Bluetooth is one technology that lets you send documents or photos to a printer without needing to physically connect the printing device to a computer, mobile or laptop using cables. For printing wirelessly, you will be needing a Bluetooth-enabled device that you have to pair with a Bluetooth adapter that has to be plugged into the USB port of the printer.
Most of the printer manufacturers introduce their own Bluetooth adapters for computers but that doesn’t make your printer work wirelessly itself. Here are the methods that can be undertaken to convert a non-Bluetooth printer into a Bluetooth one.
Method-1 Using USB Bluetooth Dongle for Non-wireless Printer
If your printer has a universal serial bus port to connect a Bluetooth dongle or adapter, attaching the dongle to the printer will let your device communicate wirelessly over Bluetooth. It lets the Bluetooth-capable computers detect your device and connect to it on your command. Here are the steps that need to be applied:
- Turn the printer on and make sure the Bluetooth dongle is connected to it.
- Click on the Start menu, enter ‘Bluetooth’ in the search box and click on ‘Bluetooth Settings’.
- Make sure that ‘Allow Bluetooth Devices to Find This Computer’ is checked and click ‘Ok’.
- Again click on the ‘Start’ menu and then open the ‘Devices and Printers’ section.
- Next, click on ‘Add a Printer’ and select ‘Add a Network, Wireless or Bluetooth Printer’ from the Add Printer window.
- From the results, select the Bluetooth-enabled printer. Click ‘Next’ and follow the provided instructions and hit ‘Finish’.
- Now open the file you want to print. Click on the ‘File’ menu and then click on the ‘Print’ option. From the printer’s menu, select the Bluetooth-enabled printer
- Click ‘Print’ to connect to your printer and start printing.
Read this also: (How to Convert a USB Printer to Wireless Printer?) https://www.printeralign.com/convert-usb-printer-to-wireless
Method-2 Using Bluetooth Adapter for Printer
To print via Bluetooth on a non-Bluetooth printer, you can get a Bluetooth adapter for your printer to do the conversion. Make sure the adapter you are going to buy supports your printer model.
Once you have purchased the Bluetooth adapter for your printer, the next step is to enable it as follows:
- Look for a free USB port of the printer and connect the adapter to it. Turn on the Bluetooth on the device from the ‘Control Panel’.
- As soon as the printer detects the hardware, it will start installing the Bluetooth software that came with the adapter.
- The software will enable the computer and the printer to recognize the connected adapter. Adhere to the on-screen instructions to finish the installation.
- Next, enable Bluetooth on the device to ensure that the Bluetooth enabled through the external adapter is working fine.
- If it is working fine, any Bluetooth compatible device should search and find the printer as a Bluetooth device. Search for the printer and click on Pair Device to pair it with the printer.
- Thereafter, you can send files via Bluetooth to the printer and the printer will work as a wireless printer.
This is how you can convert your USB printer to Bluetooth and get all the convenience of wireless printing.