Are you seeing printers you don’t want in your “Nearby Printers” list? This can be a common issue in networked environments, where printers broadcast their availability, sometimes leading to a cluttered and confusing printer selection. Fortunately, you can take control and prevent specific printers from appearing in this list. The solution lies in managing how computers and printers announce their services on the network, specifically by disabling multicast DNS (mDNS) advertisements.
To get started, you’ll need to identify which devices are broadcasting these printer advertisements. A helpful tool for this is a Bonjour browser application. Bonjour is Apple’s implementation of mDNS, and it’s widely used for service discovery on networks. A Bonjour browser lets you see these broadcasts in real-time. One such application is the Bonjour Browser, which you can find at various software download sites. Using this tool, you can explore the list of services being advertised on your network and pinpoint the IP addresses of machines announcing printer services.
Once you know which machines are advertising printers, you can take steps to disable these announcements. The method varies depending on whether the advertising machine is a computer (like a Mac or Windows PC sharing a printer) or the printer itself (a network printer with built-in sharing capabilities).
For macOS computers, the simplest way to stop printer advertisement is through System Preferences. Navigate to System Preferences > Printers & Scanners. For each printer listed, ensure that the “Share this printer on the network” checkbox is unchecked. Remember that disabling this option will prevent other computers from directly accessing the printer shared from this Mac. If you need to keep printer sharing active but hide it from “Nearby Printers”, you’ll need to disable the mDNS broadcast at a deeper system level. Instructions for disabling Bonjour on macOS can be found in online tutorials, such as those provided by Apple Support and tech blogs, which guide you through commands to stop Bonjour broadcasting.
Network printers themselves also often broadcast their availability via Bonjour. Most modern network printers have a web-based administration panel. To access this, you’ll need the printer’s IP address. Enter the printer’s IP address into a web browser (like Safari or Chrome), and you should be able to access the printer’s settings. Within the web interface, typically under Networking or Bonjour/mDNS settings, you can disable the printer’s Bonjour advertisement features. For many standard network printing setups, especially in environments primarily using standard printing protocols like IPP or port 9100, disabling Bonjour and other miscellaneous services often won’t impact normal printing functionality. However, if you’re unsure about the impact on specific network applications, it’s always best to consult with your network administrator before disabling printer services.
By taking these steps to disable printer service advertisements from both computers and network printers, you can effectively clean up your “Nearby Printers” list and ensure only the printers you intend to see are displayed. This provides a cleaner and more controlled printing experience on your network.
