Printers offer a multitude of features, including a scanner, color printing, black and white printing, etc. If you have a printer at home and don’t want everyone to be able to print a document in color or not use a scanner, how do you do that? The good thing is that Windows allows you to install the same printer twice and even more. This allows an administrator to create some sort of profiles for printers, then you can choose to share the profile you want to share. In this article, we will show how to install the same printer multiple times with different settings in Windows.
Install multiple copies of the same printer with different settings
There are two things you need to reinstall the same printer: the port and the printer driver. This is important because it is the same printer, and all we are looking for here is the limited functionality of the printer when copying.
Find printer port and driver
Open Windows settings (Win + I), then go to Bluetooth> Printers and scanners. Select the printer and click the Manage button. It will open printer management, then click Printer Properties.
In the Properties window, switch to ports. Note the selected port. Then go to the Advanced section and note the driver listed in the drop-down list. In my case, it is the USB001 port and the Brother HL-L2320D series.
Create a copy of the printer
Open the Control Panel and go to Devices and Printers. Click Add a printer to open the installation wizard. Immediately click on “The printer I want is not listed. “Select the radio button next to” Add a local printer or network with manual settings “and click the Next button.
On the next screen, select the radio button that says “Use an existing port,” then click Next to select a driver. Make sure you select the same manufacturer and printer driver that we noted in the first section. Then choose the option “Use the currently installed driver”. Click on the Next button.
Finally, add the printer name on the next screen. Finally, press the Finish button to complete the process.
How to use the printer copy
Now that we have copies of the printer, it’s time to configure its features, which you can choose to share. In Windows 10, you can’t see multiple copies of the same printer from the start. Instead, if you right-click the printer listed and select the properties, you can see them all under Hardware Profile.
Other details will change based on custom OEMs. Right-click the printer, select Printing Preferences from the menu, and then select the printer copy. Here you can customize the resolution, paper size, advanced options allow you to select printer functions, etc.
How to use the second printer
Open a text or Word file and choose to print. The option where you can choose the printer, you will have all the copy of the printers that you created under Windows. Select it and it will print in the same profile as it was configured.
There are many advantages to creating a copy of the printer using this method. You can create a profile for a different print type; you can share profiles instead of the main printer, and more.
I hope the message was easy to follow and that you were able to install the same printer multiple times with different settings on Windows.
Related reading: Unable to print documents, the printer driver is not available.
