Printing from your phone

You can print straight from your phone to the home printer — a boarding pass, a recipe, a photo, a form — without going near a computer. The one rule: your phone and the printer have to be on the same home Wi-Fi.

Before you start

• The printer is on (not asleep — press a button to wake it) and has paper.
• Your phone is on the home Wi-Fi, not the guest network or cellular. (Need to switch? See Connecting to home Wi-Fi.)

On an iPhone or iPad

1. Open whatever you want to print — a photo, an email, a web page, a PDF.
2. Tap the Share icon (a square with an up-arrow).
3. Scroll down and tap Print.
4. Tap Printer → Select Printer and pick the home printer from the list.
5. Tap Print (top-right). Done.

Tip

The first time, picking the printer takes a second to find it. After that it remembers it and it’s instant.

On an Android phone or tablet

1. Open the photo, email, or document.
2. Tap the ⋮ menu (or the Share icon) and choose Print.
3. At the top, tap the dropdown and pick the home printer (not “Save as PDF”).
4. Tap the printer / print button.

Note

If no printer shows up on Android, your phone may need the printer’s helper turned on. Go to Settings → search “Printing”, and make sure Default Print Service (or Mopria Print Service) is on. For some printers you install the brand’s free app — HP Smart, Epson iPrint, or Canon PRINT — and print through that.

When it won’t print

Try these in order:

1. Same Wi-Fi? Phone and printer must be on the same network. This is the usual culprit.
2. Wake the printer. Press a button so it’s not asleep, and check for paper and no error lights.
3. No printer in the list? On Android, turn on Default Print Service / Mopria (see the note above), or install the printer brand’s app.
4. Restart the printer — turn it off, wait ten seconds, turn it back on.
5. Still nothing? Text Stephen with the printer name and what kind of phone you have.