Stop Printer Chaos: Moving Your Brisbane Office to Cloud Printing with Microsoft Universal Print

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: Stop Printer Chaos: Moving Your Brisbane Office to Cloud Printing with Microsoft Universal Print. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

Local print servers are a common source of friction for small businesses. From driver conflicts and outdated firmware to the cost of maintaining on-premise hardware, traditional printing creates unnecessary IT overhead. For Brisbane organisations embracing hybrid work, these issues are amplified when staff need to print from home or while travelling. Microsoft Universal Print removes the need for a dedicated print server by moving print management to the cloud, allowing employees to print securely from any location using modern authentication.

Quick Fix Steps

1. Confirm your Microsoft 365 subscription includes Universal Print or add the Universal Print add-on.
2. Assign the Printer Administrator role to your IT staff in the Microsoft Entra admin centre.
3. Install the Universal Print Connector on a Windows server or PC that has access to your physical printers.
4. Register your printers with the Universal Print service via the connector.
5. Assign printers to users or groups through the Microsoft 365 admin centre.
6. Install the Universal Print app on user devices or use the built-in Windows print dialog.

Detailed Instructions

1. Licensing and Role Assignment

Before configuring printers, ensure your tenant has the necessary licenses. Universal Print is included in certain Microsoft 365 and Windows enterprise plans, or can be purchased as an add-on. Once licensed, grant administrative permissions:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin centre.
2. Navigate to Roles and administrators.
3. Select Printer Administrator.
4. Click Add assignments and select the appropriate staff members.
5. Click Add to save.

2. Deploy the Universal Print Connector

The connector acts as the bridge between your physical printers and the cloud service. It must be installed on a domain-joined Windows machine that can communicate with your printers.

1. Download the Universal Print Connector from the Microsoft download centre.
2. Run the installer on a Windows server or PC that remains powered on during business hours.
3. Sign in with an account that has Printer Administrator privileges.
4. Follow the setup wizard to connect the machine to your Microsoft 365 tenant.
5. Once connected, the connector will discover printers on the local network.

Place the connector on a reliable machine with a static IP address to avoid connectivity interruptions.

3. Register and Publish Printers

After the connector is active, you can register your hardware and make it available to users.

1. In the Microsoft 365 admin centre, go to Universal Print.
2. Select Printers from the left menu.
3. Choose the printers discovered by your connector and click Register.
4. Give each printer a clear name, such as Brisbane-Office-Main, to help staff identify it.
5. Select Printers > Assign users.
6. Choose the security groups or individual users who should have access to each printer.
7. Click Save.

4. Connect User Devices

Employees can add cloud printers to their Windows or macOS devices without installing manufacturer drivers.

1. Install the Universal Print app from the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 or 11 devices.
2. Sign in with your Microsoft 365 account.
3. The app will display available Universal Print printers assigned to you.
4. Select the printer you want to add and click Add.
5. For macOS, install the Universal Print app or use AirPrint-compatible cloud printing where supported.

Universal Print requires an active internet connection. If your Brisbane office experiences an outage, cloud printing will be unavailable until connectivity is restored.

Troubleshooting

Printer Not Appearing in the Cloud

• Verify the computer running the Universal Print Connector is online and connected to the same network as the printer.
• Check that the connector service is running in Services.msc.
• Confirm the printer is powered on and not displaying an error state on its control panel.
• Restart the Universal Print Connector service and check the Microsoft 365 admin centre again.

Users Cannot Print

• Ensure the user has been assigned to the printer in the Universal Print portal.
• Ask the user to sign out and sign back into their device to refresh authentication tokens.
• Verify the user has a valid Microsoft 365 licence that supports cloud printing.
• Check the print queue in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners for paused or errored jobs.

Print Jobs Stuck in Queue

• Open services.msc and restart the Print Spooler service on the connector machine.
• Clear any stuck jobs from the printer's web interface or physical control panel.
• Confirm the printer firmware is up to date.

Moving to Microsoft Universal Print removes the burden of maintaining local print servers and simplifies printing for remote and hybrid teams across Australia. If you encounter issues during setup or need assistance configuring your tenant, Open a Ticket with our Brisbane support team.

If you host with us, you don't need to do this yourself — just Open a Ticket and our Brisbane team will get it sorted.

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