How to Share a Printer with Your Network

In this article, I will continue our series on Windows 7 networking with a tutorial on how to share a printer with other computers from your network. If all the other computers are using Windows 7, the procedure is extremely simple and everything works instantly. If you have computers with other operating systems, then you might want to read the end part of the article too.

How to Share the Printer with the Network

First, open the Devices and Printers panel. There you will see a list with all external devices installed on your PC. Select the printer you want to share, right click on it and select Printer properties.

Now you will see a window with all the printer properties. Depending on the model of your printer, and its drivers, you can see different sets of options.

Go to the Sharing tab. There, you will have some options similar to the screen below. Select any checkbox that says 'Share this printer'. Then, you can edit the printer share name which, in most cases, is by default completed by Windows with the name of your printer model. If you want to change it, type the name you want to use.

Render all print jobs on the client computers can help keep performance levels up on the computer where the printer is plugged in, especially when big printing jobs are ordered. If you don't do any heavy printing, then this option is completely optional. To enable this setting, check the box that says 'Render print jobs on client computers' or something similar to this. When this is checked, all the print jobs are rendered on the computers which order the print job, not on the computer on which the printer is plugged.

When done, click on OK. Now the printer will be shared with the computers on your network.

How to Access the Printer from the Network

If all your network computers have Windows 7 installed and are part of your HomeGroup, then all you have to do is to make sure the printer is turned on when others need to print. If it is turned off, other computers won't be able to print.

If your network has computers with other versions of Windows or even other operating systems, you need to follow some additional steps. First, you need to download the drivers for your printer for all the other operating systems. Install these drivers on all the other computers and have them install the printer as a network printer. In order to do this, you need to carefully consult the relevant documentation of your printer. The procedure varies depending on the driver version. There is no one procedure that applies to all printers.

Once this is done, the other computers will be able to see the network printer you shared and work with it.

Conclusion

As you can see, sharing a printer over a network with Windows 7 computers, is extremely easy. Also the HomeGroup features provides some extra help to make things simpler than ever before in the Windows world. With just a few clicks, the printer will be seen by all network computers and other people can quickly print their documents, pictures, etc.

If you are using a network printer, don't hesitate to share your experience with our readers. Any comments from your side are welcomed.

Related articles:

Install a Network Printer from Windows XP Using the Driver Setup
Install a Network Printer from Windows XP Using the Add Printer Wizard
Device Stage - A Fun Way to Interact with Devices and Printers
How to Access A Windows Shared Printer from Ubuntu

Recommended article:

Share a Printer Between Windows 7 Machines Not in the Same Homegroup