This article will explain in full how to set up printer sharing in Windows 11 and Windows 10. If you have multiple Windows PCs 10 and Windows 11 and only has one printer, You can share a printer installed on one PC to another PC without needing to move the device by using the network.
A computer network is a system consisting of two or more computers connected to each other via cable or wireless transmission media (wireless). You can learn briefly about networking at this website
Before you can share the printer on the network, There are some things you need to do . The first is that you need to set the sharing options on your PC, secondly set up printer sharing and thirdly how to access the shared printer.
List of contents
How to Share a Printer on Windows 10 / 11 via LAN
This guide will explain how to set up printer sharing in Windows 10 / 11 via local network (LAN). For convenience, This guide will simulate two computers connected to the same network as follows:
- KEPG-PC using Windows 10 which has a printer with the name EPSON installed,
- MyPC using Windows 11 which will use the printer on the KEPG-PC
You can customize it with each computer name. To make it easier to recognize each computer, You may need to rename PC in Windows 11.
Enable Sharing Options
The first step you have to do is activate the sharing option on the computer where the printer is installed, in this simulation is KEPG-PC. Activating the sharing option on this PC aims to allow other users or you to access what is shared by this computer over the network.
To enable sharing options on the KEPG-PC computer, do the following steps:
- Open Control Panel, choose Network and Internet, choose Network and Sharing Center, then click Change advanced sharing settings found on the left side of the screen.
- On display Change sharing options, find section File and printer sharing then select an option Turn on file and printer sharing
- Scroll down until you find the section Password protected sharing. If you want to share the printer with password protection, enable this option. If not, then choose Turn off password protected sharing
Don't forget to click the button Save changes to keep the changes you have made.
Enable Printer Sharing
After enabling share option, the next step is to enable printer sharing. To enable printer sharing on the KEPG-PC that has been installed with the printer, Do the following steps below:
- Open Printer Properties. You can access printer properties via Control Panel or menu Settings. Choose one of the following two methods:
- From Control Panel, select section Hadware and Sound then select Device and Printer, then right click the printer you want to share, for example in this guide is the EPSON L420 printer then click Printer properties, or to step b.
- On the menu Settings, select section Devices then click Printer & scanners, select the printer you want to share, for example in this guide is the EPSON L420 printer then click Manage
- From Control Panel, select section Hadware and Sound then select Device and Printer, then right click the printer you want to share, for example in this guide is the EPSON L420 printer then click Printer properties, or to step b.
- Enable the option Share this printer. In printer properties, click tab Sharing then activate it (check) option Share this printer. Give a name to the shared printer, for example EPSON then click OK
At this stage, You have finished activating EPSON printer sharing settings on KEPG-PC, The next step is to connect MyPC to the printer that has been shared.
Connecting a Computer to a Shared Printer
To connect the MyPC computer to the printer on the KEPG-PC computer, The first thing to do is make sure that you can find KEPG-PC on the network via the MyPC computer.
You can connect a shared printer (EPSON) with a MyPC computer in several ways. For now, This guide simply shows the quickest and easiest way to connect a computer to a shared printer.
A quick and easy way to connect a computer to a shared printer is to access the printer from the network. To access the printer from the network, follow the steps below:
1. Find the destination PC Name in Network
On a MyPC computer, open the network folder then find the name of the computer where the shared printer is installed. In this guide, the name of the destination computer is KEPG-PC. If you previously activated the option Password protected sharing, you will be asked to enter username And password owned by the KEPG-PC computer
Tips: You can also find computers on a network using the address bar in Windows Explorer. On the address of the address, typing 2 backslash then follow it with the computer name, sample: \\KEPG-PC
2. Connect Printer
After connecting to the destination computer, You can see the shared printer according to the name you specified previously. Then right click on the printer name then click Connect…
3. Printer Installation
If successfully connected to the printer, The system will install the printer automatically so you don't need to do anything.
Using a Shared Printer
After successfully connecting the MyPC computer with the printer shared from the KEPG-PC computer, You will see the printer name in the printer list on the MyPC computer.
Open Settings, select section Bluetooth & devices, then click Printers & scanners.
Then you can use the printer as usual as long as the KEPG-PC computer is active and turned on.
Cover
Sharing a Printer between multiple computers is a smart and cost-effective solution. In the same network, share files or printers between Windows 10 and Windows 11 it's not a big deal if you follow these instructions carefully.
If you are still having problems with sharing printers in Windows 10 and Windows 11 via network, please comment. Good luck.
