Enable Google Cloud Printing & Printer Sharing in Windows
Adding Cloud Print Functionality to Windows
Previously, we detailed methods for enabling Cloud Print on mobile devices. We also explored utilizing third-party applications to integrate it with Windows systems.
This guide will demonstrate how to implement Cloud Print as a dedicated Windows service. This allows for native printing capabilities from all your Windows computers.
Implementing Cloud Print as a Windows Service
Establishing Cloud Print as a Windows service provides a seamless printing experience. It eliminates the need for constant application-specific configurations.
This approach enables any Windows computer to directly utilize Cloud Print without relying on additional software or workarounds.
Native Printing from Windows Computers
By installing Cloud Print as a service, you gain native printing functionality. This means you can print documents as you normally would from any application.
The integration is transparent to the user, offering a convenient and efficient printing solution for all Windows machines on your network.
- This method streamlines the printing process.
- It ensures compatibility across various Windows versions.
- It provides a centralized management point for Cloud Print settings.
Cloud Print, when implemented as a Windows service, offers a robust and user-friendly printing solution. It enhances productivity and simplifies print management for Windows users.
The Advantages of Utilizing Cloud Print
Cloud Print offers a convenient solution for printing from any device with an internet connection to a printer enabled for the service. This fundamentally changes the traditional method of needing to transfer files to a computer directly connected to the printer.
Beyond the inherent advantages of Cloud Printing – explored in greater detail elsewhere – recent updates from Google provide users with two distinct methods for accessing this functionality.
Two Access Methods to Cloud Print
The first method involves the Google Cloud Print Driver. This driver introduces print-anywhere capabilities to Windows systems without requiring users to print exclusively from the Chrome browser or depend on supplementary third-party applications.
Integrating directly into Windows as a standard printer, the new Cloud Print Driver allows any application capable of accessing system printers to utilize your Cloud Print enabled devices.
Alternatively, the Google Cloud Print Service establishes a direct connection between your existing printers and Google Cloud Print.
This approach bypasses the need for a Chrome extension to function as a print server, enabling integration of printers and Cloud Print at the service level itself.
Essential Requirements
This guide requires several components to function correctly. Ensure you have the following items readily available before proceeding.
- A valid Google Account is necessary.
- A computer running the Windows operating system is required.
- The Google Chrome web browser must be installed.
- The Google Cloud Print Service is needed if you intend to connect your current printers to the Cloud Print network.
- The Google Cloud Print Driver is necessary to integrate Google Cloud Print as a standard printer option within Windows.
It’s important to differentiate between the Service and the Driver to prevent confusion. The Service facilitates the connection of your existing printers to your Google Cloud Print account, while the Driver enables you to utilize Google Cloud Print as a printer directly on your computer.
Essentially, the Service links printers to the cloud, and the Driver adds Google Cloud Print to your default printer list.
Setting Up Google Cloud Print Service
While the installation of Google Cloud Print Service isn't overly complex, the process isn't particularly straightforward for a Google product. To begin the installation, navigate to the Google Cloud Print Service download page available here. Despite the page preventing direct downloads from browsers other than Chrome, it is possible to download the application using any browser.
The requirement arises later during installation when the application initiates a call to Google Chrome. Whether Chrome components are genuinely needed for functionality, or this is simply a preference for Google’s browser, remains unclear.
After downloading the initial installation application by accepting and initiating the install, a User Account Control (UAC) prompt will appear in Windows, requesting authorization. Confirm the installation and allow the process to complete.
A somewhat unintuitive aspect of the installation process is that it appears finished at this stage. However, all that has been accomplished is the installation of the Print Service itself; a connection to your Google Cloud Account has not yet been established. To achieve this, the service must be launched.
Locate the newly installed Google Cloud Print Service within the Start Menu and click to open it:
Upon launching the application, a simple interface will be displayed.
The password requested here corresponds to the user password for your Windows account, not your Google account. To reiterate, enter your local Windows username and password. Then, click "Register". The installer will then redirect you to Google Chrome, prompting you to authorize your Google Account. Proceed with the authorization process.
Users familiar with previous Google Print configurations and the Google Chrome-as-Printer-Server workaround may wonder if installing this feature on a computer already connected to printers in their Google Print account will create duplicates. The answer is affirmative; duplicates will be created.
However, these duplicate entries can be easily removed in bulk from the Cloud Print control panel. While an inconvenience, the correction process is swift, taking approximately ten seconds.
With these steps completed, your local printers are now successfully linked to the Google Cloud Print network. As long as this Windows machine remains powered on and functioning as a print server, access to the printers will be maintained.
Related: How to Print From an Android Phone
Installing the Google Cloud Print Driver
The preceding section detailed the process of connecting your Windows printers to Google Cloud Print. This section will guide you through installing the Print Driver, which establishes a link between Cloud Printers and Windows by adding a "Google Cloud Printer" to your system’s native printer list.
Adding the Google Cloud Printer to your computer – distinct from adding to Cloud Print via the Cloud Print Service – is a straightforward and intuitive procedure. Simply navigate to the Cloud Print Driver page, acknowledge the End User License Agreement (EULA), and download the installation application.
Driver Installation Steps
Execute the downloaded application and authorize the installation process. Following authorization, the Google Cloud Printer will promptly appear within your list of natively recognized printers, as illustrated in the accompanying screenshots.
Unlike the Cloud Print Service, which utilizes Chrome during installation and subsequently installs itself as a complete Windows service, the Google Cloud Printer maintains its dependency on Google Chrome.
When initiating a print job to the Google Cloud Printer, a Chrome window will appear. This window will either request you to log in to your Google Account or present a list of Cloud Print printers accessible to the currently logged-in account.
Print Options
After selecting your desired printer, you will be presented with a range of additional print options, a partial view of which is shown below.
Upon clicking "print," your document is seamlessly transmitted from your Windows PC to the selected Cloud Printer, facilitated by the power of Google Cloud Print.
Do you have any inquiries regarding Google Cloud Print, or perhaps a suggestion for a future article focused on printers? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below.