Setting Default Printer

Question

This should be easy but I can't find it.  

How do I set a particular printer to be the default printer.

Answer 1

I'm looking at Win 8 and not 8.1, so things might be a little different.

From the Search charm, search for printer. In the results, you should find and tap/click Devices and Printers. Right-click the desired printer and choose "Set as default printer". That will put a checkmark-in-green-circle on the printer's icon. Each time you start Word, it should use that default printer unless/until you choose a different one in the Print page.

Answer 2

It's stupid Marketing Department terminology/

See http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-windows-8-charms-bar-and-its-hidden-shortcuts.html

Answer 3

Can you elaborate a little on the term "Search Charm"?  Is this accessible in Word, and if so, where is it?

Thanks in advance,

Cherie

Answer 4

You can also select different default printers for different networks. Let's say you have a couple different printers loaded on your laptop and you have a home network and one at work.

When you are in the 'Devices and Printers' window left click on the printer you want to set as default. A prompt stating 'Manage default printers' will appear in the toolbar. Select that prompt and it will give you the option to assign a default printer to each network.

Say you have a Lexmark at work and a Brother at home. Assign the Lexmark to your work network and the Brother to your home network. Then when you are logged onto the network it will automatically change the default printer to the correct one and you don't have to change it prior to printing.

Answer 5

Thanks - That worked!