How to Connect Canon Printer to WiFi: No Strings Attached

It's Tuesday afternoon at the office and you're sitting at your cubicle staring at your brand-new Canon printer a bit too hard. Like, to the point where it's kinda creeping out your coworkers. You want to stop, but you just can't. You're imagining all the things you could print: sheet music to that rock opera you've been working on, volumes one through eight of your Star Trek-themed love poetry... Oh, and emails.

But amidst all the joy, you're still wondering how to connect a Canon printer to WiFi. After all, this beauty isn't just for you; your colleagues across the office will also want a piece of that sweet sweet printing action.

We've written this guide so you can set your whole office up to print like a pro without any of those cumbersome wires. Read on and start your personal printing revolution today.

Setting up the Battlefield

Wires from your laptop, desktop, smartphone, or tablet can become messy when you’re trying to connect devices to your Canon printer. The good news is that most Canon printers now have inbuilt WiFi, so you don’t have to use wires. In fact, you don’t even need to be in the same room to print. Now the major question is: how do you connect a Canon printer to WiFi?

First things first, make sure your computer is connected to the network. Then make sure to connect your WiFi printer to your home (or office) network using a wireless router. There are two ways you can do that; we’ll walk you through both.

WPS Setup

If your wireless router has a push-button for WPS (wireless protected setup), that means you have a state-of-the-art wireless router and you’re good to go. Make sure to toggle on the WEP security on your PC’s wireless connection settings. Next, turn on the Canon printer and press the WiFi button, then click the router’s WPS button two minutes later. Et voila! You can start with Canon wireless printing once you tap OK on the “Connected to the access point” message and install the software. 

Standard Setup

If your router doesn’t have a WPS button, you can connect your Canon printer to WiFi in the good old-fashioned way. This method takes time, but it’s time well spent. Turn the computer and the printer on and load the input tray with paper. Hit Start on your PC and go to the Settings menu, then Devices. Under the Devices tab, select Printer and Scanners and choose the option “Add a printer or scanner” to add your Canon printer to the list. 

You’ll have to connect your Canon wireless printer to the same network as your PC or Mac device by entering the network key or PIN. If you have trouble identifying the network key, here’s a tip: it’s a series of numbers and letters that you can find in your router’s documentation or on a label. Enter the key into the printer on the screen using the function buttons.

Now you’ll have to set the connection on your PC, too. Hit the Start button, go to the Control Panel, and choose Devices and Printers. Click “Add a printer” then “Add a network, wireless, or Bluetooth printer,” and you’re good to go. 

Printing Directly from Your Phone or Tablet

We know this goes without saying, but cellphones and tablets are becoming our very best friends. Printing the data stored on them - holiday photos or important documents - used to be a hassle, but if you know how to connect your iPhone to your Canon printer via WiFi, it couldn’t be easier. If you’re still debating the merits of Android vs. iPhone, this article won’t make it any easier; both allow wireless printing, and we’ll walk you through the process of setting it up on both. 

3D printing technology is much more complicated to set up, but here we’re thankfully only focusing on state-of-the-art regular printers. As such, connecting a portable device with a printer using a wireless connection shouldn’t be a big issue. However, we want to help those who are still wondering how to connect a Canon printer to WiFi on their phone, so here’s how it goes.

Simply download the Canon PRINT Inkjet/Selphy App from Google Play or the App Store. The swift setup process will start once you press your Canon printer’s Wireless Connect button, which will prompt all the information stored on your phone, together with your WiFi name and password, to transfer automatically.

iPhone users have another option, which is to use the pre-installed AirPrint feature. Users should first make sure that their Canon printer and Apple iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch are on the same WiFi network. Next, choose the web page, photo, or document you’d like to print out, then tap the Share icon. 

If you know how to use your Canon printer, the rest will be a no-brainer for you. First, scroll down and hit Print; if you can’t find it, then the app doesn’t support AirPrint. Tap Select Printer, choose your Canon printer, decide how many copies you want and what page you want to start from, then start printing. 

Changing Your WiFi Router

Changing your home WiFi router can be a hassle, but it shouldn’t be too much of a problem when it comes to connecting your printer to WiFi, especially if you’ve already managed to successfully connect it to multiple devices in the past. Here’s how to connect a Canon printer to new WiFi.

The easiest way that doesn’t require reinstalling software is via the WPS button on your router. Another way is to enter the WPS PIN code into your wireless router’s settings (you can find it in the Network Configuration Page). 

If your router doesn’t have the WPS button, find and select Programs and Features in the Control Panel. Find your Canon printer on the list and hit Uninstall. Once it’s finished and the drivers have been deleted, you’ll need to download and install the Full Driver and Software Package for a cableless setup. 

Setting up a Canon wireless printer after changing your WiFi network can be even easier if you’re using your mobile phone. You can use your Canon PRINT Inkjet/SELPHY app for Android and iOS to reconnect your Canon printer to your new wireless network.