HOW TO SHARE A PRINTER

Whether you are in an office or at home, the ability to remotely share a printer over a network can be very desirable. You might not know how to share USB devices on your network, but we have you covered.

This article will talk about some simple methods of USB printer sharing to make better use of your peripherals. If you want to know how to connect one printer to two computers over a network, read on.

Table of contents:

1. How to share a network printer with USB Network Gate
   • • Step-by-step guide
2. The native method to share a printer on Windows 10
   • • Share the printer on the primary computer
   • • Connect the shared printer to another PC
3. Hardware solution to share printer

How to share a network printer with USB Network Gate

When you use standard methods to share a printer you can only connect within a limited local area. Software solutions are more flexible and enable you to share a USB printer over the Internet from any distance.

We are going to look at using USB over Network software to redirect printer traffic. You will find that the USB Network Gate app is a simple solution that provides an easy method of sharing a printer on a network.

USB Network Gate is a comprehensive solution for USB printer sharing and access remotely over a network. Using the tool, you will be sharing your printer with remote network-attached users with a few clicks.

The native method to share a printer on Windows

Windows 10 enables users to share a printer on their network with native, built-in features of the operating system.

We will define the PC that has a direct connection to the printer as the primary PC with the secondary PC referring to the computer that will remotely access the device. To share a printer between two computers you need to set up the sharing setting on both machines. The printer needs to be powered on and connected to the primary computer. Lastly, the primary machine needs to be connected to the network.

Note: It is imperative that the sharing settings are set up on the primary and secondary PCs and that you can identify the primary computer. More information on these items can be found in the final sections of this article.

Share the printer on the primary computer

Here’s how to share a USB printer between two computers using two different methods. You can use the Windows Control Panel or Settings.

You can change the printer name if desired. Keep in mind this is the name that secondary computers will use to access the printer.

Connect the shared printer to another PC

There are two methods you can use to connect a shared printer to another computer. You can use Control Panel or Settings.

For more details concerning the computer or device name, see the Find your PC name section at the end of this topic. You need to have the username and password of the primary computer to connect to the printer.

You can find out more info about the computer or device name in the Find your PC name section of the article. You need to provide the user name and password of the primary computer to connect to the printer.

💡 How to set up Sharing settings?

    1. The share device settings are usually turned on by default. If you need to set them manually, you can do it through Control Panel or Settings.
    2. Turn on Sharing in Control Panel.
    3. Open Windows Control Panel.
    4. Select Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Change advanced sharing settings.
    5. Expand the Private section of the Advanced sharing settings dialog box and under Network discovery choose Turn on network discovery.
    6. Under File and printer sharing, select Turn on file and printer sharing.
    7. Using Settings to modify sharing settings.
    8. Select the Start button and then Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi.
    9. Select Related settings and the Change advanced sharing options.

In the Advanced sharing settings dialog box, expand the Private section. Under the Network discovery tab, select Turn on network discovery.

In File and printer sharing, select Turn on file and printer sharing.