How to Connect Your Printer to Wi-Fi — Setup Menu, WPS, App or Wi-Fi Direct

Wireless printers can join your Wi-Fi in several ways, and which one is easiest depends on whether the printer has a touchscreen, whether your router has a WPS button, and which brand you have. Below are the four common methods, using HP’s documentation as the main example — Epson, Canon and Brother printers follow the same pattern with their own menu names and apps.

Before You Start

Have the Wi-Fi name and password ready. If you do not know them, see how to find your Wi-Fi password.

Put the printer near the router for the setup. You can move it later.

Check which Wi-Fi bands the printer supports. Many printers, especially older and budget models, connect only to the 2.4 GHz band. If your router uses separate names for 2.4 and 5 GHz, choose the 2.4 GHz one; see 2.4 GHz vs 5 GHz.

Install the driver or app only from the manufacturer’s website or app store.

Method 1: The Printer’s Setup Menu

Printers with a touchscreen or display can join Wi-Fi directly. HP’s steps: open the Setup, Network or Wireless menu, choose the Wireless Setup Wizard, select your network and enter its password. Other brands call it Wi-Fi Setup, Wireless LAN Setup or Setup Wizard.

When the wireless light on the printer stays on (not blinking), it is connected. Then add the printer on your computer or phone — it usually appears automatically under Printers.

Method 2: The WPS Button

WPS connects without typing the password, which is handy for printers without a display:

1. Check that your router has a WPS button. HP notes that some router brands, such as Google, eero, Luma and Plume, might not support WPS.
2. Hold the printer’s Wireless button (or select WPS Push Button in its menu) until the light starts blinking.
3. Within two minutes, press the WPS button on the router.
4. Wait until the printer’s wireless light stops blinking.

WPS has a known weakness in its PIN mode, so many people switch it off after use; see what is WPS on a router.

Method 3: The Manufacturer’s App

Most current printers are set up with an app — HP Smart (or the HP app), Epson Smart Panel, Canon PRINT, Brother Mobile Connect — on a phone or computer. The app finds the printer in setup mode, asks for your Wi-Fi password and sends it to the printer.

The printer must be in Wi-Fi setup mode for this. HP explains that this mode is on for two hours when a new printer is first set up. If that time has passed, restore it: on touchscreen models via Restore Network Settings, on models with buttons usually by holding Wireless and Cancel together for about five seconds, until the wireless light blinks. Then follow the app within two hours.

Wi-Fi Direct: Printing Without a Router

Wi-Fi Direct lets a phone or laptop connect straight to the printer — useful when there is no Wi-Fi, for guests, or when the printer cannot join your network. HP notes that it does not need an internet connection and is available on most HP printers released after 2014; other brands have it as well.

1. Find the printer’s Wi-Fi Direct name and password: in the printer menu, in the app’s network settings, or on a printed network or information report. On HP printers the name usually starts with DIRECT- followed by the model.
2. On your phone or computer, open the Wi-Fi list, choose that network and enter the password.
3. Print as usual.
4. Afterwards, reconnect to your normal Wi-Fi — while connected to Wi-Fi Direct, the device usually has no internet.

After a New Router or Wi-Fi Password

A printer does not follow a changed network on its own. HP’s support notes that the printer loses its Wi-Fi connection after router or network settings change — a new router, a new network name or a new password. Reconnect it with any of the methods above; on many printers you first restore its network settings so that it forgets the old network. To avoid this, keep the same network name and password when you replace a router; see how to change your Wi-Fi password.

If the Printer Won’t Connect

Move it closer to the router and try again; HP suggests this when the wireless light keeps blinking.

Use 2.4 GHz. With one network name for both bands, some printers fail to connect. Temporarily split the bands or turn on a 2.4 GHz-only network for setup.

Check the password and security mode. Very old printers may not support WPA3. Use WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode; see WPA2 vs WPA3.

Restart the printer and the router.

Guest network or client isolation. Printers on a guest network are usually invisible to your computers. Put the printer on the main network; see how to set up a guest Wi-Fi network.

Give the printer a fixed address if it keeps disappearing after a few days; see what is a static IP address.

Use a cable as a fallback: most printers also have USB, and many have Ethernet.