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Printing with a Chromebook once invoked eye-twitching anxiety attacks. It wasn’t so long ago that forums were filled with frustrated users that were on the precipice of abandoning ChromeOS altogether because Google Cloud Print was a convoluted mess. Manufacturers were slow to adopt Google’s Cloud Print protocols and even slower to actually label compatible printers. HP, at least, took the initiative to publish a Chrome Extension that made printing with compatible HP network printers relatively easy but that was definitely the exception, not the rule.
Better days for printing on Chromebooks
Fast forward a little bit and printing started to get a little easier. The advent of Android apps on ChromeOS gave users the viable, albeit clunky option of installing an OEM’s Android printing app for setting up and using a printer. As time passed, Google mapped out the ultimate demise of Google Cloud Print as printer manufacturers focused more on native wireless support for ChromeOS. In 2022, the printing options are so good for Chromebooks that the once-painful stigma associated with Google’s Cloud Print services is all but a faded memory.
Nowadays, you can run down to your local Walmart or Best Buy, purchase a name-brand wireless printer and chances are very good that your Chromebook will see it on your network without the need for apps, extensions, hacks, or any other mental gymnastics. You can print from Linux apps on your Chromebook and some printers will even allow you to print locally via USB. Now that Google Cloud Print is a thing of the past, your options for buying a printer have expanded exponentially but how do you know if a printer will actually work with ChromeOS?
Good news
As I mentioned above, many wireless printers on the market today will work straight out of the box with a Chromebook. Once you connect your printer to your wireless network, ChromeOS will see it when you try to print and any setup that’s needed is done automatically in a matter of seconds. If you’re unsure as to whether or not a specific printer will work with your Chromebook, you’re in luck. As ChromeOS continues to capture market share, printer manufacturers have started labeling compatible printers that officially support printing with a Chromebook. HP especially lists numerous printers that have ChromeOS listed under the officially supported software section of the hardware specifications.
If you’re looking at a specific printer and want to find out for sure if it works with ChromeOS, you have a couple of options. First, you can check Google’s official Works with Chromebook website which lists all the devices that are lab-certified to work with ChromeOS. If your printer isn’t on this list, that’s no reason to despair. That simply means that the OEM has yet to put the printer through the official paces for certification. Thankfully, most manufacturers have started maintaining their own respective lists of ChromeOS-compatible printers.
Below, you will find links to the most common printer manufacturers and their lists of Chromebook-compatible printers. You will also find a link to The Printer Working Group website. This group maintains a list of printers that utilize the IPP Everywhere protocol. If a printer supports IPP Everywhere, it’s a solid bet that it will work with ChromeOS.
Chromebook Compatible Printers by Brand
If you already have a printer you’d like to use and you can’t find it on one of these lists, there’s still hope. ChromeOS plays well with a wide variety of current-generation hardware and there’s a decent chance that your printer could fall into that category. To find out, just set your printer up on your Wi-Fi network and try to print from your Chromebook. If the printer shows up in the list of visible devices, give it a click and see what happens. If you’re Chromebook sees it, the printer will likely work. You can also try printing directly via USB or downloading the Android companion app specifically for your brand of printer. Hope this helps and gets you up and printing on your Chromebook with ease.
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