How to automatically switch printers based on network
Take the hassle out of using different networks and printers with this simple setting
If you often work at different locations--say, the office and your home office--you don't have to manually switch the default printer every time you go from one place to the other. Windows has a built-in setting for automatically switching the default printer based on the network you're connected to.
Note that this setting is only available in Windows 7 and 8 Premium and Enterprise versions, though. If you have one of those, here's how to set up the printer settings.
- Head to Control Panel > Printers (or Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices & Printers).
- For your current network, right-click on the printer you want as the default and make it the default printer, if you haven't already.
- Next, click the "Manage default printers" button in the toolbar.
- Select the "Change my default printer when I change networks" option.
- Finally, you can use the dropdown boxes to match the printer you want to use on a specific network.
That's it. Now you don't have to select a different printer every time you want to print. Windows will choose the default one for you based on your network.
[h/t Liberian Geek]
Read more of Melanie Pinola’s Tech IT Out blog and follow the latest IT news at ITworld. Follow Melanie on Twitter at @melaniepinola. For the latest IT news, analysis and how-tos, follow ITworld on Twitter and Facebook.
