If you recently switched to a Chromebook from a Mac or PC, you might be wondering how you can print on a Chromebook. Perhaps you're even looking to use a popular docking station to turn your Chromebook into a productivity device. Printing is an incredibly important task, whether for school, work, or personal reasons, and it's incredibly simple to set up a printer and print a document in ChromeOS.

How to print on a Chromebook

It's incredibly easy to add and save a printer to your Chromebook for future use. It's as simple as plugging in your printer to your Chromebook and getting going. Note that we do suggest connecting your Chromebook to the internet for this. This is to ensure that ChromeOS can install your printer's drivers.

  1. Power on your printer.
  2. Plug your printer into your Chromebook's USB port. If your Chromebook doesn't have a USB-A port, or the appropriate port, buy a dock or dongle and plug the printer into that.
  3. Power on your Chromebook if it's not already on.
  4. Click on the clock.
  5. Click the settings gear.
    The ChromeOS clock area, showing settings cog
  6. Scroll down to Advanced in the settings app.
  7. Choose Print and scan.
  8. Click Printers.
    Printer settings in the ChromeOS settings app
  9. Your printer should automatically be added to this list.
    The ChromeOS settings app showing a connected printer
  10. Go back to the app or document you want to print from.
  11. Hit Ctrl + P on your keyboard to bring up the print dialogue.
  12. Make sure your printer is selected, then click Print.

Note that from this settings page, you should see your printer listed. You can click the Save button to make printing easy in the future. If you don't see your printer listed, then there's a chance it's too old or ChromeOS doesn't have the proper driver for it. Google has an official list of supported printers, so cross-check this list. In that case, you might not be able to print properly and will have to use another Windows system. Or, if your printer supports it, try the steps below.

To print wirelessly on a Chromebook is easy. You won't need any cables, but you will need to be connected to the internet at all times. This is because printing wirelessly happens through the network. Here's how it works.

  1. Sign into your Chromebook and connect to the same wireless network as the printer.
  2. Once the printer and Chromebook are on the same network, follow steps 4-10 listed above.

If you're having trouble, then you can check with your printer maker for help. Most modern printers should work with Chromebooks just fine, however. Google also has a support page that can help.

Printing on your Chromebook is just as easy as you'd expect. If you've recently moved from another platform, you won't have any trouble setting up or saving a printer on any of the top Chromebooks on the market. These steps are also identical if you happen to run Chrome OS on a tablet or other non-Chromebook device.