View printers from Windows Print Server on a Mac

Question

On windows,

Get-Printer -ComputerName \\XXX

will give me a list of printers that exist on that print server. I wanted to accomplish the same\similar thing using a Mac.

The issue\reason:at my workplace, we have articles on how to add a windows network printer on a Mac. However, staffs without a windows machine won't know what the printer name is as we have hundreds of printers.

Answer 1

Here are the steps to setup the shared printer on a Windows 10 Pro (Version 1803) Machine.

Note: To get a better view of an image, either click on the image or open the image in a new window.

1. Open the "Control Panel".

   

2. Next, select "Network and Sharing Center"

   

3. Next, select "Change advanced sharing settings", then "Private (current Profile)". Make sure the you have the setting shown below. If necessary, click on the "Save changes" button.

   

4. Next, select "All Networks". Make sure the you have the radio button "Turn off password protected sharing" selected. If necessary, click on the "Save changes" button.

   

5. Next, return to the "Control Panel" and select "Devices and Printers". Right click on a desired printer to share and select "Printer properties".

   

6. Click on the "Sharing" tab. Make sure the "Share this printer" box is checked off, then click on the "OK" button.

   

Here are the steps to select the shared printer on a Mac running High Sierra (macOS 10.13.6).

1. Open the "Printer and Scanners" pane of the "System Preferences" application.

   

2. Click on the "+" button. If neccessary, select "Add printer or scanner...". Next, click on the icon labeled "Windows"

   

3. Select the computer ("herring" in this case), then select the "Guest" radio button and finally click on the "Connect" button.

   

4. Select the printer and choose a driver, then click on the "Add" button.

   

5. The added printer is shown below.

   

6. When print to this shared printer, you may get the dialog box shown below. Enter the name "guest", then click on the "OK" button. You should not need a password.

   

A few final thoughts.

• Both Windows and macOS were clean installs with all the default settings. Your workplace may have setup your computers with additional security that I did not have to deal with.

• Users of the Windows machine should check to make sure any shared folders require a password to allow access over the internet.

• I already had the driver for the example printer installed on the Mac. You may have not have this luxury.