---
title: "Add a printer to the BizPrint desktop app"
description: "Make a new printer show up under your station by installing it on the computer and restarting the BizPrint desktop app."
url: https://docs.getbizprint.com/set-up/desktop-add-printer/
section: "Set up"
last_updated: 2026-11-11
---

# Add a printer to the BizPrint desktop app

Section: Set up

> Make a new printer show up under your station by installing it on the computer and restarting the BizPrint desktop app.

This page shows you how to get a new [printer](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#printer) to appear in BizPrint when you use the [BizPrint desktop app](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#bizprint-desktop-app). It is for merchants and staff with a Windows, Mac or Linux [station](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#station). It does not apply to the [BizPrint Android app](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#bizprint-android-app), which has its own pages.

You never add a printer in the [BizPrint dashboard](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#bizprint-dashboard). The desktop app tells BizPrint about every printer installed on the computer each time it connects. So you install the printer on the computer first, and then restart the app so it reports the new printer.

## Before you start

- Use the computer that runs the BizPrint desktop app and is connected to your station. If it is not connected yet, see [Connect the BizPrint desktop app to your station](https://docs.getbizprint.com/set-up/connect-desktop-app/).
- Have the printer ready: plugged in and turned on, or available on your network.

## Add the printer

These steps restart the BizPrint desktop app. When the desktop app reconnects, BizPrint can send it print jobs that are still **pending**, and they print automatically. This happens when **Archive offline print jobs** is off. Before you restart or reconnect, check the printer for printouts, check job statuses in the BizPrint dashboard, and do not reprint anything that is still **pending**. See [Choose what happens to BizPrint print jobs when a station is offline](https://docs.getbizprint.com/manage/archive-offline-jobs/).

1. Install the printer on the computer, the same way you would for any other program. Use the printer’s own instructions or your computer’s printer settings. USB, network and shared printers all work, as long as the computer can print to them.
2. Print a test page from your computer’s printer settings, to check that the printer works outside BizPrint.
3. Click the BizPrint icon in the system tray (the menu bar on a Mac). Its menu opens.
4. Click **Exit**. The app closes.
5. Open the BizPrint desktop app again. It connects to your station and reports the printers installed on the computer.

## Check that the printer appears

1. Sign in to the BizPrint dashboard in your web browser.
2. Click **Stations** in the menu.
3. Click your station in the **My Stations** list.
4. Look for the printer in the **Printers** list.

If you have a WooCommerce store, you pick the new printer in a [printer location](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#printer-location). See [Create a printer location in the BizPrint plugin for WooCommerce](https://docs.getbizprint.com/set-up/create-printer-location/).

## If the printer does not appear

- Check that the printer is installed on the computer and shows in your computer’s own printer list.
- Check that the app shows **Successfully Connected** after you reopen it. If it does not, the computer may not be connected to the internet, or the app may not be connected to your station.
- Use the **Disconnect** button on the app’s home screen only if you want to stop using this station on the computer. You do not need it to add a printer.
- See [A printer does not appear in BizPrint](https://docs.getbizprint.com/troubleshooting/printer-not-showing/).

## Related pages

- [Connect the BizPrint desktop app to your station](https://docs.getbizprint.com/set-up/connect-desktop-app/)
- [Create a printer location in the BizPrint plugin for WooCommerce](https://docs.getbizprint.com/set-up/create-printer-location/)
- [A printer does not appear in BizPrint](https://docs.getbizprint.com/troubleshooting/printer-not-showing/)
- [Set up the Save to PDF printer in the BizPrint desktop app](https://docs.getbizprint.com/set-up/desktop-save-to-pdf/)

Need help? Contact BizPrint support at <https://getbizprint.com/support/>.