Print from a Mac to a USB Printer over Wi-Fi (Bonjour)

Macs and old USB printers are a difficult combination. Apple dropped support for many legacy printer drivers years ago, so a printer that works perfectly on Windows can be impossible to set up on a Mac. The fix is to keep the printer on the Windows PC and share it over the network, so the Mac only needs to speak IPP Everywhere.

Printman makes the Windows PC act like a Wi-Fi printer, and macOS adds it through Bonjour with a few clicks.

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How the Mac Sees the Printer

macOS uses Bonjour to discover printers that advertise IPP Everywhere or AirPrint on the local network. Printman announces the USB printer exactly that way, so the Mac treats it like any modern network printer, with no legacy driver required.

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What You Need

• A Windows 10 (build 19041+) or Windows 11 PC with the printer’s Windows driver installed.
• The printer connected over USB.
• A Mac on the same network.
• Printman. Download the standalone printman.exe from the releases page and extract it, for example to C:\Tools\Printman.

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Step 1: Share the Printer on Windows

Open Windows Terminal or PowerShell in the Printman folder:

./printman.exe share

That shares the Windows default printer. To pick specific ones:

./printman.exe share --select

Approve the firewall prompt on a Private network. The console prints the advertised name and an ipp:// URL. See the AirPrint and Mopria sharing guide for the complete walkthrough.

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Step 2: Add the Printer on macOS

1. On the Mac, open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS).
2. Go to Printers & Scanners and click Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax.
3. Select the Default tab and wait for Bonjour to list the shared printer, for example Printman - HP LaserJet Professional P1102.
4. Leave Use set to AirPrint or the generic IPP driver, then click Add.

If the printer does not appear under Default, open the IP tab and enter the host from the ipp:// URL, for example 192.168.1.50, with protocol IPP and queue /ipp/print.

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Step 3: Print from macOS

1. Open the document or page you want to print.
2. Press Cmd + P.
3. Choose Printman - <printer> and adjust copies, pages and paper size.
4. Click Print.

The Mac sends a PDF or Apple Raster job. Printman renders it and sends it through the Windows spooler to the USB printer.

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Advanced Printer Features on Older Macs

Because the job is rendered by the Windows driver, features that macOS no longer supports on the device (such as automatic duplex or specific trays) can still be used when they are configured in the Windows driver. This is a common reason people use Printman with legacy hardware that has no modern macOS support.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can a Mac print to a printer that is plugged into a Windows PC?

Yes. Share the USB printer from Windows with printman share, then add it on the Mac from System Settings, Printers & Scanners using the Default (Bonjour) tab. macOS talks to it over IPP Everywhere.

Do I need to install a driver on the Mac?

Usually not. If the printer supports AirPrint or IPP Everywhere, macOS uses a built-in driver. For some older printers macOS may offer an AirPrint or generic driver in the Add Printer dialog.

Why does the printer not show up on my Mac?

Check that the Mac and the Windows PC are on the same network, that printman share is still running, and that Windows Firewall allows it on Private networks. If the network blocks multicast, add the printer by the ipp:// URL.

Can I use this with an old Mac that no longer gets driver updates?

Yes, and this is a common reason people use it. The Windows PC keeps the legacy driver, while the Mac only needs to speak IPP Everywhere, which every supported version of macOS does.

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If this helps you keep an old printer alive, consider buying me a coffee.