How to Print from an iPhone to the HP Officejet 6700

To print from an iPhone to an HP Officejet 6700, connect the printer and your iPhone to the same Wi-Fi network. Then open the photo, email or document, tap the Share button, scroll down and tap Print, choose the Officejet 6700, and tap Print. This uses AirPrint, Apple’s built-in wireless printing feature, so you don’t need to install an app or a driver.

HP’s Officejet 6700 Premium datasheet lists Apple AirPrint as a mobile printing feature. The steps below follow Apple’s Use AirPrint to print from your iPhone or iPad article and HP’s AirPrint setup guide. They work the same way on an iPad. For the general process with any printer, see how to print from an iPhone with AirPrint.

What You Need Before You Print

AirPrint has no setup screen on the iPhone. Your iPhone simply looks for AirPrint printers on the network it is connected to, so most of the work is making sure the printer is ready and on the right network.

• The printer is on your Wi-Fi network. If it isn’t yet, follow our guide to connecting the Officejet 6700 to a wireless network first. HP’s datasheet says this model’s wireless works with 2.4 GHz routers only, so it has to join the 2.4 GHz part of your network.
• Your iPhone is on the same network. Open Settings, tap Wi-Fi, and check that Wi-Fi is on and that there is a check mark next to your home network’s name. Apple says the printer and the device must be on the same Wi-Fi network.
• The printer is ready to print. HP says to make sure the printer is turned on, the ink cartridges are installed, and paper is loaded in the correct tray. The Officejet 6700 user guide says to load paper with the print side facing down.
• The app you are using can print. Apple notes that not all apps support printing. Apple’s own apps, such as Mail, Photos and Safari, do.

How to Print From Your iPhone to the Officejet 6700

1. Open the app that has the item you want to print, such as Photos, Mail, Safari or Files, and open the photo, message, web page or document itself.
2. Tap the Share button, which looks like a square with an arrow pointing up. Some apps use an Actions button or a menu button instead. A list of sharing options slides up from the bottom of the screen.
3. Scroll down the list and tap Print. The print options screen opens with a preview of your pages.
4. Tap No Printer Selected next to Printer. Your iPhone searches the network and shows the AirPrint printers it finds. Tap the Officejet 6700. If a printer name is already shown and it is the right one, you can skip this step.
5. Choose the number of copies and any other options, such as which pages to print. HP notes that the available settings depend on the app, the type of print job and the printer, so you may not see every option each time.
6. Tap Print in the upper-right corner.

Result: The job goes to the Officejet 6700 over Wi-Fi and the printer starts printing. If you can’t find Print in an app, Apple suggests checking that app’s user guide or help section, because the app may not support printing.

Where to Find Print in Common Apps

The print screen is the same everywhere, but the button that leads to it moves around. Apple’s iPhone User Guide says to tap the Share, More or reply-style button, depending on the app, and then tap Print. If you don’t see Print right away, swipe up on the list to show more options.

What you are printing	Where to start	Good to know
A photo	Open the picture in Photos, then tap Share	Load the paper you want to use before you send the job
An email	Open the message in Mail, then tap the reply arrow	Print is in the list that opens, below the reply options
A web page	Open the page in Safari, then tap Share	Long pages can use several sheets, so check the preview
A PDF or other file	Open the file in Files, then tap Share	Use the page range option to print only the pages you need
Something in another app	Look for Share or a menu button	Not every app supports printing

How to Check or Cancel a Print Job

While a job is printing, your iPhone runs a small app called Print Center. It is the print queue, which is the list of jobs waiting to print. You won’t find it on the Home Screen. It only shows up in the App Switcher, the screen that shows your recently used apps.

1. Open the App Switcher. On an iPhone without a Home button, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to the middle and hold until the apps appear. On an iPhone with a Home button, press the Home button twice.
2. Tap Print Center. HP says this shows the print summary, with the job’s status and settings. Apple says the badge on the Print Center icon shows how many documents are in the queue.
3. To stop a job, select it and tap Cancel Printing.

You can also stop a job at the printer. HP says to press the Cancel button on the printer’s control panel, and the Officejet 6700 user guide describes that button as the one that stops a job. Canceling can’t be undone, and pages that have already printed stay printed. To print the item after all, send it again from the app.

If Print Center isn’t in the App Switcher, HP notes that it closes on its own once the job is finished. That usually means the job has already been sent to the printer.

If Your iPhone Can’t Find the Officejet 6700

If the printer list is empty or you see “No AirPrint Printers Found,” the iPhone and the printer are not seeing each other on the network. HP suggests these checks, in this order:

• Check the printer’s Wi-Fi. Make sure the printer’s wireless is turned on and that it is connected to the same network as your iPhone. HP says a wireless light that is off or blinking means the printer is not connected. On a printer with a touchscreen, such as this one, HP says you can touch the wireless icon or open the network settings menu to see the connection status.
• Move closer to the router. HP recommends moving the printer and the phone closer to the router to improve the signal.
• Test the internet connection. Open a website on your iPhone to make sure the connection is working.
• Restart the router. If Wi-Fi is slow or keeps dropping, unplug the router’s power cord, wait 15 seconds, and plug it back in. Everything on your network goes offline for a few minutes while it restarts, so pick a moment when nobody is in the middle of something.
• Restart the printer. HP says turning the printer off and on again clears possible error conditions.
• Check that AirPrint is turned on in the printer. HP says to open the printer’s Embedded Web Server, which is the settings page built into the printer, by typing the printer’s IP address into a web browser. In the network settings, make sure the AirPrint status is On. Our guide to finding a printer’s IP address can help with the first part.

Two more things are worth checking on this particular model.

• The 2.4 GHz limit. Because HP lists the Officejet 6700 as compatible with 2.4 GHz routers only, the printer can’t join a 5 GHz-only network. Many routers use one network name for both bands, and that normally works. If your router shows two separate network names and the printer never appears, joining your iPhone to the same named network the printer uses may help. HP’s AirPrint guide doesn’t cover this case, so treat it as something to try.
• Guest networks and cellular data. AirPrint only finds printers on the network your iPhone is connected to. If your iPhone has dropped to cellular data, or has joined a guest network or a neighbor’s network, the printer will not show up. Rejoin your own network in Settings > Wi-Fi and try again.

Apple adds that AirPrint works over Wi-Fi or a wired network connection. It does not work with a printer that is plugged into the USB port of an Apple AirPort base station or Time Capsule, or one connected to a computer by Bluetooth. The Officejet 6700 must be on the network itself; a USB cable to a computer is not enough.

If the Printer Appears but Nothing Prints

When the iPhone can see the Officejet 6700 but no pages come out, the problem is usually at the printer, not the phone.

• Look at the printer’s screen for a message about paper, ink, a jam or an open door, and clear it.
• Open Print Center on your iPhone to see whether the job is still waiting. Cancel a stuck job before you send it again, so you don’t end up with two copies.
• Restart the printer, wait for it to reconnect to Wi-Fi, and print again.
• Check for a printer update. The Officejet 6700 user guide says you can do this from the control panel by touching the HP ePrint icon, then Settings, then Product Updates. This is an older printer, and we could not confirm in HP’s current documentation whether new updates are still being released for it.

Printing Without a Wi-Fi Network

HP says you can use AirPrint without a Wi-Fi network by sending the job over a Wi-Fi Direct connection. Wi-Fi Direct is a direct wireless link between the phone and the printer, with no router in between.

Whether this works on your Officejet 6700 is less certain. HP’s Wi-Fi Direct setup guide describes the feature as an option for most HP printers released after 2014, and the Officejet 6700 is older than that. HP’s datasheet for this model does list “wireless direct printing,” but HP’s current guide doesn’t name this model or that older label. If your printer’s wireless or network menu shows a wireless direct option, HP’s general steps are:

1. Stand next to the printer and find its direct connection name and password. HP says that on printers with a touchscreen these are shown on the control panel.
2. On your iPhone, open Settings > Wi-Fi and tap the printer’s name. HP says current printers show a name that starts with DIRECT followed by the model; an older printer may label it differently.
3. Enter the password if asked and tap Join.
4. Open the item, tap Share, tap Print, select the printer and tap Print.
5. When you are done, go back to Settings > Wi-Fi and rejoin your normal network.

Keep in mind that while your iPhone is joined to the printer this way, it is not on your home Wi-Fi. If you want to print an email or a web page, HP says to open it before you switch networks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need the HP app to print from my iPhone?

No. AirPrint is built into the iPhone, and Apple says you don’t need to install drivers or other software to use an AirPrint printer. HP says its own app adds extras such as scanning and printer management tools. HP’s AirPrint guide doesn’t list which printer models the app supports, so check the app’s requirements before you rely on it with a printer this old.

Does the Officejet 6700 support AirPrint?

Yes. HP’s datasheet for the Officejet 6700 Premium lists Apple AirPrint among its mobile printing features, next to HP ePrint. Apple also keeps a searchable list of AirPrint printers, linked from its About AirPrint page. Apple says that list comes from the printer makers, and to check with the manufacturer if a model isn’t listed.

Can I print photos, emails and web pages the same way?

Yes. HP says AirPrint prints documents, photos and web pages from iPhone and iPad apps that support printing. In each case you open the item, tap Share or the app’s menu button, and tap Print.

Can I print over Bluetooth or with a USB cable?

Not with AirPrint. Apple says AirPrint works over Wi-Fi or a wired network connection, and HP’s datasheet for the Officejet 6700 Premium lists USB, Ethernet and wireless connections, with no Bluetooth. If you plug the printer into your router with an Ethernet cable, it is still on your network, so your iPhone can still print to it over Wi-Fi.

Can I print when I’m away from home?

Not with AirPrint, which needs your iPhone and the printer on the same network. The Officejet 6700 user guide describes HP ePrint, a service that prints documents you email to the printer’s own address, and says it needs the printer’s Web Services to be set up. We could not confirm in HP’s current documentation that the service still works with this model, so check the HP ePrint icon on the printer’s control panel before you count on it.

Next Step

Once the Officejet 6700 shows up on the print screen, printing again takes only a few taps. If the printer drops off the list later, start with the Wi-Fi checks above, and reconnect it using our guide to putting the Officejet 6700 on a wireless network if it has lost its connection.