This Is How To Share A Printer In Windows (11, 10, 8, Vista, XP, And macOS)

Over the past year, technology has changed almost everything around the US. Moreover, innovation and changes have also made our life easier. 

Windows and macOS have gotten much better in that it supports almost any kind of wireless device on them. The days are gone when we used a cable to connect our devices to the computer.

Yes, we can easily share our printer with more than one device without the need for a cable. 

All we need to have is a Local area network or WIFI in your office or home. Today in this article, we will discuss step-wise instructions to share a printer in different OS.

What is printer Sharing?

Printer sharing is a technique from which you can share your printer with more than one device in the same network. 

When I talk about the network, I mean the WIFI. In order to share the printer with more than one device, you should have some medium. There are two ways to share the printer. 

One is using the Bluetooth method, and another one is WIFI. WIFI is considered to be easy and comfortable to share with the printer. 

Whereas WIFi has a longer range as compared to Bluetooth. So, you can access the printer from a long distance as well. 

How to Share Printer in Windows 11?

Windows 11 is the latest version of windows operating that comes with great support for wireless devices and channels. 

So, here we are going to discuss step-wise instructions to share a printer in Windows 11. Before we begin, make sure to note down the printer name. 

In addition to this, it is necessary to install the driver before you connect with the printer, so make sure to install it on your computer. 

1. Click on the start button or windows button on your computer.
2. Search the setting Icon and click on it. Moreover, you can also use the shortcut key Windows Key + I. If you are unable to locate the Setting icon, click on the windows search bar and type: setting.
3. A new tab will appear on your screen. In this Tab, you can configure anything related to your laptop or computer. On the left side, you will see different options to configure your windows. Click on the Bluetooth and devices option. 
4. Now you will see an option to configure different output and input devices. Click on Printer and Scanner. 
5. Now the computer will display all the available printers in your network. Click on your printer and then click on Printer properties.
6. After this, a pop-up tab should appear in your windows. Click on sharing option inside the new Tab. Now click, and you will see the Change sharing options named button with a sign of shield. Click on the button.
7. Click on the square box written with Share this printer. After this, you should see a tick mark in the square box. 
8. Now press the ok button to save the settings. 

This is how you can share your printer in windows 11 by following the above steps. In order to connect with the shared printer, the computer or device should have installed the driver of a particular printer. After this, you can easily connect with the printer in your local network. 

How to share a printer in Windows 10?

Windows 10 also has features to share your printer in the local network. Sharing printer in the local network gives lots of advantages to the user. 

One of the advantages of sharing a printer is you can access the printer from any corner of your office. 

So, let’s look at how you can share your printer in Windows 10:

1. If you have not installed the driver, make sure to install it before going to the next step. Furthermore, most printers have similar names, so make sure to note down the name of your printer.
2. Click on the start menu and then click on the setting button afterward. If you are unable to find the setting button click on the windows search bar and then type: setting. After this, click on settings.
3. Now a new tab will appear on your windows where you can configure all the settings of your computer.
4. On the left side of the Tab, you will see the Printer and Scanners option. Click on this option, and after this, you will see all the available or connected printers on your computer or in your local network. 
5. Click on the printer which you want to share in your local network. Now three options will appear below the printer name click on the manage button.
6. On the left side, you will see different configuration options. Click on the printer properties among those.
7. Now a pop tab will appear in your windows. Click on the sharing section on that new Tab. After this, you will see Share this printer along with a square box. Click on that square box; you should see a tick mark inside the square container after this. 
8. Click on the ok button to save the setting. The pop-up Tab will disappear from the windows, and now you can connect your printer from any device on the local network.

This is how you can share your printer on Windows 10. The step to share the printer in windows 10 and windows 11 are almost similar. 

There is not much difference. If you know how to share the printer in Windows 10, you can easily share a printer in windows 11 as well. 

How to share a printer in Windows 7 and 8?

Older version of Windows 7 and Windows 8 also supports the sharing printer in the local network. 

However, it was a bit complex and involved lots of things. In order to share a printer in the local network, make sure that your computer supports a local network connection. 

So, let’s discuss how to share the printer in Windows 7 and Windows 8 using a local network. 

1. If you are using the printer for the first time, then install the driver first.
2. Click on the start button, and after this, click on the control panel. IF you are using windows 8, then click on Windows + X. 
3. Click on hardware and sound. After this, you will see different options to configure hardware devices. 
4. Click on the Devices and Printers option. After this, you will see all the connected devices on your computer. Moreover, you will also see all the connected printers on your devices. Right-click on the printer which you want to share on your network. 
5. After this, you will see a pop-up menu showing different options to configure.
6. Click on printer properties. After this again, a new tab will appear where you can customize the printer’s setting. Click on sharing section from the Tab. Now there is one button with a shield sign on it. 
7. After this, select the square box below the option. This will leave the tick mark inside the square.
8. Click on the ok button to save the settings. 

After this, you can access your printer from any devices that have installed drivers. This is how you can enable printer sharing in Windows 7 and 8. 

How to share a printer in Windows Vista?

Vista is one of the oldest versions of Windows OS. Windows has stopped providing updates and patches for this OS. 

There are thousands of computer that still uses this operating system. This OS also supports printer sharing on the local network connection. 

Here is the step-wise instruction to do that: 

1. Install the printer drivers on your PC.
2. Click on the control panel from the start menu.
3. Click on the hardware and sound setting from the control panel. If you cannot find this setting, then there is a search bar in the top right corner. Click on that search bar and type hardware and sound.
4. A new tab will appear where you find all the settings related to hardware devices. Click on the first option, Devices, and printers.
5. A new tab will appear, showing all the connected devices and printers in your device. 
6. Right-click on the printer which you want to share in the work. After this, a pop-up menu will appear on your screen. Click on the printer properties option from the menu.
7. Now in the new Tab, click on sharing button. After this, you will see a square button to enable Sharing. Click on Share this printer square box.
8. Click on the ok button to save the sharing setting. 

Follow the above step to enable sharing in your Vista OS. The process is very much simple to Windows 7. This method should work in both OS. 

How to share a printer in Windows XP?

Windows XP is the oldest running operating system in the world. Though, Microsoft stopped providing support and update. 

In this section, we will discuss step-wise instructions to share a printer in Windows XP:

1. Click on the start button.
2. Now click on My Network places.
3. After this right click on Active network connection and click on select properties.
4. Click on the General Tab and then check the file and sharing for the Microsoft network.
5. Now on the sharing section, you can choose to share the printer or not.
6. Click on Share this printer circle.
7. After this, click on ok to save the setting.

You can enable sharing of printers and other devices by using the above step. I hope the above methods and steps have worked well on your devices. 

How to Share Printer in MacOS?

macOS also has features to share a printer over the local network. You can easily share your printer in the local network. 

All you need to do is install the driver on your device. After this, you are good to go. 

Follow the below step-wise instruction to share your printer using MacOS.

1. On the upper left section, there is a Menu button. Click on the Menu button.
2. Now click on the Internet and Network or Internet and Wireless section from the Tab. 
3. After this, click on sharing option.
4. On the left side, you will see the option to share different devices from your computer.
5. Now click on the Printer sharing square box. After this, a Tick mark will be seen inside the square box. 
6. In the middle of the Tab, you see Open Printer and Scanner button. After this, click on it; it will show all the available printers on your devices.
7. Click on the printer which you want to share in your local network. 
8. After this, you will see a square box, and written text Share this printer on the network. Click on the square box to enable sharing in your local network. 

This is how you can share printers in your local network. It is very simple; you need to visit the menu and search the Printer and Scanner option.

After this, you will see all the available printers on your devices that can be quickly shared in the local network. 

How to connect to a shared printer?

Now we know how to share a printer in the local network. Let’s discuss how we can connect to a shared printer. 

It is not that hard to communicate with the shared printer in the local network. Before starting, there are two things that you should know. 

The first one is to install the printer driver before connecting to the printer. The second thing is the name of the printer. 

Most of the printer comes with a similar name which could confuse you while connecting with the shared printer. 

So, make sure to note down the name or change the display name of the printer. 

macOS

1. Open your Mac and then click on the Apple menu.
2. Now click on the system and preferences button. After this, click on the Printer and Scanners button.
3. Now, you will see all the saved and connected printers on your device. Search if the printer is showing in the list.
4. If it is not showing, then click on an “+” add device button. Now, your device will search all the available printers in your network and Bluetooth. This could take a couple of minutes before it finds your printer.
5. After the searching process ends, you should see your printer. 

Windows

1. Click on the start menu, and after this, click on the Setting menu.
2. After this, a new tab should appear in your windows. Now, look at the left side of the Tab. There you will see different types of settings.
3. Click on the Printer and Scanner button from the left sidebar. 
4. Now you will see all the available printers on your device. Click on Add Printer and Scanner button. 
5. Now you have to wait a couple of minutes, and after this, you will see all the available printers and scanners in your local connection. 
6. Click on the printer that you want to connect. 

Tips

1. Printer sharing can be done on two in both private and public, but you should always use private sharing as it allows greater sharing between all operating systems than the public.
2. The number of users can be limited to using the printer. Moreover, you can also set password protection to prevent unknown people from using a printer.
3. A printer can also be shared directly using a wireless router. But, a wireless router should have a USB port in order to share the printer in the network.