Remember when we had to plug our gigantic printers into our gigantic computers and spend a week trying to print a document before giving up? It’s taken a while, but printing is finally easier than it used to be, and the best part is you can print directly from your wireless device. This means you can print from your phone or tablet as long as the printer and your device are on the same WiFi network. So if your brand of choice is Samsung and you’re wondering how to print from Samsung tablet, just keep reading!
If you’re trying to figure out how to print from Samsung tablet for the first time, we have got you covered. You will first need to make sure your wireless printer is already on your network or have your tablet connected to your printer if you’re using a cable. Depending on the brand of printer, you will need to download a plugin in the Settings menu of your tablet, and that’s pretty much it! For the specifics, read our detailed instructions below.
How to Print From Samsung Tablet
Printing from your Samsung device is pretty simple, especially if you’re using a Samsung printer. It’s not a major issue if you’re not, as almost all big printer manufacturers provide software for tablets and smartphones these days. So without further ado, let’s take a look at all the steps you need to follow to take a print from your tablet. Let’s also look at all the various ways you can print from your Samsung tablet.
Also Read: Best Samsung tablets
Print services plugin
So the very first thing you will need is a plugin that allows your tablet to communicate with your printer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on getting this done.
- Power on your tablet, and go into the Settings menu.
- Here, scroll until you see More connection settings. This should be in the Connections section. Tap it and look for Printing, and tap it.
- You should see a page that says Print services, and there should already be a Samsung printer service installed. If you own a Samsung printer, you don’t need to download anything more.
- You will also see an option that says Download plugin. If you own a different printer brand like Canon, HP, Epson, etc., tap this link, and it should open up the Google Play Store. Here, simply look for a plugin from your printer brand.
- If you cannot find it listed, you can always download Google Cloud Print, a generic plugin made by Google that works with multiple printers.
- Once your plugin is downloaded, your device is ready to print.
Now that we’ve shown you how to set up your tablet let’s move on to the actual print job.
Print directly from tablet
- Make sure your printer is switched on.
- Once your print service plugin is installed on your tablet, tap on the plugin. It should automatically start searching for printers.
- If the plugin does not search for printers, you can tap on the Options menu again (that’s the three dots on the top right corner), and you should see Add Printer as an option. Go ahead and select that.
- Now your device will search for printers on your network or a printer that is connected to your tablet via a cable.
- Once it’s done searching, your printer will appear on the screen.
- If your OEM’s (original equipment manufacturer) printer plugin does not work, try using the Google Cloud Print plugin.
- Next, open up any website on Chrome or Safari(or any browser of your choice), tap the three dots in the corner, and choose Print.
- The default option once you tap Print is typically Save as PDF, but you should see the option to choose your printer here.
- Select your preferences (copies, orientation, number of pages, etc.) and hit OK.
- Your printer should now be printing your page!
Printing from Samsung tablet: Wired vs Wireless
The above method is slightly different depending on whether you use a cable or not, so let’s look at how to print wirelessly from a Samsung tablet vs printing using a USB cable.
Printing Wirelessly from your Samsung tablet
- Make sure your tablet is connected to the Wifi network, and so is the printer. Your printer also needs to be configured to work on your WiFi network. To do this, refer to the printer’s user guide — it should have full details on setting it up.
- Download the relevant Print service plugin following the steps above. You can also follow instructions from your printer manual on downloading the plugin for your Samsung tablet.
- Once you’ve added the printer inside the plugin settings, go ahead and open up a photo(or anything else you wish to print) on your Samsung tablet. Choose Options, and then Print, to test your printer. If you don’t see Print here, try tapping Share and then Print.
- You may not see your printer in the Print options window until you tap on the drop-down list next to Save to PDF. So go ahead and tap that, and choose your printer. Hit Print once you set your preferences, and you should see your printer printing your copy immediately after!
Printing via cable from your Samsung tablet
- Printing from your Samsung tablet while using a cable is slightly different from the wireless method, as you will need an OTG (On The Go) cable to connect your tablet to your printer. Unless your tablet has a USB port, then you can connect it directly.
- First, follow the steps in the wireless method to make sure you have the relevant plugin installed.
- Once the plugin is installed, it’s time to connect your device to the printer. But before you do that, switch on your printer and make sure it has paper loaded.
- Once your Samsung tablet and printer are connected via cable, tap the plugin, and it will start searching for connected printers.
- Once it detects and adds the printer, follow the same steps as the above method to print your files. Simply open up Options, select Print, modify preferences, and ta-da! Printout!
If you’d like to watch a video on printing from a tablet with a cable, here’s an HP video about it:
Samsung Mobile Print
Samsung Mobile Print is an app that allows you to print files conveniently. It’s perfect for you if you print regularly or if you’d like to print multiple files in one sitting. You can also scan and fax documents to a number using this app. Unfortunately, this app works only with Samsung printers.
Among the Print functions, the app lets you choose from photos, files, emails, websites, Google Drive, etc., as well as snap a picture on your tablet and print it immediately from the app itself.
Samsung Tap and Print
Tap and Print is another feather in the Samsung Mobile Print cap, as it conveniently uses NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to print from your Samsung tablet. You do, however, need an NFC-compatible printer. To use Samsung Tap and Print, simply put your tablet near the NFC label on the printer, and hold it there until a connection is established.
The Samsung Mobile Print app will open up automatically and allow you to navigate to your file, which you can then print. It’s ideal when you’re in a rush or work in a place with multiple printers and don’t remember the printer name or ID on the printer you’re trying to use. NFC technology also works with other brands, as long as the printers are NFC capable and you have the right app on your tablet.
How to Print From Samsung Tablet: Best Printers
Now that you are all excited to print from your Samsung tablet how about some printer recommendations? Let’s look at some great printers that are popular with users.
HP Envy Pro 6420
If you want a printer that can do it all and be highly dependable, then we would recommend the HP Envy Pro 6420 printer. This color inkjet printer is an all-in-one unit and can print your files, scan documents, and fax via your phone.
Lexmark MB3442adw
This unit is a bit more jacked than the compact HP Envy Pro mentioned above and is twice the weight, and is manufactured by another big name from the printer world — Lexmark. This all-in-one mono laser printer has a touchscreen and a much higher print speed (42ppm) and supports printing, copying, faxing, and scanning.
HP Envy 5055
If you don’t feel like splurging and want an inexpensive printer that does the job efficiently, then look no further than the HP Envy 5055. This inkjet printer can’t send faxes or photocopy your papers but can scan and print really well. Unfortunately, it can’t connect to a local area network or LAN, but it should more than suffice for home office users.
Brother MFC-J5945DW
Now this all-in-one is a beast of a printer, and we mean that both figuratively and literally. Coming in at 46 pounds, the Brother MFC-J5945DW printer can print, scan, fax and copy and is an inkjet model that also prints on A3 paper.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I connect my Samsung tablet to a printer?
To connect your Samsung tablet to a printer, you will need to download a plugin from the Play Store, allowing your tablet to communicate with the printer. You can find this in Settings > More connection settings > Printing.
How do I print to a wireless printer from my Samsung tablet?
You will first need to download a plugin for your printer, which lets your tablet send commands to the printer. Once you install the plugin, you can open up the photo or document you want to print and then tap Share > Print.
How do I print from my tablet to a wireless printer?
Step one to printing from your tablet is to install the correct plugin (by brand) for your printer on your tablet. Once you do this, open the file you wish to print, try Share or Options, and then tap Print. You should see your printer listed.
Why can’t my Samsung tablet find my printer?
There are a few reasons why your tablet can’t find your printer — you need a WiFi-ready printer, you need to install the proper plugin in Settings > More connection settings > Printing, the devices may be on different networks, the printer may not be switched on, etc.
Conclusion
We hope this article helped you figure out how to print from Samsung tablet. Many people expect to be directly able to print to any Wifi printer, but the catch is that you need to download the print service plugin we wrote about above. We’d love to hear if we managed to solve your issue, so please comment below!
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