How to Add a Wi-Fi Printer to Windows 11

What You Need Before You Start

Check these three things first. They’re behind most “Windows can’t find my printer” issues:

• The printer must already be joined to your Wi-Fi 📶 network, not just powered on near your router. Most printers show a Wi-Fi icon on their control panel 🎛️ screen once they’re connected, or print a network status page from their setup menu.
• Your PC and the printer need to be on the same Wi-Fi 📶 network. If your router broadcasts separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks (two frequency bands that use different names), both your PC and printer must be on the same one.
• If the printer is currently plugged into your PC by USB, Windows may keep using that connection even after the printer joins Wi-Fi 📶. Unplug the USB cable before adding it wirelessly if you want to confirm the wireless connection works.

If your PC is connected to a 5GHz network and the printer is on 2.4GHz, they’re technically on different networks even though your router shows one Wi-Fi 📶 name. Check your printer’s spec sheet or its network settings screen to confirm which band it joined.

Connect the Printer to Your Wi-Fi Network

If the printer isn’t on your Wi-Fi 📶 network yet, do this first using the printer’s own control panel 🎛️ (the screen and buttons on the printer itself, not your PC):

1. Find the wireless setup option on the printer’s screen — usually under a Settings, Network, or Wireless Setup Wizard menu. The exact wording varies by manufacturer, so check the printer’s manual if you don’t see it.
2. Select your Wi-Fi 📶 network name from the list the printer displays, then enter your Wi-Fi password using the printer’s keypad or touchscreen.
3. Wait for the printer to show a connected status. This usually appears as a solid Wi-Fi 📶 icon or a confirmation message on the printer’s screen, and can take up to a minute.

Some printers support WPS (Wi-Fi 📶 Protected Setup, which lets you connect without typing your password): press the WPS button on your router, then the WPS button on the printer within two minutes. Not all routers have this enabled by default, so if nothing happens after a minute, use the manual network selection method above instead.

Add the Printer in 🪟 Windows 11 Settings

Once the printer is on your Wi-Fi network, add it to Windows:

1. Open Settings by pressing Windows key + I.

   

2. Click Bluetooth & devices in the left-hand menu.

   

3. Click Printers & scanners. You'll see a list of any printers already installed on your PC.

   

4. Click Add device next to "Add a printer or scanner." Windows searches the network for a few seconds, and your printer's name should appear in the list below.

   

5. Click Add device next to your printer's name once it shows up. Windows downloads and installs a driver automatically through Windows Update, which usually takes under a minute on a normal connection.

After this finishes, your printer appears in the Printers & scanners list, and it's ready to use from any app's print dialog. No restart is needed for a printer installed this way.

If Windows Can't Find Your Printer

If nothing shows up after a search in step 4 above, the most common cause is network discovery being turned off. Network discovery lets your PC see other devices on the same network, including printers.

1. Open File Explorer and click Network in the left-hand pane.

   

2. Look for a yellow information bar near the top of the window saying network discovery and file sharing are turned off. Click it.
3. Select Turn on network discovery and file sharing from the menu that appears.

   

4. Go back to Settings › Bluetooth & devices › Printers & scanners and click Add device again.

If your printer still doesn't appear, confirm the band issue mentioned earlier — check your router's app or admin page to see whether your PC and printer are connected to the same band, not just the same network name. On networks with separate band names (for example "HomeNetwork" and "HomeNetwork_5G"), temporarily connect your PC to the same band your printer uses to test.

A firewall (software that blocks unauthorised network connections) can also prevent your PC from seeing the printer. Windows Defender Firewall normally prompts you to allow network communication the first time you search for a printer — if you accidentally clicked Don't allow on that prompt, Windows won't be able to see the printer again until you fix it. You can check this under Windows Security › Firewall & network protection › Allow an app through firewall**, though if you're on a managed work or school PC, you may need an administrator to change this.

Add the Printer Manually by IP Address

When automatic detection fails — which happens on larger networks, networks using VPNs, or networks with client isolation enabled — add the printer using its IP address instead.

1. Find the printer's IP address from its own control panel, usually under Network Settings or by printing a network configuration report from the printer's menu.
2. Open Settings › Bluetooth & devices › Printers & scanners and click Add device.
3. Click Add manually if it appears below the search results after Windows finishes scanning.
4. Select Add a printer using an IP address or hostname, then click Next.
5. Choose TCP/IP Device from the device type menu, type the printer's IP address into the Hostname or IP address field, and click Next.
6. Follow the remaining prompts to finish the driver installation. Windows either detects the correct driver automatically or asks you to pick the printer manufacturer and model from a list.

Setting a static IP or a DHCP reservation for the printer in your router's settings avoids this, though the steps for that vary by router and aren't a Windows 11 setting.

Install the Manufacturer's Full Driver

Windows often installs a generic or basic driver automatically. This driver handles printing but may not support scanning, ink or toner level reporting, or duplex (two-sided) printing options. If you notice the Printers & scanners page shows your printer but no scanning option appears when you search for "scan" in the Start menu, this is usually why.

To fix it, go to the manufacturer's support site (HP, Canon, Epson, Brother, and so on), search for your exact printer model, and download the full driver and software package for Windows 11. Installing this package requires administrator privileges — Windows shows a User Account Control prompt during setup, and you'll need to click Yes to continue.

Set the Printer as Your Default

By default, Windows 11 automatically manages which printer is used as default, switching based on which one you used most recently at your current location. If you'd rather always print to one specific printer:

1. Open Settings › Bluetooth & devices › Printers & scanners.
2. Turn off the toggle next to Let Windows manage my default printer.
3. Click your Wi-Fi printer's name in the list, then click Set as default.

You can turn the toggle back on at any time if you'd rather let Windows switch automatically again.

Remove a Wi-Fi Printer

If you need to start over — say the printer was added incorrectly or you're replacing it — remove it first rather than trying to fix a broken entry:

1. Go to Settings › Bluetooth & devices › Printers & scanners.
2. Click the printer's name to expand its details.
3. Click Remove, then confirm by clicking Yes when prompted.

This removes the printer entry and its driver association from your user account. Add it again from scratch using the steps earlier in this article.

Common Problems After Setup

Printer shows as "Offline" even though it's on: this almost always means the printer's IP address changed, or it disconnected from Wi-Fi and reconnected with a new address. Remove it and add it again, or set up a DHCP reservation on your router so its address never changes.

**Printer disappears after a restart:** this points to a sleep or power-saving setting on the printer itself that takes it off the network when idle. Check the printer's power or energy-saving settings and increase the sleep timeout, or disable Wi-Fi sleep mode if the printer offers that option.

Print jobs sit in the queue and never print: open the print queue by double-clicking the printer in Printers & scanners, and check whether a stuck earlier job is blocking the rest. Right-click the stuck job, click Cancel, and try printing again.

What to Do Next

Once your printer is added and working, set up scanning if your printer supports it by searching for "Windows Scan" in the Start menu and selecting your printer there. If you manage printers for several PCs on the same network or want to control which devices appear during network discovery, check your network's sharing and discovery settings on each PC individually — Windows 11 applies these per device, not network-wide.