Plug and Play Printers in Windows 10/8

How to Add a Printer to Windows 10/Window 8

Windows 10/8 is very plug-and-play friendly, and adding a printer usually involves nothing more than plugging the printer into the mains and connecting it to the PC via USB cable. Windows 10/8 should immediately detect it and then proceed to install the drivers for you automatically, a process that usually only takes a few seconds.

Follow the following instructions if windows does not immediately detect your printer these simple steps

Go to the Windows 10/8 Devices screen. This is accessed by pressing “Windows key + C” to bring up the Charms bar, then click on “Settings” followed by “Change PC Settings” at the bottom right of the screen.

Click on the Devices tab and check through the list to see if your printer is already installed. If its not there then click on “Add a device” and wait while Windows tries to detect your printer. If detected, Windows will proceed to install the printer automatically.

If the printer is still not found then tap the “Not finding what you are looking for?” text, which will bring up the Windows Help and Support page.

This page lists a number of possible reasons why Windows might not be detecting your printer, but if you have set your printer up properly then you need to head to Advanced Setup.

At this point Windows Should detect your printer, so select it from the list.

One the printer driver is installed you have option to set it as your default printer (very advisable if, like most of us, you only have one printer!)

Your printer should now be installed, but you can check by returning to the Devices page and looking through the list