that both the phone and the computer can reach, so you do not have to email yourself each time. For a Windows computer, make sure the printer is installed first; see add a printer in Windows 11.

Option 4: consider the printer’s age

If the printer cannot join a network, has no maker app, and the alternatives are too fiddly, it may be time to weigh up a replacement. Before buying, search Apple’s AirPrint list for the model you are considering. Once it arrives, our new printer setup guide takes you from the box to the first print.

Option 5: skip the phone

If none of the options above suits you, two more routes get a photo or document from an iPhone onto paper without AirPrint:

• A USB flash drive. If the printer has a USB host port on the front, copy the files to a flash drive from a computer, as JPEG for photos (iPhones often save photos as HEIC, which many printers cannot read). Our guide to printing from a USB flash drive covers the steps and the file types printers accept.
• The printer’s Wi-Fi Direct network. Some maker apps print over the printer’s own Wi-Fi Direct network, with no router involved. The phone joins the printer’s network while it prints; see our Wi-Fi Direct guide.

Why AirPrint is worth having next time

AirPrint is one of several driverless printing standards, alongside Mopria for Android and Windows and IPP Everywhere for Linux and ChromeOS. A printer that supports them works with every phone and computer in the house without apps or drivers, which is the main thing to check when you replace an older model. Our explainer on driverless printing shows how to tell whether a printer supports these standards. Before replacing anything, check for a firmware update: the release notes say what each version fixes or adds.

Quick checks when AirPrint should work

• Phone on the same Wi-Fi as the printer, not on a guest network.
• Printer awake and showing an IP address on its network status page; see find a printer’s IP address.
• AirPrint or Bonjour enabled in the printer’s web settings page, if it has such an option.
• Router not isolating wireless clients; our mesh Wi-Fi printer guide covers common network causes.