A little preparation

Before you start

  • Finish the printer’s physical setup with the correct regional cartridges installed. Use the related cartridge/paper guides if needed.
  • Connect a supported phone to the intended router network and have its current password. The printer needs a compatible 2.4 GHz wireless network; a router label may show an old password if someone changed it.
  • Install the genuine Canon PRINT app from the phone’s store. Check its current device/OS requirements rather than assuming it works on every old phone.

Choose setup or a deliberate network reset

This workflow connects through a router. It is different from joining the printer’s own access-point network for direct printing. The printer and phone should ultimately use the same home/office network.

For a new connection, start cableless setup below. If intentionally clearing a previous router configuration, use the related network-reset guide first: that action erases printer network settings and disconnects network printing/scanning until setup is completed again. It is not a required first step for every connection problem.

For first use, remove the shipping protection and complete cartridge/paper preparation using Canon’s Getting Started sheet. Do not accept the setup video’s suggestion that an empty cartridge is adequate for proving a working printer.

Step 1:Put the printer into cableless setup

  1. Turn the printer on and let any print, cleaning or alignment operation finish. If the Wi-Fi lamp is already flashing before this new setup attempt, press Stop as Canon directs.
  2. Hold Wi-Fi until the ON lamp flashes, then release it. Press Color once, followed by Wi-Fi once.
  3. Check that the blue Wi-Fi lamp flashes quickly while ON is lit. Return to Canon PRINT to continue setup.

Step 2:Find the printer in Canon PRINT

  1. Open Canon PRINT and use Search or its add/register-printer option. Allow the local-network access requested for discovery. Follow the applicable phone permission prompts; the recorded iPhone also asks for location while using the app.
  2. When the app asks to join the printer’s temporary setup network, accept the intended printer connection and stay in the setup flow. Internet access may pause during this temporary connection.
  3. If the phone asks about Wi-Fi or Bluetooth access, follow that app/OS prompt. A phone permission is not evidence that this printer has a Bluetooth printing connection.

These recordings use an iPhone. Android is supported by Canon PRINT, but its prompts are not asserted to be identical. Optional usage-survey choices are separate from access needed to discover a local printer.

Step 3:Select the router and enter its password

  1. Check that the proposed network name is the router you intend to use. If it is not, select the correct network before continuing.
  2. Enter that network’s current Wi-Fi password and confirm OK. This is the router password, not the printer administrator or direct-connection password.
  3. Wait while the app sends the settings. Keep the setup flow open until it offers printer registration rather than assuming the transfer completed from one blinking lamp.

Step 4:Register the printer and check the result

  1. Select the detected printer in Register Printer. When its dashboard appears, confirm that it is the intended device.
  2. If the first list remains empty after setup, the primary source returns to Add/Switch → Register and searches again. First verify the phone is back on the intended router network and that printer setup completed.
  3. Open the printer information or send a small test print/scan. For printing, load the selected paper and open the complete output path. Verify the actual page/file before calling setup complete.

The source reaches its dashboard and printer information page; it does not prove every future print or every computer is already configured. Add the printer and required software separately on each Windows computer.

If discovery or registration fails

Check the actual app error, local-network permission, network name and password first. Confirm the router supports the printer’s network requirements and ask the administrator about an isolated office/guest network. Canon’s troubleshooting page also covers a disabled wireless LAN and incomplete setup.

Do not immediately uninstall the app, reset everything or assume Canon intentionally disabled an older printer. Those are general claims in the recordings, not an established diagnosis. A complete reset is a separate consequential action.

A little extra help

Questions & troubleshooting

Do I have to reset the printer before reconnecting?

Only if clearing the old network configuration is the intended action. A network reset removes those settings; it does not install the new router details or fix an unrelated paper/ink fault.

Is this Wi-Fi Direct?

No. The temporary setup connection transfers router credentials. The finished route is through the router; the separate direct-connection guide explains using the printer’s own network.

Will every old phone work?

No compatibility promise is made for every phone. Check the current Canon PRINT store requirements and the supported OS for your device.

The printer dashboard appears; is my PC ready too?

Not necessarily. The printer may be on the network, but Windows still needs to add it and install the required print/scan software.

References