How to Connect a Canon Printer to Your Mac

Connecting printers to your Mac isn’t as straightforward as connecting it to a Windows system. Safe to say, the process is pretty complicated. The connecting procedure is different for every printer depending on its type, whether it is a Dot matrix printer, All-in-one, laser, or color printer. In this article, we will know how to connect a canon printer to your mac system.

Printers that come preinstalled with AirPrint, Apple’s proprietary printing feature, are much simpler to set up and do not require any additional software or printer drivers. So, you can look for those that have this feature that things are a bit easier and the printing will hardly take seconds.

We created this guide that will help you set up your printer on your Mac.

Table of Contents

How to Connect a Canon Printer to Your Mac?

If you have a wired USB printer, all you need to do is connect the printer to your Mac and update the software if there’s a new version. Refer to the steps mentioned below to see how to do that.

Open your Mac and load your preferred browser.
Head over to the Canon website and check if your printer’s model has any new updates for the drivers or not.
If you see a new update, make sure you install it.
After that, refer to the printer’s manual on setting it up, installing the ink cartridges, and checking to see if the printer is showing any error messages.
Now, connect the printer to your Mac using the cable; if you see a pop-up saying that you need to install new software, do it, and your printer should be good to go after that.

Also, read, How to Turn off Notifications on Mac

How to Connect a Wireless Canon Printer to Your Mac

Having a WiFi printer can be useful and annoying as connecting your printer to the WiFi network can be a bit of a hassle. Usually, printers have a dedicated button to connect to the WiFi network, but some don’t. Refer to the steps mentioned below to see how to do it.

Turn your printer on, press the dedicated WiFI button, and then thumb the WPS button on your WiFi.
If that fails to connect the printer to your network, refer to the manual that came with the printer.
Once you’ve successfully connected the printer to your network, open up your Mac.
Click the Apple logo on the toolbar and select System Preferences from the menu.
Head over to the Printers & Scanners tab.
Click on the “+” icon on the bottom left-hand side of the window to add a new printer.
If your printer and your Mac are connected to the same WiFi network, the printer’s name should appear on the list.
If your printer has AirPrint, you will see an option named AirPrint, click on it to directly add that printer to your list.
If the printer does not support AirPrint, choose your printer from the list. Hit Add, and select download printer drivers from Apple servers.

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How to Add a Bluetooth Printer to Your Mac?

Pairing Bluetooth printers is the easiest option on this list. It is precisely similar to how you would connect Bluetooth headphones. Refer to the steps given below to see how to do that.

Open your Mac and click on the Apple logo on the toolbar.
Select System Preferences from the menu and head over to the Printers & scanners section.

How to Connect a Canon Printer to Your Mac

Click on the “+” icon on the bottom left of the window.
Make sure the Bluetooth of your printer is enabled, and its name should show up on the list.

Select the printer and click on Add.

After the printer has been added to your list, you can pair it like pairing any Bluetooth headphones or earphones. Simply hover over to the control center icon, click on it, select Bluetooth, and choose your printer from the list.

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Using IP Address to Connect a Printer to Your Mac

You can also use a printer’s IP address to connect it to your Mac; you can find the printer’s IP address on its manual or contact the support if you cannot find it. After you’ve got your printer’s IP address, printing protocol, and type, follow the instructions given below to see how it works.

Open your Mac and click on the Apple logo on the toolbar
Select System Preferences from the menu and head over to the Printers & scanners section.
Click on the “+” icon at the bottom left corner of the window and select the IP tab in the middle.
Enter the IP address of your printer and the protocol it uses for printing.
Give any name to the printer.
Type in the location of the printer.
If a pop-up shows that you need to install new drivers, do that and hit Add.

Read How to Print in Black and White on Mac

Why is my Canon printer not connecting to my Mac?

Well, there could be times when absolutely nothing seems to be working out for you. If you are unable to connect your printer to your system, you can try out different methods. Such as:

Try disconnecting all your wires.
Check to see if the USB is not damned and working
Make sure your Mac is up-to-date since it is quite possible that a software update can fix issues
If you are using a smart printer, you can get network issues as well that may take time to recover.

Here are a few reasons and solutions you can try so that you can connect your Canon printer to Mac You can try them and check if it works for you or else you can directly talk to the official customer executive.

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Conclusion

That’s it, folks. As you saw, there are various methods to connect a printer to your Mac. You just need to be sure what type of printer it is to properly connect it with your Mac.

You can connect any type of printer on Mac such as wired as well as wireless. The best ones you can choose are the ones that feature Airprint as well. Also, connecting a Canon printer isn’t a difficult task. We checked it ourselves and you can easily connect by following the steps mentioned.

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Robert

Robert is a tech expert (with more than 10 years of experience in using mac os and iPhone) who loves to help others learn about the Mac operating system and iPhone. He provides helpful tutorials on how to use Mac OS, tips and tricks for getting the most out of your Mac operating system, iPhone tips and tricks, and more. He’s always up for a challenge and enjoys learning new things about his favorite OS. When he’s not helping people get the most out of their technology, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two cats. Check out more.