The Chromebook has evolved way beyond its original intent. No longer just a "browser in a box," ChromeOS easily functions as a full-fledged operating system that can do nearly everything you need. Case in point, adding a printer to Chromebook is much easier than you think.
As working from home is more popular than ever, business-class Chromebooks are coming to the forefront.
Read nowNow, there is a caveat to this. Your best bet for successful printing from ChromeOS is to add a printer that is attached to another machine on your network and shared out.
So if you have a Linux, MacOS, or Windows desktop, attach your printer to that machine and share it to your network. Once you've done that, adding the printer to your Chromebook is as simple as it gets.
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Let me show you how.
In order to successfully add a printer to your Chromebook, you'll need the following:
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Once you have all of those things in place, it's time to add the printer to your Chromebook.
Log in to your Chromebook and open the Settings app from either the gear icon in the notification popup or from the Launcher.
When the Settings app opens, type printer in the search field to reveal the Printers section.
Printers are much easier to add in ChromeOS than you think.
Screenshot: Jack Wallen/Click + associated with Add Printer. In the resulting window, click Printer Server at the bottom left corner.
We'll be adding the printer from a print server.
Screenshot: Jack Wallen/In the next popup, type the IP address of the machine the printer is attached to and click Add.
To locate the printer, type the IP address of the machine hosting the printer.
Screenshot: Jack Wallen/ChromeOS will automatically locate the printer connected to the server and list it in the Add Printer window. Locate the printer you want to add and click Save to complete the process.
To finish up the process, click Save.
Screenshot: Jack Wallen/Your printer has been successfully added to your Chromebook. If there's more than one printer found on your server, you can always save as many as you like. For example, you might have a monochrome laser and a color printer associated with your server. Add them both and then print to whichever one you need.
Also: 5 reasons Chromebooks are the perfect laptop (for most users)
With your printer added to ChromeOS, you can print to it as if it was connected directly to your laptop. Congratulations on expanding the usability of your Chromebook.