Desktop windows 11 icon

[scotty02]

how do I put a printer shortcut onto my Desktop so it gives me the options to scan and print, check the status of the inks, and change paper sizes when I need to, am using Windows 11 desktop which is also HP 

[BeemerBiker]

You can put both HP Scan and HP Smart on the desktop.

I recommend you prevent windows from managing your printers.  That way, when you print from an application (word, adobe, notepad, etc) you  can specify what needs to be done and not worry about windows printing a document the same way it printed the last document.

I assume you have the full feature drivers for your printer.

After installing the full feature driver package, click the windows key and select all apps and find HP.

Look for HP Scan.

If HP scan is not present then use HP Smart. get HP Smart from the Microsoft store if needed or if you want the newest version. You will have to sign into HP Smart using your HP account. The latest version as of Jun, 2024 is 154.2.1072.0 (USA English). If you do not have this version then go to the Microsoft store, find HP Smart, and click "update". If the button "update" is missing then you need to run WSRESET from the Windows search bar.

To put HP Smart (or HP Scan) on the desktop:

For Windows 10, click Start. For Windows 11, click Start and click All apps. This will show (see above) a list of all apps you have installed in Windows. Find the target app from the list, drag and pull the app from the Start menu to the desktop. This will create a desktop shortcut for the app installed from Microsoft Store.
The following video is an example of how to put an app on the desktop.
This is a video for the support assistant desktop icon here

-----------default setup

prevent windows from managing your printers. If you try to print a word document and the last printer you used was a label printer, windows will send the job to the label printer instead of the default printer if you are not careful. This happened to me and I had to unplug the label printer to stop it.

You can do a second installation of the driver and give it a different name such "Landscape and B&W only".  Then you configure the default setting to be landscape and black and white only.  When you print a document you select that printer instead of the default.  This is explained below for avoiding color ink 

To avoid using colored ink for documents that are mostly text you can re-install your printer using a different name. Likewise you can force landscape for all prints the same way. After installation you set the properties for what you want.

https://www.howtogeek.com/362957/how-to-install-the-same-printer-twice-with-different-settings-on-wi...

How to set default to colour or black and white.

Or watch this video.

[scotty02 · Accepted solution]

Hi BeemerBiker,

I have finally managed to sort it but thank you, I did it exactly the way you explained it so all is good now thank you, its a new PC as well HP windows 11 desktop so its finding myself around its as well 

Kind regards 

Mark