How to Add a Printer to an iPhone

An iPhone has no Add Printer button and no drivers to install. A printer that supports AirPrint and is connected to the same Wi-Fi network appears by itself when you tap Print and then No Printer Selected. So adding a printer really means two jobs: putting the printer on your Wi-Fi and confirming it supports AirPrint.

settings screens for printers in iOS

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network for printer and iPhone

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address formats Paperlark accepts for a printer

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the usual printing port Paperlark tries

631

The Short Answer

Look in Settings and you will not find a Printers section. iOS treats printers like a service on the network: when you tap Print, it lists every AirPrint printer it can reach on the current Wi-Fi, and you pick one. Apple's own steps are exactly that: tap Print, tap No Printer Selected, choose the printer. If the printer is in that list, it is added. If it is not, one of the checks below is failing.

Connect the Printer to Your Wi-Fi

This is the step that happens on the printer, not on the phone. Apple's instruction is simply to connect the printer to your Wi-Fi network; how you do that depends on the model. The common routes are:

• The printer's own screen. Many models with a display have a wireless setup wizard in the network or Wi-Fi settings. Pick your network name and type the Wi-Fi password.
• A button on the router. Some printers and routers can pair with a push button so you do not type the password. The printer's manual says whether yours can.
• The maker's setup app or page. Printers without a screen are often set up from the manufacturer's app or from a temporary network the printer creates. Follow the printer's quick start sheet.
• A network cable. Plug the printer into a free port on the router. It joins the same network as the router's Wi-Fi.

When it is done, print the printer's network configuration page from its menu or buttons. It shows the network name the printer joined and its IP address. Keep it: you need both for the checks below.

Check Whether the Printer Supports Printing From iPhone

Apple says AirPrint is built into most popular printer models, and the About AirPrint article lets you search by brand, model or category; if a printer is not listed, Apple says to check with the manufacturer. The quick signs are the AirPrint name or logo on the box or in the specifications, or a mention of driverless printing for Apple devices in the manual.

Paperlark adds a check of its own. On its Printer screen, under Printers on this network, each printer it finds is marked either Supports printing without drivers or Found; compatibility not confirmed. The first label means the printer announced on the network that it accepts the page formats iOS sends. The second means the printer answered, but did not say so, and printing may fail.

Find the Printer on Your iPhone

1. Join the printer's network

   On the iPhone open Settings, Wi-Fi, and make sure the phone uses the same network name as the configuration page. On dual-band routers check whether the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks have different names.

2. Open anything that prints

   A photo or a PDF is enough. Tap the Share button, then Print.

3. Tap No Printer Selected

   iOS searches the network and lists the printers it finds. Give it a few seconds after the printer wakes up.

4. Pick the printer

   Tap its name, set the copies and tap Print. There is no separate install step: that is all adding a printer means on an iPhone.

The rest of the printing steps, from page ranges to Print Center, are in our guide on how to print from an iPhone.

Add a Printer by IP Address

The built-in print screen only shows printers that announce themselves on the network, and it has no field for an address. When a printer is on the network but stays out of the list, for example on a network that blocks those announcements, Paperlark can reach it directly by address.

1. Find the address

   Read the IP address from the printer's network configuration page or its network settings screen. It looks like 192.168.1.50.

2. Open the Printer screen

   In Paperlark open the printer setup and go to Add by IP address.

3. Type it and tap Connect

   The app accepts a plain address, an address with a port such as 192.168.1.50:631, a name like printer.local or a full ipp:// link. Without a port it uses 631.

4. Read the answer

   The message "Connected. This printer is selected" means the printer replied and Paperlark will print to it. "The printer did not answer at this address" means the address or the network is wrong.

A router can hand the printer a different address after a restart. If a printer added by IP stops answering, print a new configuration page; many routers can reserve a fixed address for one device, which is set in the router, not on the phone.

Local Network Permission for Apps

Apps that search the network for printers themselves, as Paperlark does, need the Local Network permission, which iOS asks for the first time the app looks. Paperlark checks it: when the switch is off, the Printer screen says Local network access is off and points to Settings, Paperlark, Local Network. The longer list of things that hide a printer, from guest networks to VPNs, is on iPhone not finding the printer.

Printers That Will Not Work

Some printers cannot be added to an iPhone however long you try, and it helps to know before you spend an evening on it.

• Printers that connect only by USB. Apple says they print driverless only from a Mac over USB.
• Printers connected by USB to an AirPort base station or Time Capsule, or over Bluetooth to a computer, which Apple names as not working with AirPrint.
• Network printers without AirPrint support. They may still print through their maker's app; Paperlark cannot use them.
• A printer on a different network, such as the office printer while you are at home. iOS printing only reaches the local network.