How to add printer in active directory

Written by Mahidhar Adarsh, IT security team, ManageEngine Updated on July 2026

Adding a printer to Active Directory makes it a shared resource and it becomes available to everyone on the domain.

Steps to add a printer to Active Directory

• On your Windows computer, hold down the Windows Key while pressing R to bring up the Windows Run dialog.
• Type printmanagement.msc, then press Enter. Print Management will open.

  

• Right-click Print Servers, choose Add/Remove Servers, then add the IP address or computer name of the computer where the printer is shared from.
• Expand Printers. Right-click the printer you wish to add to Active Directory, then select Properties.
• Select the Sharing tab.Check the List in the directory to add the printer to the AD environment.

ADAudit Plus printer monitoring and auditing capabilities provides real-time activity reports detailing all printer use. Printers that have been added to your AD environment will be audited by ADAudit Plus and reports will be generated. Administrators can centrally audit, monitor and view pre-configured reports and schedule reports on printer usage, user based reports, recent jobs and printer based reports.

Advantages of auditing printers using ADAudit Plus

• Get pre-configured printer audit reports to view thorough details.
• Identify all the files printed over the Windows network.
• List file details with time and date, the name of the user who printed it.
• Track the number of pages, copies, file size, printer name and server details for all files printed.
• Export audit reports in XLS, CSV, PDF and HTML formats.