How to Print on Windows 11 (Add a Printer, Print, and Fix Problems)

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To print on Windows 11, open the document, photo, or web page you want to print, press Ctrl + P, pick your printer, check the settings, and select Print. That works in almost every app, including Word, Microsoft Edge, and the Photos app.

If your printer isn’t set up yet, add it first in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners. This guide covers setting up the printer, printing from common apps, choosing the right options, setting a default printer, and fixing the problems beginners run into most.

Quick Answer

  1. Turn on your printer and connect it with a USB cable or to the same Wi-Fi network as your PC.
  2. If it isn’t set up, go to Start > Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners and select Add device.
  3. Open what you want to print and press Ctrl + P (or select File > Print).
  4. Choose your printer, then set copies, pages, orientation, and color.
  5. Select Print.

In This Guide

Before You Start

These steps apply to Windows 11 as of September 2026. Menu names come from Microsoft’s current support pages; apps from other companies may label things slightly differently.

What you need:

  • A printer that’s turned on, with paper and ink or toner loaded.
  • A connection: a USB cable, or a wireless printer on the same Wi-Fi network as your PC.
  • A Windows 11 PC with an internet connection, so Windows can download the printer driver. A driver is the small piece of software that lets Windows talk to your specific printer model.

If you don’t have a printer and just want a digital copy, Windows includes a virtual printer called Microsoft Print to PDF that saves your document as a PDF file instead of printing on paper.

Step 1: Add Your Printer to Windows 11

Many printers are detected automatically once they’re connected. If yours isn’t listed in the print window, add it here. These steps follow Microsoft’s guide to adding a printer.

  1. Make sure the printer is on. For a wireless printer, confirm it’s connected to the same network as your PC.
  2. Select Start > Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
  3. Select Add device. Expected result: Windows searches for nearby printers. This can take a few minutes.
  4. When your printer appears, select Add device next to it. Expected result: Windows installs the printer and it appears in the list.
  5. If your printer doesn’t appear, find The printer that I want isn’t listed and select Add manually (labeled Add a new device manually in some versions). Follow the prompts in the Add Printer window. It offers options such as finding an older printer or adding a printer by network address; exact wording can vary.

After installation, check Windows Update for the full driver. Microsoft notes that a Find drivers button may appear next to the printer if only a basic driver was installed. If you use a PC with an Arm-based processor, such as some Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft recommends using this Settings method rather than the printer maker’s installer.

For more detail, see our guides on how to add a printer in Windows 11 and how to install a printer driver in Windows 11.

The steps below use Microsoft Word as the example, but the pattern is the same in most apps.

  1. Open the document you want to print.
  2. Press Ctrl + P, or select File > Print. Expected result: The print screen opens with a preview of your document.
  3. Under Printer, choose the printer you want to use. Check that its status shows Ready.
  4. Set the number of Copies.
  5. Under Settings, choose which pages to print. Word offers options such as printing all pages, Print Current Page, or Custom Print, where you type pages like 3, 4-6.
  6. Use the arrows below the preview to page through the document and confirm it looks right.
  7. Select Print. Expected result: The printer starts working within a few seconds.

Before printing a long document, print just one page first. It’s a quick way to catch the wrong paper size or orientation without wasting a stack of paper.

To print from other places:

  • Notepad and most desktop apps: press Ctrl + P or use File > Print.
  • Photos and images: open the image and look for a Print button or the menu, or press Ctrl + P.
  • PDF files: open the PDF in your PDF reader or in Microsoft Edge and press Ctrl + P.

Print windows vary by app, but these settings show up in most of them:

Option What it does When to change it
Printer Chooses which printer receives the job When you have more than one printer, or Microsoft Print to PDF is selected by mistake
Copies Sets how many copies print Handouts and forms
Pages Prints all pages or a range When you only need part of a document
Layout or orientation Portrait (tall) or landscape (wide) Wide tables, spreadsheets, and photos
Color Color or black and white To save color ink on text documents
Paper size Letter, A4, envelopes, and more When your paper isn’t the default size
Pages per sheet Prints several pages on one sheet Drafts and notes, to save paper
Two-sided printing Prints on both sides, if your printer supports it Long documents

Only options your printer supports will appear. For example, Microsoft notes that color, black and white, and grayscale choices appear in Word only if the selected printer supports them.

Print a Web Page in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft’s Edge printing guide lists three ways to open the print window: press Ctrl + P, choose Print from the three-dot menu, or right-click the page and select Print.

  1. Open the page and press Ctrl + P.
  2. Choose your Printer.
  3. Set Copies, Layout (Portrait or Landscape), Pages (All, Odd pages only, Even pages only, or Custom), and Color.
  4. Open More settings for paper size, pages per sheet, margins, scaling, headers and footers, and background graphics.
  5. Select Print.

If you need your printer’s own advanced options, select Print using system dialog or press Ctrl + Shift + P. To save the page as a file instead, choose Save as PDF or Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer; our guide on how to print to PDF on Windows explains that in detail.

Set a Default Printer

The default printer is the one apps select automatically. According to Microsoft’s default printer guide:

  1. Select Start > Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
  2. Under printer preferences, turn off Let Windows manage my default printer.
  3. Select the printer you want.
  4. Select Set as default. Expected result: The printer’s status shows Default.

If you leave Let Windows manage my default printer on, Windows uses the printer you used most recently as the default.

The print queue is the list of documents waiting to print. Checking it helps when something doesn’t come out.

  1. Go to Start > Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners.
  2. Select your printer.
  3. Select Open print queue. Expected result: A window lists pending print jobs.
  4. To remove one job, right-click it and cancel it. To clear everything, open the ellipsis menu (three dots) and select Cancel all.

Troubleshooting

Nothing prints

Start with Microsoft’s basics: run the printer troubleshooter in the Get Help app, then turn off and unplug the printer, wait 30 seconds, and plug it back in. Check the USB cable or that the printer’s Wi-Fi is on and connected to the same network. See Microsoft’s printer troubleshooting guide for the full list.

A “Save” window opens instead of printing

Microsoft Print to PDF or a print-to-file option is selected as the printer. Choose your physical printer in the print window, and set it as the default so it stays selected.

A print job is stuck in the queue

Cancel the jobs in the print queue. If they won’t clear, press Windows key + R, type services.msc, and press Enter. Find Print Spooler, right-click it, and select Restart. The print spooler is the Windows service that manages print jobs. Then restart the printer and your PC.

The printer shows as offline

Power-cycle the printer, confirm it’s on the same Wi-Fi network, clear the print queue, and restart the Print Spooler service. If it’s still offline, remove the printer in Printers & scanners and add it again.

It prints from other apps but not one app

Try printing from Notepad or Paint. If those work, the problem is the app. Check that the right printer, page size, and page range are selected in that app.

You want to confirm the printer works at all

Print a test page: select your printer in Printers & scanners and look for Print a test page, which in some versions is under Printer properties as Print Test Page.

Related: Set a default printer in Windows 11.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the shortcut to print on Windows 11?

Press Ctrl + P in most apps to open the print window.

How do I print only certain pages?

In the print window, change the pages setting from all pages to a custom range and type the page numbers, such as 2-4. In Word, use Custom Print.

How do I print in black and white?

Select the Color option in the print window and choose black and white or grayscale, if your printer supports it.

Do I need to install software for my printer?

Often, no. Windows 11 usually downloads the driver when you add the printer. If only a basic driver installs, check Windows Update or the Find drivers button.

Can I print from my phone instead of my PC?

That depends on your printer and phone. Many wireless printers support printing directly from phones; check your printer maker’s instructions.

Why does Windows keep changing my default printer?

Let Windows manage my default printer is turned on. Turn it off in Printers & scanners and set your preferred printer as default.

Summary

  1. Connect and turn on your printer.
  2. Add it in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners > Add device.
  3. Press Ctrl + P in your app and choose the printer.
  4. Set copies, pages, layout, and color, then select Print.
  5. Set a default printer to save time.
  6. Use the print queue and troubleshooter if something goes wrong.

Next step: open a short document, press Ctrl + P, and print one page to confirm your printer and settings are working.

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