Can you use Square with standard printers?

[snbackwoods]

Can you use a standard wireless printer with Square?

[VanKalkerFarms]

Square Point of Sale only works with receipt printers, not desktop models like an inkjet or laserjet.

if you use the Square stand

https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5508-recommended-hardware-for-square-stand

if you don't use square stand or do use the square stand but don't want USB printers and cash drawers (they are more expensive)

printer https://amzn.com/B003O91EUY

drawer https://amzn.com/B00EUMNQTG

those are the 2 items I have 3 sets of that work great.

[knotz]

Hi,

Just wondering is anyone has gotten any other cheaper receipt printers to work? The ones that are on the supported list are so expensive.

Thanks!

[Helen]

This reply was created from merging an existing thread: Has anyone gotten a cheaper non supported receipt printer to work?

@knotz I've moved your post to this thread discussing hardware alternatives. Are you  using an iOS or Android device? 

As Sean mentioned we are constantly on the look out for more affordable solutions but the supported hardware we list is tested and configured to work with Square Point of Sale.

In the meantime you might find a bargain for a supported printer on Amazon/eBay.

[McNabbGames]

So ive tried every work around i can find on the internet and all to no avail. 

The supported square receipt printers are unecessarily overpriced.

A simple print button on the tablet application would allow us to connect to a local or network printer and print the same form data. Why is this still impossible? Why can we still not utilize our desktop or local printers to print receipt data from the app? 

It is a simple process all I can think is that square gets a percentage of royalties from their supported printer sales and thats why they are locking everything down to these ridiculously overpriced pieces of equipment. 

Im on the verge of just going with another pos system as this is unecessarily convoluted.

[Sean]

Hi @McNabbGames — I went ahead and combined your thread with another seller's who had a similar question. I can assure you that we're always looking into more affordable hardware options for our sellers. As for the technical explanation, from my limited understanding (I'm not an engineer), each printer manufacturer has a specific driver for their hardware, and since manufacturers don't build printer drivers for Square Point of Sale, we would have to build one for each printer model - which is something we don't have the bandwidth to do. 

[VanKalkerFarms]

The printer that Square supports is one of the largest used brands in the receipt printer market.  They are not getting kickbacks on printers as the printers are sold by hundreds of places including Amazon, and the buyer doesn't know you are buying it to print with Square as the printer is also used by 100s of other POS systems. More printer options would always be better, but as this is one of the industry standard printers it only makes sense they support it.

A printer costs money and is an investment in your business.  It currently is about $200 on amazon and we have had 3 printers for 4 years now and they are still going strong 50,000+ receipts later.

[lynnisaw]

But for those of us who need a portable battery operated printer they offer no support, they could offer at least one.

[Chad]

Hey @lynnisaw, sorry about the delay! 

If you are using an iPad we do have a number of compatible Bluetooth printers. You can find them our Support Center article Supported Hardware for iPads. 😃

[drdeputy]

But my point is that an adding machine paper-receipt looks unprofessional in some businesses.  An inexpensive ink jet or better, a multitasking network office printer that is already in use would make a LOT more sense for me.  I'm sure they are robust and work fine, they just don't suit my business and I don't like being so limited in the TYPE of printer I can use.

[puka · Accepted solution]

As VanKalkerFarms answer states, Point of Sale is not compatible with standard desktop printers at this time. A possible solution might be to view your receipts on your online Dashboard after the transaction is complete and you can print them from there on a desktop printer. 

Just click the Transaction and the Receipt will preview on the right-hand side. At the bottom, you'll see the receipt number (ex: Receipt #H8R5). Click that and it will show you the digital version of the receipt. From there you're good to print on the standard 8x11 printer paper.

*Note: We have had some Sellers complain about the receipts printing over too many pages when they want it to only print on one. The trick is to reduce the scale of the image within your printing options until it fits. (see screenshot)

Please let us know if you have any further questions!

[LorraineCC]

What are my options for printing receipts from Desktop version of Square?

[Joe]

Hi there, @LorraineCC 👋 Welcome here to the Seller Community! Happy to have you!

I've gone ahead and merged your post into an existing thread of Sellers who were also looking for information regarding printing receipts from the Online Dashboard. Take a look at this Best Answer from Puka - she will offer some helpful workarounds.

Let us know if you have any questions!

[drdeputy]

Unless proven otherwise, I agree.  And in my business, giving a client a receipt on what amounts to a piece of adding machine paper is unprofessional.  I should be able to use any printer that is compatible with the iPad, not just the uni-tasker receipt printers.

[ppres2]

They are not really overpriced compared with any other high volume receipt printer, but you can find them for a bit less used on eBay and if you are paying for the ink for your desktop printer they save will save money in the long run. And they don’t support desktop printers because it would be a waste of time to write the code required to support a desktop printer for a pos system designed mainly for retail and restaurant environments. And even if they did people would complain because they don’t support the model of desktop printer they have. Nobody complains that micros (a very widely used and very expensive POS system) can’t print receipt’s on 210mm x 297 mm paper. 

[AVW]

Is there a reason for not having a "Print Receipt" on the Dashboard when viewing Transactions and Receipts? 

This seems like a simple thing that would make life easier for users and our customers.

[RHatch]

Under Transactions if you find and click on the transaction you want. You will see the detail window on the right.  Once that is up if you just hit control P (Command P on Mac) it will allow you to print that box without everything else.  Not exactly what you are asking for but works until the option is available.

[puka]

Hi @AVW - I've merged your post to a thread on the same topic. After following @RHatch's suggested steps, you can check out the Best Answer on Page 1 for how to size the receipt correctly in order to print on one page.

[Pompeii1]

How do you make your receipts smaller for the client because when they print out, there copy takes two sheets of paper.

my best,

paul

[puka]

Hey @Pompeii1 - Check out my Best Answer on the first page for tips on how to print on a desktop printer and how to reduce the size of the image to fit on one page.