Is there an easier way to manage and monitor Chromebook printing?

It’s safe to say that, with all its bells and whistles and plug-and-play Google functionality, printing has never been the Chromebook’s strong suit. Well, until now.

See, with Chrome-native print management solutions, like PaperCut Mobility Print , Chromebook printing becomes way easier. And all you need is a simple browser extension .

Why have Chromebooks got a dodgy printing reputation? It’s mostly a historical thing. When the Chromebook arrived, mainstream MFDs either worked with Windows or macOS. Google Cloud Print was often left out to dry.

And now that Google Cloud Print no longer exists, Chromebook users need a new, vendor-neutral, cloud-native system for printing on the fly. Enter PaperCut.

Here’s why you should switch to cloud-based print management for all your Chromebook printing needs.

Advantages of print management for Chromebook

Printing through traditional print servers on Chromebook is all well and good. But life can be so much easier (and secure) when you leverage native print management tools, like PaperCut.

Native Chromebook support

If you’re looking at print management for Chromebook, always go native. PaperCut supports native printing from Chromebooks without the need for complex driver downloads. It integrates directly with Chrome OS, offering a seamless user experience for Chromebook users.

Secure print release

With PaperCut, users can send a print job from their Chromebook and release it at the MFD (with the appropriate authentication). This ensures documents aren’t left on printers unattended.

BYOD-friendly printing

Chromebooks are often part of BYOD environments, and for good reason. With print management services, like PaperCut, Chromebook users can print to any managed printer without needing to install brand-specific drivers. Neat, huh?

Works with any printer

PaperCut is vendor-neutral, so Chromebook users can print to any printer – regardless of brand – as long as it’s connected to the PaperCut-managed network. This is great if you’re dealing with a mixed printer fleet at work or school.

Easy remote printing

PaperCut supports remote printing options (like PaperCut Hive or Mobility Print ), letting Chromebook users send print jobs even when they’re off-campus, or at home. All with the same level of security and control.

No driver hassles

Print servers require printer-specific drivers, which Chromebooks don’t support natively. Bit of a pain, we know. PaperCut’s vendor-neutral approach eliminates the need for drivers on Chromebooks altogether—printing just works from the browser, or the app.

How to set up a printer on a Chromebook

For hassle-free cloud printing on a Chromebook, we generally recommend PaperCut Mobility Print . It’s our free BYOD and Google Cloud Print alternative. It’s also super easy to setup on your Chromebook with just a simple extension.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Make sure the client is connected to your organization’s network.
2. Install the Mobility Print Chrome extension .
3. Open the document you want to print.
4. Select a Mobility Print printer (identified by the PaperCut icon).
5. Print the content.
6. When prompted, sign in.

That’s it! You’re good to go.

Troubleshooting common Chromebook printing issues

With PaperCut’s Chrome-native Mobility Print extension, you really shouldn’t have too many problems when it comes to discovering printers and printing your documents. but if you do have any of the below, here’s some solutions:

Can’t find any printers?

Once you’ve set up the Mobility Print extension for Chromebook, you should be able to see the PaperCut-enabled printers automatically. They’re the ones with the PaperCut logo next to them.

If you’re having trouble with this, first make sure the Chrome extension is actually installed. On your Chromebook, go to chrome://extensions in the browser.

Confirm that the Mobility Print Chrome extension appears in the list of Chrome extensions. If it’s already in there, make sure you’ve got the most up-to-date version, and verify your network connectivity.

Problems with Known Host?

Here’s a quick test to verify that the Known Host config has been implemented correctly:

• Login to one of the affected Chromebooks. In the browser’s address bar, type chrome://policy
• Find the section for Mobility Print and confirm that the policy is in place.
• Verify that the policy value (i.e. Mobility server hostname or IP) matches exactly what was configured in Google Admin in the Policy for extensions section for the Mobility Print extension.
• From a Chromebook, test connectivity to the Mobility Print server by typing the IP or Hostname of the Mobility Print server in the address bar.

Printers disappearing?

If you’ve noticed printers intermittently appearing and disappearing, switch your printer discovery method to Known Host . This method was designed with managed Chromebooks in mind, and allows users to negate complex firewall restrictions.

Invalid username?

Username not checking out? You’ve either entered the wrong information, or there’s a problem synchronizing users with Google Cloud Directory. Check Google Cloud Directory troubleshooting for the next steps.

Find an easier way to manage all your printing

Print management is amazing, when it works well – whether you’re operating with 100 Chromebooks or 1000, the right print management software can help you avoid hundreds of headaches day-to-day, and it doesn’t need to cost!

If you’ve made it this far into the blog and haven’t already run to add Mobility Print to your Chromebook, you’re missing out!