How do I use a printer that's on another machine on my network?

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Summary: Once Windows Networking is enabled on your local network it's relatively easy to share printers as well as files. We'll walk through the steps.

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The short answer is yes.

Assuming that computer "A" and computer "B" can "see" each other across your network, it's actually a relatively simply matter to print on either printer from either machine.

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You may note that one of the things I don't spend a lot of time discussing here on Ask Leo! is Windows Networking. Getting two Windows machines to see each other and successfully share files can at times be incredibly frustrating. When it just works (which it often does) it's great. But if you encounter problems there are so many things that could be wrong, it's just not a topic I take on very often.

So, I'm going to start by assuming that your machines A and B can "see" each other. By that I mean that in Windows Explorer, in your "Network Neighborhood" or "Microsoft Windows Network" you see the other machine listed, along with any file shares it might have:

The trick is simply that you can share a printer on your network just like you can share a folder.

On the machine with a printer physically connected to it (machine "A" with printer "A1", to use your terms):

• open Control Panel

• double click on Printers and Faxes

• right-click on the printer that's physically connected to the machine

• Click on the Sharing... item. This will open the printer's properties dialog opened on the Sharing tab:

  

• Make sure that Share this printer is selected, and give your printer a name. As you can see I've given my printer (what you've called "A1") a name of "hppsc131".

• Click OK.

In order to use this printer from another machine you'll need to add it as an available print.

On that other machine, your machine "B":

• open Control Panel

• Click on Add a printer to start the Add Printer Wizard

• Click on Next and you should see a dialog similar to this:

  

• Make sure the "network printer" option is selected, and click Next. You'll get a dialog similar to this:

  

• You can, if you like, try browsing for a printer. Windows will "look around" to try and locate any printers that are shared by any machines on the local network.

  I find it more reliable to enter the printer's name directly. In my example above, the computer name is "Leo" (what you've called "A"), and the printer name I chose was "hppsc131" (what you've called "A1"), so I would enter "\\leo\hppsc131" as the Name: after selecting "Connect to this printer":

  

• Click Next

• The next page of the wizard will ask if you want to use this newly connected printer as the default printer. Select Yes or No as you see fit and click Next.

• The final page will summarize what you've just done.

That's really all there is to it. Now, on this machine B I can print to the printer on machine A.

Since you've indicated that you also have a printer on machine B that you want to print to from machine A, you'd simply repeat this process again, this time sharing the printer on B and connecting to it from A.

Related:

• Ask Leo! - Why does my Microsoft Word document display differently on different computers?

• Ask Leo! - Why does my computer 'Find New Hardware' for my printer every time I boot?

• Ask Leo! - Networking Sucks - podcast.

Article C3047 - June 5, 2007