Using TeamViewer Printing, you can print documents from remote devices directly on a locally accessible printer. This allows you to print documents from remote devices on your printer without transferring files.
From the remote device, you can access the same printers (including network printers) as you would on your local device.
Remote Printing is available for Windows and macOS. Remote Printing in color is also possible.
This article applies to customers using TeamViewer Remote on Windows and macOS with a Remote Access, Business, Premium, Corporate, Tensor, or TeamViewer ONE license.
Step 1: Install the TeamViewer printer driver on the local device
The first step to setting up remote printing is to install the printer driver on your local device. For Windows and macOS devices, follow the steps below:
- Open and sign in with your account on TeamViewer Remote.
- Click the profile picture and select Edit profile.
- On the Settings menu, go to Remote control.
Hint: If the Settings menu is collapsed, click on the side panel to expand it. - Click Remote printing.
5. On the TeamViewer printer driver, click Install.
The printer drive is now successfully installed.
Note: The native format on Windows is XPS. However, with the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, Microsoft has made the XPS-Viewer an optional feature. Therefore, you can select the format (PDF or XPS) for opening documents in the Settings. By default, XPS is selected. If you selected PDF but do not have a PDF reader, the document will be opened as XPS as a fallback.
When installing the printer driver, TeamViewer selects the default printer and calls it TeamViewer – [username (ID number)]. This improves general usability during the remote printing process.
Step 2: Install the TeamViewer printer driver on the remote side
It’s possible to install the printer driver via the remote session toolbar or via the device Settings. If the printer driver is already installed, move forward to Step 3.
- Install the printer driver via the remote session toolbar
- Install the printer driver via TeamViewer Settings
You can install the remote printer driver via the remote session toolbar for both Windows and macOS, following the steps below:
1. Connect to the remote device that you wish to install the printer driver.
2. On the session toolbar, go to Files & Extras (on Windows), or Extras (on macOS).
3. Click Use TeamViewer Printing (on Windows), or Activate TeamViewer Printing (on macOS).
4. A prompt to install the printer driver will pop up; follow the steps on the screen for the installation.
The steps will be different depending on the operating system and the type of TeamViewer client:
- TeamViewer Host on Windows
- TeamViewer Host on macOS
To install the printer driver using the Host, follow the steps below:
- Open TeamViewer Host.
- Access the Settings by clicking the gear icon in the top right corner.
3. Click on Advanced and Show advanced options.
4. Go to Advanced network settings, and next to Install TeamViewer Printer Driver, click Install...
5. Click OK to save.
The printer drive is now successfully installed.
Note: The steps above also apply to Windows users who aren’t logged in to the TeamViewer full client.
To install the printer driver on macOS with TeamViewer Host, follow the steps below:
- Click on TeamViewer in the top left corner.
- Access the Preferences.
- Go to Advanced, and navigate to Network.
- Next to Install TeamViewer Printer Driver, click Install.
Note: The steps above also apply to macOS users who aren’t logged in to the TeamViewer full client.
Step 3: Activating remote printing within a session
Once the drivers have been installed, you can activate remote printing in the session toolbar:
- Windows
- macOS
1. Start the remote session.
2. Navigate to Files & Extras on the session toolbar.
3. Click on Use TeamViewer Printing.
Note: The local printers will now be displayed in the print dialog boxes on the remote computer. They will be labeled TeamViewer – [username (ID number)].
Starting a print job
To run a print job, follow these simple steps:
- Open the desired document, and access the standard print dialogue box.
- Select a printer labeled TeamViewer – [username (ID number)].
- Start the print job.
1. Start the remote session.
2. Navigate to Extras on the session toolbar.
3. Click on Activate TeamViewer Printing.
Print documents with macOS using an XPS Viewer
If you are connecting from a macOS to a Windows machine, it might be necessary to have an XPS viewer installed, depending on the Windows and TeamViewer versions.
- Install an XPS Viewer on your local device running macOS.
- Please note: Free XPS Viewer software might come with restrictions like limited page numbers. Please check for the viewer software that best fits your needs, and keep in mind that TeamViewer does not support this third-party software.
- Open the file to be printed in your XPS viewer in the remote session.
- Go to File ➜ Print in the XPS reader.
- Choose the local printer for printing and click Print in the print dialogue.
Open documents in XPS Viewer or direct printing
Due to the nature of your local client and the device on the remote side, you may need an additional tool for printing. Each Operating System has its standard format for printing. If you connect devices running on the exact Operating System, you can directly print to any printer. If you have different Operating Systems on both sides, you might need an additional tool to start the print job.
The native format on Windows is XPS (in some versions, PDF is also supported), and the one on macOS is PDF.
XPS Reader/PDF
Due to the nature of the remote machine, an XPS reader is required to print remotely for the following connections:
- Windows7/8.1 to Windows7/8.1
- macOS to Windows 7 – Windows 8.1.
A PDF reader is required for the following connections:
- macOS to macOS
- macOS to Windows 10
- Windows to macOS
Additional troubleshooting
If you’re running into issues with remote printing, we’ve put together a dedicated troubleshooting guide that walks you through the most common causes and fixes step by step. Check out the article: Troubleshoot remote printing
Important notes:
- If Windows 10 Version 1903 or 1909 is installed on the remote computer:
- TeamViewer (Classic) Version 14.7 or higher: Printing documents on macOS is possible with an installed XPS viewer on the local computer. Please follow the instructions below on how to use an XPS viewer
- Any TeamViewer (Classic) version below 14.7: TeamViewer Printing does not currently work due to OS changes in Windows. This is fixed for higher Windows versions starting with build 2004.
- If Windows 10 Version 2004 (or higher) is installed on the remote computer:
- TeamViewer (Classic) Version 15.5 or higher: Everything works as before once the printer driver is installed. Due to a fix by Microsoft, direct printing in connections from macOS to Windows was re-enabled.