How to add a USB Printer to the Hyper V Virtual Machine?

Connecting a USB printer to your Hyper-V virtual machine can be daunting for some users. Still, it is essential if you want to print documents within the virtual machine. In this article, we will guide you through all the necessary steps for adding a USB printer to your virtual machine.

Let’s first define a virtual machine: It is an application that emulates a computer system and runs on top of a hypervisor program, allowing multiple virtual machines to run on one physical machine. Hyper-V is Microsoft’s hypervisor which enables running virtual machines on Windows systems.

Now that we’ve covered the fundamentals let’s take a closer look at how to add a USB printer to your Hyper-V virtual machine.

Adding a USB Printer to the Hyper V Virtual Machine

Step 1: Connect the USB Printer to the Physical Machine

The initial step is to attach your USB printer to the physical machine where Hyper-V virtual machine runs. Please do this by plugging its USB cable into a port on the physical machine.

Step 2: Enable the USB Printer in Hyper-V Settings

Once your USB printer has been connected to your physical machine, you must enable it in Hyper-V settings. To do this, follow these steps:

To open the Hyper-V Manager, click “Hyper-V Manager” in the Start menu.
Next, click on the name of the virtual machine you wish to add the printer to and click “Settings” in the right-hand pane.
Select “Add Hardware” and choose “Legacy Network Adapter.”

Click “Add” and choose “Printer” from the drop-down menu.
Next, click “Use a Physical Printer on This Computer,” which should bring up a drop-down menu with your USB printer’s name already selected.
Finally, click “Finish” to finish this process.

Step 3: Install the Printer Drivers

Finally, install your printer drivers according to the directions on the package.

Now that your USB printer has been added to your Hyper-V virtual machine, it is necessary to install its drivers. Doing so will enable your virtual machine to communicate with the printer.

To install printer drivers, follow these steps:

To open the Control Panel in your virtual machine, click on the Start menu and search for “Control Panel.”

On that page, click “Devices and Printers,” then click “Add a Printer,” selecting either a network, wireless, or Bluetooth printer.
Finally, select “The printer that I want isn’t listed.”
Select “Add a printer using either TCP/IP address or hostname.”

Type the IP address of your physical machine into the “Hostname or IP address” field and check off “Query the printer and automatically select which driver to use.”
Click “Next” and wait for the virtual machine to detect your printer.
Select the correct driver from a list of available drivers, then click “Next.” Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the installation of your driver.

Step 4: Print a Test Page

Once the printer drivers have been installed, you can print a test page from your virtual machine. To do this, follow these steps:

To open the Control Panel in your virtual machine, launch the Start menu and search for “Control Panel.”

On this page, click “Devices and Printers,” right-click on your USB printer, select “Printer properties,” then click on “Print Test Page.”
Wait for the virtual machine to send the print job to the printer.
Please verify that the test page has printed correctly on the printer by checking its output.

How to add a USB printer to Hyper-V virtual machine on Windows 11 using USB Passthrough:

If you’re running Windows 11 and wish to add a USB printer to your Hyper-V virtual machine, USB Passthrough can help. It allows the connection from your physical machine to be passed through directly to the virtual machine, giving you full access to the printer as if it were directly attached.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to connect a USB printer to your Hyper-V virtual machine running Windows 11 using USB Passthrough:

Step 1: Ensure your USB printer is securely connected to your physical machine and turned on.

Step 2: Launch Hyper-V Manager on your Windows 11 machine.

Step 3: Navigate to the left pane and select the virtual machine to attach the USB printer.

Step 4: Navigate to the “Settings” option on the right-hand pane.

Step 5: In the “Add Hardware” section, select “Legacy Network Adapter” and click on “Add.”

Step 6: Choose “USB Device” and click “Add.”

Step 7: Select your printer from the list of available USB devices and click “Ok.”

Step 8: Click “Apply” and “Ok” to save your changes.

Step 9: Launch your virtual machine

Step 10: Open the “Devices and Printers” menu from Windows’ Start menu once your virtual machine is running.

Step 11: Click “Add a Printer” and follow the onscreen instructions to install your USB printer.

Step 12: Once installed, you can print documents from within your virtual machine as if they were physically present.

It’s essential to be aware that not all USB printers may be compatible with USB Passthrough. You may need to look into alternative solutions or use a different printer in such cases. Furthermore, ensure your printer drivers are up-to-date to prevent any problems when printing from your virtual machine.

Tutorial on adding a USB printer to a Hyper-V virtual machine using USB mouse passthrough:

Connecting a USB printer to your Hyper-V virtual machine using a USB mouse passthrough is also possible. This method works great if you need access to an extra USB port on the physical machine or prefer not to use USB Passthrough. Here’s how:

Step 1: Confirm that your USB printer is connected to your physical machine and turned on.

Step 2: Launch Hyper-V Manager on your machine.

Step 3: On the left pane, select the virtual machine to which you wish to add a USB printer.

Step 4: On the right-hand pane, select “Settings.”

Step 5: Navigate to the “Add Hardware” section and select “Mouse,” then click on “Add.”

Step 6: Verify the “Enable mouse pointer integration” box is selected.

Step 7: Launch your virtual machine

Step 8: Once your virtual machine is running, move your mouse pointer to the top of the screen to bring up its menu.

Step 9: Navigate to the “Devices” menu and select “USB.”

Step 10: Select your printer from the list of available USB devices.

Step 11: Once your printer is connected, you can print documents from within your virtual machine as if they were physically present.

It’s essential to be aware that not all USB printers may support USB mouse passthrough. You may need to search for alternative solutions or use a different printer in such cases. Furthermore, ensure your printer drivers are up-to-date to prevent any problems when printing from your virtual machine.

Hyper-V USB Passthrough Windows 11

Hyper-V USB Passthrough is a feature in Windows 11 that enables the connection of USB devices to a virtual machine. That can be especially helpful if you require external hard drives such as printers, scanners, and external hard drives in your virtual machine.

Enabling USB Passthrough in Hyper-V is a straightforward process. Here’s how:

Step 1: Launch Hyper-V Manager on your Windows 11 machine.

Step 2: Navigate to the left pane and select the virtual machine where you wish to enable USB Passthrough.

Step 3: Navigate to the “Settings” option on the right-hand pane.

Step 4: Navigate to the “Add Hardware” section and select “USB Controller,” then click on “Add.”

Step 5: Click “Apply” and “Ok” to save your changes.

Step 6: Launch your virtual machine

Once USB Passthrough has been enabled in your virtual machine, you can connect USB devices to it. Here’s how:

Step 1: Attach your USB device to your physical machine.

Step 2: Navigate to Hyper-V Manager and select the virtual machine to where you wish to attach a USB device.

Step 3: Navigate to the “Action” menu and select “Insert Integration Services Setup Disk.”

Step 4: From the Windows Start menu, open “Devices and Printers.”

Step 5: Click “Add a Printer” and follow the onscreen instructions to install your USB device.

Step 6: After installing your device on your virtual machine, you can access it just like from a physical one.

Conclusion

Connecting a USB printer to your Hyper-V virtual machine is an easy process. Following the steps outlined above, you can print documents directly from your virtual machine. However, note that some printers may not be compatible with Hyper-V; in such cases, you may need to use another printer or search for alternative solutions.

The process for adding a USB printer to a virtual machine may differ depending on which version of Hyper-V you have installed. The steps outlined in this article apply to Hyper-V Manager running under Windows 10.

Furthermore, adding a USB printer to a Hyper-V virtual machine can be advantageous from an efficiency and cost perspective. For example, suppose your physical printer is already connected to your physical machine. In that case, purchasing an extra one for your virtual one is unnecessary.

Virtual machines can be employed for several tasks, such as software testing, development, and production. In addition, printing documents directly from within your virtual machine simplifies your workflow and boosts productivity.

Virtual machines also provide a secure environment for testing and development, as you can take snapshots of your virtual machine and restore it to an earlier state if required. That is especially helpful in cases where testing software or applications requires a supervised setting.

Adding a USB printer to a Hyper-V virtual machine is an easy process that offers numerous advantages in terms of convenience, cost efficiency, and productivity.