How to get the list of all printers in computer

Question

I need to get the list of all printers that connect to computer?

How I can do it in C#, WinForms?

Answer 1

If you need more information than just the name of the printer you can use the System.Management API to query them:

var printerQuery = new ManagementObjectSearcher("SELECT * from Win32_Printer");
foreach (var printer in printerQuery.Get())
{
    var name = printer.GetPropertyValue("Name");
    var status = printer.GetPropertyValue("Status");
    var isDefault = printer.GetPropertyValue("Default");
    var isNetworkPrinter = printer.GetPropertyValue("Network");

    Console.WriteLine("{0} (Status: {1}, Default: {2}, Network: {3}", 
                name, status, isDefault, isNetworkPrinter);
}

Answer 2

You can also use the LocalPrintServer class. See: System.Printing.LocalPrintServer

    public List<string>  InstalledPrinters
    {
        get
        {
            return (from PrintQueue printer in new LocalPrintServer().GetPrintQueues(new[] { EnumeratedPrintQueueTypes.Local,
                EnumeratedPrintQueueTypes.Connections }).ToList()
                    select printer.Name).ToList(); 
        } 
    }

As stated in the docs: Classes within the System.Printing namespace are not supported for use within a Windows service or ASP.NET application or service.

Answer 3

Try this:

foreach (string printer in System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters)
{
    MessageBox.Show(printer);
}

Answer 4

Get Network and Local Printer List in ASP.NET

This method uses the Windows Management Instrumentation or the WMI interface. It’s a technology used to get information about various systems (hardware) running on a Windows Operating System.

private void GetAllPrinterList()
        {
            ManagementScope objScope = new ManagementScope(ManagementPath.DefaultPath); //For the local Access
            objScope.Connect();

            SelectQuery selectQuery = new SelectQuery();
            selectQuery.QueryString = "Select * from win32_Printer";
            ManagementObjectSearcher MOS = new ManagementObjectSearcher(objScope, selectQuery);
            ManagementObjectCollection MOC = MOS.Get();
            foreach (ManagementObject mo in MOC)
            {
                lstPrinterList.Items.Add(mo["Name"].ToString());
            }
        }

Click here to download source and application demo

Demo of application which listed network and local printer

Answer 5

Look at the static System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters property.

It is a list of the names of all installed printers on the system.

Answer 6

If you are working with MVC C#, this is the way to deal with printers and serial ports for dropdowns.

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.IO.Ports;
using System.Drawing.Printing;

    public class Miclass
    {
        private void AllViews()
        {
            List<PortClass> ports = new List<PortClass>();
            List<Printersclass> Printersfor = new List<Printersclass>();
            string[] portnames = SerialPort.GetPortNames();
            /*PORTS*/
            for (int i = 0; i < portnames.Count(); i++)
            {
                ports.Add(new PortClass() { Name = portnames[i].Trim(), Desc = portnames[i].Trim() });
            }
            /*PRINTER*/
            for (int i = 0; i < PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters.Count; i++)
            {
                Printersfor.Add(new Printersclass() { Name = PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters[i].Trim(), Desc = PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters[i].Trim() });
            }
        }
    }
    public class PortClass
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public string Desc { get; set; }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return string.Format("{0} ({1})", Name, Desc);
        }
    }
    public class Printersclass
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public string Desc { get; set; }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return string.Format("{0} ({1})", Name, Desc);
        }
    }