Use Printer Sharing to Share Your Windows 7 Printer With Your Mac
Use Printer Sharing to Share Your Windows 7 Printer With Your Mac GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Software & Apps > Windows
lpd://IP Address/Shared Printer Name For example: If your Windows 7 PC has an IP address of 192.168.1.37 and your shared printer's name is HPInkjet, then the URL should look like this:
lpd/192.168.1.37/HPInkjet The URL field is case sensitive, so HPInkjet and hpinkjet aren't the same. Use the Print Using dropdown menu to select a printer driver to use. If you're not sure which one to use, try the Generic Postscript or Generic PCL printer driver. Try Select Printer Driver to pick the specific driver for your printer. Bear in mind, however, that not all printer drivers support the LPD protocol. If the selected driver doesn't function, try one of the generic types. Click Add.
Use Printer Sharing to Share Your Windows 7 Printer With Your Mac
Connect your Mac to a local printer attached to a Windows 7 computer
By Tom Nelson Tom Nelson Writer Tom Nelson is an engineer, programmer, network manager, and computer network and systems designer who has written for Other World Computing,and others. Tom is also president of Coyote Moon, Inc., a Macintosh and Windows consulting firm. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on September 26, 2020 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share EmailIn This Article
Expand Jump to a Section Printer Sharing With a Mac Printer Sharing Requirements Configure the Workgroup Name Step-by-Step: Enable Sharing and LPD on Your PC Step-by-Step: Add an LPD Printer to Your Mac Test the Printer Troubleshooting Here's how to share your Windows 7 printer with your Mac to economize on computing costs for your home, home office, or small business. As of January 2020, Microsoft is no longer supports Windows 7. We recommend upgrading to Windows 10 to continue receiving security updates and technical support. These instructions apply to Windows 7 and Snow Leopard.Share Your Windows 7 Printer With Your Mac
Moodboard / Cultura / Getty Images Printer sharing is usually a pretty easy DIY project, but in the case of Windows 7, conventional sharing systems just won't work. Microsoft modified how the sharing protocol works, which means we can no longer use the standard SMB sharing protocol we normally use with older versions of Windows. Instead, we have to find a different common protocol that both the Mac and Windows 7 can use. We're going to return to an older printer sharing method that's been around for ages, one that both Windows 7 and OS X and macOS support: Line Printer Daemon. LPD-based printer sharing should work for most printers, but some printers and printer drivers refuse to support network-based sharing.What You Need for Windows 7 Printer Sharing
A few things must be in place before you begin this process: A working network, either wired or wireless. A printer that's connected directly to your Windows 7 computer. A common workgroup name for the PC and Mac. A Mac with OS X Snow Leopard or later installed. A few minutes of your time.Configure the Workgroup Name
Coyote Moon, Inc. The Mac and PC need to be in the same workgroup for file sharing to work. Windows 7 uses a default workgroup name of WORKGROUP. If you haven't made any changes to the workgroup name on the Windows computer connected to your network, then you're ready to go. The Mac also creates a default workgroup name of WORKGROUP for connecting to Windows machines.Enable Sharing and LPD on Your PC
By default, the LPD capabilities are turned off in Windows 7. Turn them back on. In Control Panel > Programs and Features, select Turn Windows features on or off. In the Windows Features window, click the plus sign next to Print and Document Services. The plus sign will change to a minus sign, and a menu will drop down. Place a checkmark next to the LPD Print Service item and click OK. Restart your Windows 7 PC. Next, enable printer sharing: Select Start > Devices and Printers. In the Printers and Fax list, right-click the printer you wish to share and select Printer Properties from the pop-up menu. In the Printer Properties window, click the Sharing tab. Place a checkmark next to the Share this printer item. In the Share name field, give the printer a name. Don't use spaces or special characters. Place a checkmark next to Render print jobs on client computers and click OK.Adding an LPD Printer to Your Mac
With the Windows printer and the computer connected to it active, and the printer set up for sharing, you're ready to add the printer to your Mac. Launch System Preferences by clicking its icon in the dock or selecting System Preferences from the Apple menu. Click Print & Fax (or Printers & Scanners, for recent versions of macOS) in the System Preferences window. Click the plus sign at the bottom of the list of printers and faxes/scanners to launch the Add Printer utility. Click the IP tab. (In older versions of OS X and macOS, you might need to click Advanced to produce this screen.) Use the Protocol (or Type) dropdown menu to select LPD/LPR Host or Printer. In the URL field, enter the IP address of the Windows 7 PC and the shared printer's name in this format:lpd://IP Address/Shared Printer Name For example: If your Windows 7 PC has an IP address of 192.168.1.37 and your shared printer's name is HPInkjet, then the URL should look like this:
lpd/192.168.1.37/HPInkjet The URL field is case sensitive, so HPInkjet and hpinkjet aren't the same. Use the Print Using dropdown menu to select a printer driver to use. If you're not sure which one to use, try the Generic Postscript or Generic PCL printer driver. Try Select Printer Driver to pick the specific driver for your printer. Bear in mind, however, that not all printer drivers support the LPD protocol. If the selected driver doesn't function, try one of the generic types. Click Add.