My iPad brings up my printer but I go to identify it and nothing happens

Hi,

Would it be correct to assume that you are using an AirPrint-enabled printer, and no extra apps? Please see the list in the following article.

About AirPrint - Apple Support

AirPrint should work (with a supported printer) if the printer and the iPad are connected to the same network (Wi-Fi router).

Use AirPrint to print from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

If there is a problem with AirPrint, and if all settings are OK, you may want to try the following procedure (in the exact order):

Power off the Wi-Fi router, the printer, the iPad, and all other devices/computers. Wait two to three minutes. Power on the router. Wait two to three minutes. Power on the printer. Wait a minute or two. Power on the iPad. Finally, power on all other devices/computers.

If necessary, please post back with information about the exact printer model and the router.

See:

• Use AirPrint to print from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
• Connect an AirPrint printer to a Wi-Fi network - Apple Support

Apple AirPrint is a driverless connection protocol - that requires a compatible Printer to be wirelessly connected to your WiFi network. A high proportion of modern printers intended for Home, SoHo and Business environments now support AirPrint. Check your printer model against this list:

About AirPrint - Apple Support

If your Printer supports AirPrint

If set-up correctly, should you continue to experience difficulties, your WiFi Router may be unexpectedly failing to pass Apple Bonjour traffic on you local network - or your WiFi Router or Network Switch may be blocking this device discovery protocol.

You may find that restart of your network components will resolve the problem. You’ll need to restart your network devices in the correct order. Assuming that you WiFi Router provides DNS services for your network, restart devices in this order - allowing time for devices to fully boot/restart prior to restarting other devices:

• WiFi Router
• Upstream wired Network Switch(es)
• WiFi Access Points / Network Extenders
• Other fixed infrastructure devices - such as Printers
• Client devices

Restarting your iPad, after restarting other devices in the correct sequence, is most simply achieved by a forced-restart of the iPad:

• On an iPad with a Home button: Press and hold the top button and the Home button at the same time. When the Apple logo appears, release both buttons.
• On an iPad with Face ID: Press and quickly release the volume up button, press and quickly release the volume down button, then press and hold the top button. When the Apple logo appears, release the button.

If your Printer does not support AirPrint

If your printer is not compatible with AirPrint, there are alternatives…

Some printer manufacturers have a suitable companion App that provides Print capabilities for mobile devices, often using a web-based print service. Others can print directly if the App supports other network printing protocols. By example, some HP Printers use the HP Smart App - available in the App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/hp-smart/id469284907

You might also consider connecting a non-AirPrint printer to a PC or Mac computer - and install a “helper application” that allows the computer to emulate AirPrint capabilities; one such option is Readdle Printer Pro, for which suitable software for PC is available. A link to the PC software is included from this page:

https://readdle.com/printerpro

A further alternative is to consider installing a dedicated Print Server Appliance on your network - and connect your printer to this. One example is the Lantronix xPrintServer.

The remaining solution is to simply replace your printer with one that is AirPrint capable.