Surface Pro will not recognize multi-function printer as a printer

The Surface Pro uses an ARM cpu and as of late, Sharp drivers do not install on them...

Hello Brandon,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

Based on your Surface Pro 7 is having trouble recognizing the Sharp MX-3070V multi-function printer (MFP) as a printer, and it only shows up as a scanner in the device's menu. I am here to help and let's work on this together. Allow me to ask some questions to further isolate the problem.

• Is this the first time connecting this printer to your Surface? or did this work before?
• What build version of Windows your Surface is currently running?

Let’s explore some potential solutions to address this issue:

1. Make sure that the printer is turned on and connected to the same network as the Surface Pro.
2. Check if the printer is set as the default printer. Go to Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners and select the printer. Click on "Manage" and then "Set as default".
3. Remove and reinstall printer driver. Although you mentioned reinstalling the driver, let’s try a more thorough approach:

• Press Windows key + X and select Device Manager.
• Locate the printer's drivers. Then right-click on the printer and choose Uninstall device.
• Disconnect the printer from the Surface Pro.
• Reboot the Surface Pro.
• Reconnect the printer and let Windows automatically install the driver.
• Check if the printer now appears correctly as a printer.

4.Try adding the printer manually. Go to Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners and click on "Add a printer or scanner". Select "The printer that I want isn't listed" and follow the on-screen instructions to add the printer manually.

5. Check any updates available for your Surface. Make sure your Windows operating system is up to date. Go to Settings > Windows updates and check for updates. Install any pending updates and restart your Surface Pro. Also check optional updates available.
6. Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit

See: Fix common Surface problems using the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit (microsoft.com)

7.  Run the system file checker to check if there are corrupted system files that are just looping around causing this kind of issue to exist.  See Using System File Checker in Windows - Microsoft Support.

I hope the provided solution works for you. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Lavenia

I appreciate you for responding back and providing more information about the issue you're having.

The problem is too complex to be dealt with in the community. This requires more analysis and will be handled better with remote support. Kindly reach out our live support team so they can check and further troubleshoot your device remotely. They should be able to identify what could be root cause of the problem. You may reach them by following the instructions below:

1. Go to Contact Us - Microsoft Support
2. Choose how you would like to get support for your Surface device.
3. Type in the problem you need help with.
4. Look at any available solutions offered and select Contact Support.

You may also check this post from Barb Bowman and follow the steps with screenshots on how to reach out to our technical support team: How to get Phone and Chat Support (for Surface Home/Consumer - Microsoft Community.

To ease any confusion, the previous reply came from a different account that I didn't realize I was on at the time.

Unfortunately, these fixes did not help. I'll go through each suggestion and explain what happened:

1. The printer is on the same network and shows up for automatic connection, but will only connect as a scanner.
2. When the printer is connected as scanner only, it does not give me an option to select it as my default printer, and I don't have the option to install it as a printer.
3. When the Surface was restarted after removing the printer, it would show up as a printer before connecting. However, once it is connected, it only shows up as a scanner.
4. I added the printer manually via IP address, and the program says that it is added successfully. However, the option to print a test page is grayed out and cannot be clicked, and the printer doesn't show up in connected devices despite saying it was connected.
5. The Surface was up to date and restarted before trying all solutions.
6. Surface Diagnostic Toolkit could not find any issues.
7. System File Checker found corrupted files on the first run of the program, and the printer was connected as a scanner at the time. It did not change the connection, so I removed and added the printer again and it was connected as scanner only yet again. I ran the File Checker multiple times after that, trying it both with the printer removed and added, and the File Checker could no longer find corrupted files. The printer would still only connect as a scanner.

Overall, the above solutions did not work, and the printer will still only be connected as a scanner with no option to print any documents from it. The Surface is a Surface Pro 9 running Windows 11 Home. I do not think this is the first time connecting to this printer, and the Surface can connect to other printers properly.

Please let me know if there are any other potential solutions I could try. Thank you.

(Edit: Apparently going back and editing your post allows you to insert images afterward.)