How to Install a Network Printer on a Mac (IP and Bonjour)

Installing a network printer on a Mac takes one of two paths: automatic Bonjour discovery or a manual IP address connection, both reached from the same Printers & Scanners settings. Bonjour finds compatible printers on the local network without any typing, while the IP method asks for the printer’s address and a protocol such as IPP, LPD, or HP Jetdirect. macOS downloads a matching driver automatically when one exists, and most home and small office printers pair through Bonjour with no extra steps. Business printers sometimes need a configuration profile installed first. The sections below cover both methods in full, plus protocol choices, a worked example, and fixes for a printer that refuses to connect.

What You Need Before Adding a Network Printer on a Mac

Before adding any network printer, get the hardware itself ready first: unbox it, connect it to Wi-Fi, and make sure the Mac’s software is current.

1. Unpack and power on the printer. Install the ink or toner cartridges and load paper into the tray.
2. Connect the printer to Wi-Fi. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the printer’s control panel or setup screen; some models need a temporary USB cable connection to a Mac during first-time Wi-Fi setup.
3. Update macOS. Open the Apple menu, choose System Preferences (System Settings on newer macOS), then Software Update, following Apple’s own printer setup guide, so the Mac has the latest built-in driver information before it tries to detect the printer.

Skipping the software update is a common reason a printer appears during setup but macOS installs the wrong driver, or none at all. Once the printer responds on the local network and macOS is current, both the Bonjour method and the IP address method become available from the same Printers & Scanners settings screen.

Choose the Right Managed Printer Setup Path

For OIT-managed University of Minnesota computers, start with Self Service. Use manual System Settings setup for an OIT-hosted network printer when that route is needed, and use your institution’s support process when a proper driver must be installed.

Setup path	Institution or system	What to do
Self Service	University of Minnesota OIT-managed computers	Use Self Service first. Minnesota identifies it as the preferred method, and says most printers are available there.
Organization-issued configuration or driver	Alfred University	Contact ITS, or call 607-871-2222, when particular printer features are unavailable and a proper driver is needed.
Manual setup	University of Minnesota OIT-hosted network printers	Use System Settings when installing the printer manually on a Macintosh computer.

Beyond that, for Minnesota’s manual route, open Printers & Scanners, choose Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax, then select IP in the Add Printer window. Enter the printer’s hostname in Address before trying its IP address. Start with Internet Printing Protocol, or IPP; switch to Line Printer Daemon, or LPD, if installation or printing problems occur.

Printer access at Minnesota requires supervisor approval and submission of the Printer Access Request form. Contact Technology Help when the needed person or printer is missing from that form, when a large group, department, or unit needs access, or when an approved printer does not appear in Self Service.

After manual installation, use Print Center’s Printer menu to print a test page.

How to Install a Network Printer on a Mac with Bonjour

Open Printers & Scanners, click the Add button (the plus sign), and select the printer from the list that appears. Apple built Bonjour as a zero-configuration networking technology on top of standard IP protocols, so any Bonjour-enabled printer on the same network announces itself the moment the Add dialog opens.

Underneath, Bonjour relies on multicast DNS, usually shortened to mDNS, to discover services on the local network. The Mac sends a multicast query, and every Bonjour-capable device, including most printers made in the last decade, answers with a description of what it offers. Apple’s documentation places this discovery list under a Default tab inside the Add dialog, though that exact tab label has shifted across macOS releases while the underlying discovery behavior stays the same.

Once the Mac lists the printer, clicking it starts the install. macOS checks its driver library and downloads a matching driver automatically when one exists, so most Bonjour printers need no extra software at all. The one hard requirement is the network itself: mDNS discovery only works when the Mac and the printer sit on the same subnet, because multicast traffic does not cross into a different subnet or a separate VLAN by design.

How to Install a Network Printer on a Mac by IP Address

Select the IP tab and type the printer’s IP address directly when Bonjour discovery fails or a network blocks multicast traffic.

1. Open Printers & Scanners. Go to the Apple menu, System Preferences (or System Settings), then Printers & Scanners.
2. Click Add. Select the plus sign near the bottom of the printer list, then choose the IP tab instead of the default discovery list.
3. Enter the address. Type the printer’s IP address or hostname, found on the printer’s control panel, its network configuration page, or its setup screen.
4. Choose a protocol. Pick a line printing protocol from the Protocol menu, commonly IPP, LPD, or HP Jetdirect.
5. Select the driver. Use the Use field to pick the matching printer software, or fall back to the Generic PostScript Driver that macOS includes for broad compatibility.
6. Name the printer and add it. macOS attempts to auto-detect the remaining printer details once the address is entered; rename the queue if needed, then click Add.

The Mac fills in most of the remaining fields once it can reach the printer at the given address, which makes the IP method almost as fast as Bonjour once the address itself is known.

Which Printing Protocol Should You Choose

Match the protocol to the printer brand and its age: HP Jetdirect for HP printers, IPP for other network printers made in the last ten years, and LPD as a fallback if IPP will not connect. Some university IT departments still require LPD specifically for their networked printers, so a campus network may dictate the protocol regardless of what the printer itself supports.

Protocol	Maker	Best For	Port	Key Features
IPP	Open standard	Modern multi-platform printers	631	Cross-platform, remote printing, job management, secure TLS variant
IPP Secure (IPPS)	Open standard	Secure printing environments	631	Encrypted connection via TLS
LPD	Open standard	Basic or legacy printing	515	Simple to set up and troubleshoot
HP Jetdirect	HP	HP printer fleets	9100	Tight integration with HP’s own ecosystem
AirPrint	Apple	Apple-ecosystem devices	Automatic	Automatic discovery over Wi-Fi or Ethernet
SMB	Microsoft	Windows-centric networks	445	File sharing alongside printing

IPP has become the default recommendation because it behaves the same way across Windows, macOS, and Linux, and it supports the encrypted IPPS variant when a printer enforces TLS. LPD earns its place only through age and simplicity: it has been in use for roughly 40 years and stays easy to troubleshoot even though it lacks IPP’s job management features.

Since 2020, my Brother HL-L2350DW mono laser has made me appreciate defaults that do not turn a modest printer into an administrative hobby. IPP is the sensible starting point for its cross platform behavior and IPPS option, while LPD belongs in the fallback drawer, alongside my confidence that I can remember what any of those abbreviations mean without looking.

How to Add an Enterprise Printer with a Configuration Profile

IT departments distribute this profile as a file rather than a printer driver, and it usually arrives by email or a shared network folder; most home printers skip this step entirely.

1. Get the profile file. Request it from the IT department or download it from the internal resource they point to.
2. Install the profile. Double-click the file and confirm the installation prompts that appear.
3. Add the printer. Open Printers & Scanners, click Add, and the printer now appears as an AirPrint Profile rather than through standard Bonjour or IP discovery.

This method exists mainly for organizations that manage printer fleets centrally, since it lets IT push authentication, security, and driver settings in one package instead of configuring each Mac by hand.

A Worked Example: Adding an IPP Printer by IP Address

Here is what the IP method looks like with real numbers, using an office printer set to a fixed local address of 192.168.1.50 as an example. Most printers use port 631 for IPP, and the address a Mac needs combines the IP address, the port, and a queue path into one connection string.

For a typical network printer, that connection string reads ipp://192.168.1.50:631/ipp/print, using the /ipp/print queue path that most brands ship with by default. Epson printers break from that convention and use /ipp/port1 instead, so the same printer from Epson would connect at ipp://192.168.1.50:631/ipp/port1. Entering the wrong queue path is a frequent reason IPP setup fails even when the IP address and port are both correct.

If the printer enforces encryption, the connection string swaps ipp for ipps, giving ipps://192.168.1.50:631/ipp/print instead, which routes the same job over a TLS-secured channel rather than a plain one. macOS accepts either string typed into the IP tab’s address field when the built-in printer browser guesses the wrong protocol or queue path on its own.

How to Fix a Network Printer That Will Not Connect on a Mac

When a Mac cannot find or keep a connection to a network printer, the fix is almost always a network issue rather than a printer problem or a Mac problem. Work through the subnet first, then Bonjour-specific blocks, then any leftover printer queues before assuming the hardware itself is at fault.

Check the Network Connection

Confirm the printer is reachable on the same subnet before touching any settings in Printers & Scanners. Open Terminal and run ping followed by the printer’s IP address; a series of replies means the network path is fine, and repeated timeouts point to a network problem rather than a macOS or driver issue.

A few router-level settings cause most of these failures. Check whether the printer sits on a guest network that isolates it from the main Wi-Fi, and set a DHCP reservation on the router so the printer keeps the same IP address instead of picking up a new one after a restart, which would otherwise break a saved IP-based printer queue.

Fix Bonjour Discovery Problems

Bonjour-specific failures usually come down to a network that blocks multicast traffic rather than a broken printer. Mesh Wi-Fi systems such as Eero, UniFi, and Asus routers sometimes need mDNS forwarding turned on explicitly before Bonjour traffic can cross between access points, and a guest network or a separate VLAN blocks Bonjour outright regardless of any access rules configured on it.

On the printer side, check its configuration page for a Bonjour Service Name and a Bonjour Status field; if Bonjour shows as disabled, log in to the printer’s embedded web server and turn it on under the networking settings. Confirm the Mac’s own IPv6 setting is Link-Local Only as well, since that is what Bonjour discovery expects on each computer it runs on.

Clear Stale Printer Queues with CUPS

Duplicate or stuck printer queues get cleared through CUPS, the printing system macOS runs underneath Printers & Scanners. Open Terminal, run cupsctl WebInterface=yes to turn on the web interface, then visit http://localhost:631 in a browser to see every queue the Mac has ever created for that printer.

From that CUPS page, delete stale or duplicate queues before re-adding the printer through Bonjour or the IP method, and check the error log for SSL or authentication messages that point to a certificate problem rather than a network one. Removing old printer profiles before setting the printer up again resolves a surprising share of connection failures that look identical to a fresh setup problem on the surface.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Difference Between Bonjour and Adding a Printer by IP?

Bonjour finds and connects to a printer automatically using multicast discovery, so there is nothing to type beyond selecting the printer from a list. Adding a printer by IP address requires knowing the address ahead of time and choosing a protocol manually, but it keeps working even when Bonjour discovery is blocked on the network.

Does macOS Download Printer Drivers Automatically?

Yes, macOS checks its built-in driver library and downloads a matching driver automatically whenever one is available, for both Bonjour and IP-based printer setups. When no matching driver exists, macOS falls back to the Generic PostScript Driver, which covers most core printing functions without brand-specific features.

Why Won’t My Mac Find a Bonjour Printer?

The most common cause is a subnet mismatch: Bonjour’s multicast discovery does not cross into a different subnet or VLAN, so the Mac and the printer need to share the same local network segment. A guest Wi-Fi network, a mesh router without mDNS forwarding enabled, or Bonjour disabled on the printer itself are the next things worth checking.

What Port Does IPP Printing Use?

IPP printers communicate on port 631, whether the connection uses plain IPP or the encrypted IPPS variant. HP Jetdirect uses port 9100 instead, and LPD uses port 515, so a firewall blocking the wrong port is a common reason one protocol works while another fails on the same printer.

Can I Set a Static IP Address for My Printer?

Not directly from most printers, but setting a DHCP reservation on the router achieves the same result by always handing that printer the same IP address. Doing this keeps an IP-based printer queue on the Mac from breaking after a router restart, since the saved address never changes.

Bonjour covers most home and small office setups without any typing, and the IP method with the right protocol and queue path handles everything else, including printers that Bonjour cannot reach. Keeping the printer’s address fixed through a DHCP reservation and checking CUPS for stale queues clears up most connection problems that come up after the initial setup.

References

• Add a printer on Mac, Apple Support
• Printers: Install a Network Printer on a macOS Computer | IT@UMN | The people behind the technology, IT@UMN | The people behind the technology, it.umn.edu
• How to Add a Network Printer on a Mac via IP Address, UCSC Social Sciences Division IT
• Add a network printer on macOS, University of Chicago SSCS
• Bonjour, Apple Developer
• IPP vs other network printing protocols: which is better?, PaperCut
• macOS Refusing to Add Your Printer via IPP? Here’s the Fix, Whizz-Tech Support

Sources read in September 2026.