A desktop printer is an icon on your desktop that represents a printer connected to your computer. It’s created automatically when you select a printer in the Chooser. To print a document, drag its icon onto a desktop printer and release the mouse button, as shown in Figure 1.

Add a printer on Mac. To use a printer, you must add it to your list of printers using Printers & Scanners preferences. (If you switched from using a Windows computer to a Mac, using Printers & Scanners preferences is similar to using the Printing control panel in Windows.). HP Printers - macOS and OS X Compatible Printers This document is for HP printers and Apple macOS or OS X operating systems. Check to see if a driver or app is available to use your HP printer with a Mac computer or laptop. HP Envy 4520 All-in-One Printer The HP Envy 4520 is a capable all-in-one that combines a printer, copier and scanner with two ink delivery choices designed to ease back on expensive ink refills.

Technically, the application that created the document launches, and its Print dialog box opens automatically. Click the Print button, or press Return or Enter; the document prints and then the program quits automatically.

You create new desktop printers with the Chooser.

Why should you use desktop printers? Three words: They save steps. Instead of opening a document, choosing File–>Print, and diddling around in the Print dialog box, you can drag that document onto a desktop printer, click Print (or press Return or Enter), and then go out for a Jolt cola or whatever. In a word, it’s easy. No muss, no fuss. Just drag-and-drop and click (or press), and in a few moments, paper starts popping out of your printer.

So basically, you use a desktop printer by dragging a document onto it. As long as the application that created the document is available, it will be printed after you click Print (or press Return or Enter) with no further ado.

Another handy use for desktop printers is to create desktop printers for special kinds of print jobs. For example, create one for envelopes that uses landscape, manual feed, and black-and-white settings. Create another for grayscale portrait-mode printing. And so on. Just drag your file onto the appropriate desktop printer (be sure to give it a descriptive name) and you avoid all those messy adjustments in the Page Setup and Print dialog boxes.

But there’s more to using desktop printers than just drag-and-drop. When you select a desktop printer (by single-clicking it), a new printer menu appears in the menu bar, as shown in Figure 2. To view the print queue, double-click the desktop printer icon.

You’ll notice a set of tape recorder–like icons in the desktop printer window. From left to right, these are Stop the Print Queue, Start the Print Queue, Set the Print Time for the Selected Item or Items, and Delete the Selected Item from the Queue. Also note that you can click any column head — Name, Pages, Copies, or Print Time — to change the sorting order of the items in the list.

So what do the menu commands do?

• Start Print Queue and Stop Print Queue are like the play and pause buttons on your VCR. To pause the printing process and be able to resume where you left off later, choose Stop Print Queue. To resume, choose Start Print Queue.

• Change Setup lets you choose another PPD (PostScript Printer Description) file for this printer.

• Show Manual Feed Alert lets you decide whether or not your Mac pauses to ask you to insert a sheet of manual feed paper before a manual feed print job. A check mark beside this item means it’s turned on.

Free Mac Desktop Icons

• Set Default Printer lets you decide, if you have more than one printer attached, which one will be the default printer (that is, the one that’s selected when you choose Print) in the Print dialog box.

One last thing about desktop printers: You can choose your desktop printers from the pop-up menu in the Print dialog box. The Print To pop-up menu in the Print dialog box gives you a choice of any printer that appears on your desktop. No more trips to the Chooser! Hooray!

The thought of setting up a printer intimidates most people. But once you know the steps, it’s fairly easy to do. Whether you just need to add one printer to your home computer, or lots of printers to a business network, here’s how to add a printer to a Mac desktop or laptop.

How to Connect a Wireless Printer to Mac

You can connect your printerwirelessly through a Wi-Fi Protected Set-up (WPS) or a Bluetooth connection.Follow the steps below depending on how you want to connect your printer.

How to Add a Printer to a Mac via WPS

Connecting via WPS would normallyrequire you to press the “Wireless” or ‘Wi-Fi” button on your printer, followedby the WPS button on your router. However, steps will vary depending on whichprinter and router you have, so check your printer and router user guides forspecific instructions. Once you’ve set up WPS, you can proceed to the stepsbelow.

1. Click the Apple icon in the top-left corner your screen.
2. Go to System Preferences.
3. Click on Printers and Scanners. On older Mac models, this will appear as Print & Scan under Hardware.
4. Click the + sign below the list of printers. For older Mac models, you might have to click Add Printer or Scanner after you click on the + sign. You might also see printers detected by your Mac under Nearby Printers in the Add Printer or Scanner submenu.

   Note: If you cannot click on the + sign, you might have to click the Lock icon at the bottom of the window. Type on your password to make changes in the Print & Scan menu.

5. Select the printer you would like to add. In the Default tab, your Mac displays a list of discoverable printers on the network.
6. Choose the printer’s software or driver in the Use field. You can choose from the following:
   • AirPrint, Apple’s native printing technology which lets you print from AirPrint-compatible printers via Wi-Fi on Airprint-compatible printers. However, if your printer is not AirPrint-compatible, you would need to install the driver from Apple’s servers or the manufacturer’s website.
   • Your printer’s own print driver, if you have that installed
   • Auto Select if you don’t have the print driver but you want your computer to download the correct one when it updates
7. Finally, click Add. The new printer will be added to the list of printers. You will be able to see this on the left-hand side of the Print & Scan window.

How to Add a Printer to Mac via USB

Desktop Printers For Mac

Printers that do not have networkingcapabilities can only be added through a USB or wired connection. Someprinters, though capable of wireless printing, still need to be connected toUSB as part of the set-up process. Here’s how to add a printer via USB.

1. Plug your printer’s USB into your Mac laptop or desktop.

   Note: Your Mac will automatically detect printers connected by USB and download the required software. If it does not auto-detect, proceed to the next step.

2. Click the Apple icon.
3. Go to System Preferences.
4. Click Printers and Scanners. On older Mac models, this will appear as Print & Scan under Hardware.
5. Click the + sign below the list of printers.
6. Select a printer to add. In the Default tab, your Mac will auto-populate a list of printers on the network. Look for a printer name with USB listed under the column for Kind.
7. Click Add. The printer will be added to the list of printers. You will be able to see this on the left-hand side of the Print & Scan window.

How to Add a Printer via IP Address

If you add a printer using this step,you would need to know your printer’s IP address. Here’s how you can find yourprinter’s IP address. Once you know this information, you would just have to goto System Preferences then add the printer from the Printers & Scannersmenu. Here’s how you can do this step by step.

1. Click the Apple icon.
2. Open to System Preferences.
3. Click on Printers and Scanners.
4. Then click on the + sign below the list of printers.
5. Click on the IP icon. This will look like a blue globe icon.
6. Type your printer’s IP address in the Address field. Your Mac will try to gather information about the printer.
   

   If you don’t know your printer’s IP address, check out our previous article on how to find your printer’s IP address.

7. Rename the printer if you want to.
8. In the Use field, choose the print driver you would like to use.
9. Click Add.