How to Connect to a Network Printer on Your Mac

Checking to see if your printer is ready to print on the network, without further setup

If your Mac & printer are already connected to the same network, the printer might be available to you without needing any extra setup. To check this, you need to:

1. Open something you would like to print

2. Click "File" on the top Menu bar

3. Select "Print

4. In the printer pop-up menu, open the drop-down box & see if your printer is there.

    4.1 If it is, simply select it and print. If it isn't, you will need to add it.

How to Add a printer

1. Once your printer is connected to the same network as your Mac, You'll need to Open your system preferences (Now system settings in MacOS 13 Ventura).

2. Go to Printers & Scanners

3. Click the + button on the bottom left of that pane

4. When the "Add a printer" pane is open, the initial selection you'll be on is the network discovery pane. Your mac will attempt to discover printers on the network. If yours is found, simply select it & add it. Your mac will generally automatically detect any printing protocols / accessories on the printer.

5. If it is not, you'll need to add it by IP. You can do this by selecting the "Globe" & manually entering the printer's IP (which can be found via the printers network configuration page). You will need to specify what printing protocol is used, IPP being the most common for modern printers & print servers.

Protocols available:

• IPP - Internet Printing Protocols, used in most modern printers & print servers
• AirPrint - Apples proprietary protocol used to enable WiFi, Ethernet & USB printing. The printer needs to support this protocol for it to be used.
• HP Jetdirect Socket: This protocol is used in most HP printers.
• LPD - Line Printing Daemon: Allows access to some older printers & print servers that utilize this protocol.

Once you do that, you can change the name & location of the printer to your preference - then click add.  If none of the above mentioned solutions work, you might need to reach out to your printer's manufacturer & confirm whether or not there is any pending updates / compatibility issues with your printer. 

Apple also offers a comprehensive, OS specific printing article on their website - which can be found here.