Questions

It lets everyone in the office print to any office printer from their own phone, tablet or computer. One computer (the main computer) runs a small printing page; people open it, drop in a file, choose a printer and press Print.

No. On a phone, people scan the sign on the office wall (or type its address) and print from the browser. No app, no account, no password. Only the office computers get PrintBridge installed.

Yes. PrintBridge solves the same problem Google Cloud Print did: letting phones, tablets, and computers print to any printer without manufacturer drivers or complex setup. Unlike cloud services, PrintBridge runs entirely on your local office network with no third-party accounts, subscription fees, or data leaving your building.

PDFs always print. Word, Excel, PowerPoint and photos print too when LibreOffice (free) is installed on the main computer: tick Also install LibreOffice during setup.

Yes. Every file is shown as it will come out of the printer, page by page, before you press Print. You can pick copies, paper size, colour or black and white, single or double-sided, and which pages, where the printer supports it.

Yes. Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) and Macs (Apple Silicon and Intel). The computers can be mixed: a Mac main computer can print to a printer on a Windows PC, and the other way round.

One that stays on during office hours, ideally connected by cable. It runs the printing page for everyone. Set up only one: ticking Make this the only main computer makes any other one switch over to it by itself.

The main computer first, then the computers that have printers plugged in, then the ones that only print. Each one finds the main computer on the network by itself; nothing to copy or paste.

On the computer the printer is plugged into, run PrintBridge Setup and choose This computer shares a printer. Its printers appear on the printing page within a minute.

Yes. Open Printers & setup from the printing page and press Hide next to it. It disappears from the printing page until you press Show.

A page with a QR code and the printing page’s address. It opens when setup finishes on the main computer. Print it and put it up where people can scan it with their phones.

The other computers find it again by themselves. To keep the address on the wall sign the same, tick Give this computer a fixed address when setting up the main computer. There is also a Refresh address button on the printing page.

Yes, on Windows and Mac. PrintBridge adds a printer called PrintBridge. Choose it in any program’s Print box, and the printing page opens with your document ready to send to any office printer.

Guests simply connect to the office Wi-Fi, scan the QR code on the wall sign (or open the local URL in Safari or Chrome), choose their document, and tap Print. It works immediately on iPhone, iPad, Android, and laptops with zero setup.

The queue on the printing page updates by itself, so you can watch each job go from waiting to printed. You can cancel what you sent (and only what you sent).

The job waits and prints when it comes back. If you allowed it, PrintBridge sends it to another printer that can do the same thing instead.

PrintBridge starts again on its own when the computers are switched on, even with nobody signed in, and they find each other again. Waiting jobs are sent again; a page that was cut off mid-print is not printed twice.

Yes. Press Need help? on the printing page and write what’s wrong. The request shows up on the printing page for the others in the office until someone marks it as dealt with.

Yes, from version 4.2.0. Like a fax: chosen people get a personal code. From anywhere, they open the office’s online drop page, type their code and send a file. The main computer collects it and prints it.

On the main computer itself, open Printers & setup and go to Printing from anywhere. Paste the drop page’s address and the pairing code you were given when the drop page was made, and press Connect. Ask whoever set up PrintBridge for your office if you don’t have them.

Still on the main computer, under Add a person: type their name, choose how many printouts a day they may send, tick the printers they may use, and press Make a code. Send them the drop page’s address and their code.

Yes. Tick Their printouts wait until someone here presses Print for that person. Their files then wait on the Printers & setup page until someone in the office approves or rejects them, from any office computer.

Codes are shown only once and are never stored, so a lost code can’t be looked up. On the main computer, give that person a new code (the old one stops working), or remove them.

Files are locked in the sender’s browser before they leave, and only your office’s main computer can unlock them. The drop page can’t read them. The main computer reaches out to collect files; nothing on the internet can reach into the office. Only people with a code can send, within their daily limit.

You don’t need to. From version 4.1.3 on, each computer installs new versions by itself, waits until nothing is printing, and keeps all its settings. To check straight away, choose Update PrintBridge now in the Start menu (Windows) or the PrintBridge folder in Applications (Mac).

PrintBridge checks that the new version starts properly. If it doesn’t, it puts the previous version back by itself and tries again later. Check PrintBridge shows what happened.

The printing page only works inside the office network. Updates are only installed if they carry PrintBridge’s own signature, and each installer is checked against it before it runs, so a changed or fake file is never installed.

No. A file is kept only until it has printed, then it is deleted from the main computer.

Open Check PrintBridge on that computer (Start menu on Windows, or the PrintBridge folder in Applications on a Mac). It says in plain words what is wrong and how to fix it.

Click More info, then Run anyway, and allow the changes. This appears for programs that aren’t sold through Microsoft’s store.

Click Done, then open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway.

Check that the computer it is plugged into is switched on and has PrintBridge set up as This computer shares a printer, and that the printer works from that computer itself. Then look on Printers & setup: it may be hidden.

Windows: Settings → Apps → PrintBridge → Uninstall. Mac: Applications → PrintBridge → Uninstall PrintBridge. It removes everything it added, including the “PrintBridge” printer, and puts the power settings back.