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What is Universal Print
Universal Print is a modern print solution that organizations can use to manage their print infrastructure through cloud services from Microsoft.
Universal Print runs entirely on Microsoft Azure. When it’s deployed with Universal Print–compatible printers, it doesn’t require any on-premises infrastructure.
Universal Print is a Microsoft 365 subscription-based service that organizations use to centralize print management through the Universal Print portal. It’s fully integrated with Azure Active Directory and supports single sign-on scenarios.
Prerequisite
- Universal Print is enabled in your Azure tenant.
- Your user account has the role Printer Administrator or Global Administrator.
Your user account is assigned a Universal Print license.
- Window 10/11 client device.
- Universal Print Connector host:
- Windows 10 64-bit, Pro or Enterprise, version 1809 or later.
- Windows Server 2016 64-bit or later (Windows Server 2019 64-bit or later is recommended).
- NET Framework 4.7.2 or later.
Installing the Universal Print connector
1. Download the Universal Print connector installer from https://aka.ms/UPConnector
2. Run the Universal Print connector installer and follow the steps to install and launch the Universal Print connector application.
Register your connector
1. On the start screen, click the Login button and sign in using your tenant’s credentials.
2. In the Connector name box, enter the name you want, and then select the Register button.
3. After the connector registration finishes, the app displays a list of available printers that are ready to be registered with Universal Print.
4. Your print was registered into Universal Print portal. Now, click the link to navigate to the portal.
Sharing Printers using the Universal Print portal
In Universal Print, “sharing” a printer makes that printer accessible to users. Before a user can print to a printer, it must be shared and that user must be granted access.
1. Navigating to the Printers list, select a printer that you want to share then click the Share link.
2. You will then be asked to specify a share name, select a printer to share, and indicate which users and groups should have access.
Note: Deleting a printer share and re-creating it later will force users to reinstall the printer on their Windows devices. If you’re replacing a broken or old printer device with a new one, use the Swap Printer feature instead, which will prevent breaking users’ printer installations.
Configure user permissions for a printer share
If you need to change permission settings after sharing a printer, navigate to the printer share in Azure Portal and click Access control.
- To share the printer with all users in your organization, enable “Allow access to everyone in my organization“. This will override any individual users or groups selected below.
- Add or remove users/groups from the list for fine-grained control of who can use the printer share.
Add a Universal Print printer to a Windows device
1. Before you try to add a Universal Print printer to a user’s device, ensure that:
- The user’s device is connected to internet.
- The user’s device is either: Azure AD joined, Azure AD registered, or Hybrid Azure AD joined.
- The user has been added to the permissions of Universal Print printer that is to be added on the device.
2. To add a Universal Print printer to a Windows client device: Select Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners.
3. If the desired printer doesn’t show up in the list, select Search for printers in my organization or Search Universal Print for printers.
4. One of these links will appear at the bottom of the printer and scanner search results list, and will open a search page where you can search for the Universal Print printer by typing part of the printer’s shared name.
5. Select the desired printer, and then select Add device.
6. Once the printer is added, it will show up in the list of Printers & scanners in Settings.
7. Test the printer by printing a test page.
You will see the job in print queue window. If the job is accepted by Universal Print, the status will change to Sent to printer. Then you can check the printed job in the Azure portal.
