Today’s tip is about a handy feature that comes with Windows 7  and Windows 8 (Premium and Enterprise versions) that lets your computer automatically switch to the correct printers whenever you’re connected to a particular network.

For example, if you move between your home and work networks with your laptop, you can set it up so that when you’re home, your computer automatically switches to the home printer and at work, it automatically connects to the work printer.

This feature is known as location-aware printing and only available on Laptops and portable devices with Windows 7 / 8 Premium and Enterprise installed.

To get started, first set a printer in your current network as your default printer. To do that in Windows 7 or 8 , go to Control Panel – > Hardware and Sound –> Devices & Printers. Then right-click a printer and set it as your default.

Next, select the default printer and click ‘Manage default printers’ from the toolbar as shown below.

 

default-printer-windows8

 

And select the printer you want to use with a network and choose ‘Change my default printer when i change network’. Do the same with your home network and default printer and save your settings by clicking OK.

 

default-printer-windows8-1

 

That’s it! Anywhere you printer, the correct printer will be selected without use always changing printers before printing. On the other hand, if you don’t want Windows to change your printer, select Always use the same printer as my default printer option above.

Enjoy!