- Driver and Manual Download
- Setup and Installation
- Wireless Setup
- Ink Cartridges
- HP LJ Pro m281fdw Troubleshooting
- Printer offline
- Load paper error
- Paper Jam
- Won’t Print
Driver Download
Make sure that your printer is connected to your computer and that the printer is turned on. The printer driver is a software that facilitates communication between your printer and your computer. HP regularly releases updates for the driver software. Download the driver from our website free of cost. The driver file for Windows is .exe and for Mac, it is .dmg. Open the driver file and install it by following the step-by-step instructions given in the user guide or on our website. The basic troubleshooting step for any printer problem is uninstalling the driver and re-installing an updated printer driver.
Manual Download
The product information and troubleshooting resources can be obtained from the user manual. The manual provides information about print cartridge health and access to maintenance services. It contains tools to configure print settings, calibrate the device, clean the print cartridges, print the self-test diagnostic page, order supplies online, and find support information from the Website. It also provides information about events that have occurred. It has information that will allow you to change device settings, order supplies, start, and access the onscreen help. Download the free user manual from our website and follow the instructions for setup or troubleshoot your printer.
Laserjet Pro M281FDW Driver Setup and Installation
Windows
- After you unbox your printer, the first step is to install the driver. A computer printer will work only when the driver and software are installed.
- Unwrap the packaging material from the printer and its accessories. Install the duplexer and cartridges in their respective slots.
- Make sure the black cartridge is installed in the right slot and the tri-color cartridge is installed in the left slot.
- Connect one end of the power cord to the rear of the printer and the other end to the wall outlet.
- Turn on your printer by pressing the power button and wait for it to initialize. Under Default Settings select either the Self-managed or IT-managed option.
- Self-managed : Optimized default settings for most users that include guided setup and configuration steps and automatic updates.
- IT-managed : Optimized default settings for fleet manageability. Settings are fully customizable after initial setup.
- Navigate through the control panel to configure the language, location and default settings.
- Now, turn on your computer and insert the CD that came along with your printer.
- If the CD does not automatically open, then go to My Computer, double-click on the CD drive, and then run the Setup file and complete the installation.
- If you do not have the installation CD, then download the software for your printer from our website.
- Once the driver file is downloaded, run the file to install the driver software. Connect your printer to your computer using a USB cable or wireless network.
- Open the Control Panel on your computer and select Printers or Printers and Fax icon. In the Printers window, select the icon “Add a printer”.
- You will be able to see the Windows Printer Wizard when you complete the above steps. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the setup.
- Open HP Solution Center and click Settings. Choose Print Settings in the Settings window and then click Printer Toolbox.
- Click Align the Print Cartridges in the Printer Toolbox window and complete the alignment procedure.
Select the file that you want to print. Open the File menu, then click Print.
MAC
- Confirm that your printer has paper and ink and is connected to your Mac through a USB cable. Power on your printer.
- Select System Preferences from the Apple menu and double-click on Print & Scan or Print & Fax.
- In the Print & Fax window, click on the plus sign button. Select the IP tab in the Print Browser window.
- Set Protocol to HP LaserJet – Socket. For Address, enter the IP address of the printer you want to add.
- IP addresses of MSL printers are available on the printer list. Leave the Queue field blank.
- The Name and Location fields are to keep track of your printers and differentiate between multiple ones.
- Make sure you do not select Generic Postscript Printer for Print Using. Select your printer’s name in Print Using.
- OS X will try to locate an appropriate driver. If it is unable to locate then it is recommended to download the correct driver from our website.
- Click on the name of your printer on the printer list to be taken to the driver download page.
- If you would like to update your printer, then click Software Update from the Apple menu.
- Hp regularly releases updates for the driver. This will be listed in the Updates section.
- Click the Update button to update your printer driver, or click the Update All button to update all the software listed in the Updates tab.
- Use Apple Image Capture feature to scan with the built-in driver. Place the document you want to scan on the scanner glass.
- Open the applications folder and click Image Capture. Choose your printer’s name from the list.
- Change any settings if required, and then click Scan.
- If you would like to print any document, then open the file on your Mac and select the option Print.
- Preview the document that you want to print and modify any settings if necessary. Choose your printer’s name and then click OK.
HP LJ Pro m281fdw Wireless Setup
You can connect your printer to your wireless network automatically, using HP Auto Wireless Connect technology. The connection does not require any external cables or wireless network settings such as your network name or password.
HP Laserjet Pro m281fdw Ink Catridges
Ink cartridge is a component that contains one or more ink reservoirs that deposits ink onto paper during printing. Replace or refill the ink cartridges when they are low on the level of ink. Follow the steps given below to fix the printer problems.
HP Laserjet Pro m281fdw Printer Functions
How to Print
- Connect your printer and computer to the same network. Touch the HP ePrint icon on your printer’s control panel.
- If there is a prompt to turn on Web Services or setup HP ePrint displays, press Turn On. Follow the on-screen instructions and continue to the next step.
- Check if Web Services Summary screen or connected status is displayed, then Web Services is already on.
- Select Print Info and the information sheet will be printed. This will contain information about Web Services and your printer’s email address.
- Enter your printer’s email address in the To field. Attach the document that should be printed to the email. Send the email.
- If you would like to print from your computer, then select the option Print under the file menu.
- Preview the file and make any adjustments if required. Choose the number of pages that should be printed and then click Print.
- Print from Mac : Open the document you want to print, and then tap the Action icon.
- Select the Print icon and then choose the Options menu to change the settings if necessary.
- Print a test document to check the quality of printing.
- If the print quality is not good, then check if the ink cartridges are correctly placed in their slots and do a power reset.
How to Scan
- Load the document on the scanner glass and then close the scanner lid.
- Automatic document feeder can be used to scan multiple page documents at one time.
- Scan from your printer : Touch the Scan icon on your printer’s control panel. Select your computer’s name, if prompted, and the scan job will start.
- The folder the scan is saved will automatically open in your system. Open the scanned file to view the scan.
- Scan from your computer : Open HP Printer Assistant on your computer, and then click Scan a Document or Photo to open HP Scan.
- Preview and edit the scan before saving it. Create a folder to save the scan.
- If you scanned multiple pages from the automatic document feeder, click Save and all pages will automatically get saved into a single file.
- Scan to email : Open the Scan menu on your printer’s control panel, select your computer’s name, and then select Email as PDF or Email as JPEG.
- A new email message will automatically open on the computer.
- Setting up the scanner with HP Solution Center : Open the HP Solution Center and select the scanning option from the overview table.
- Click Scan Document and then select Save to file Save Options to change the folder where scans are saved, set scan file names.
- Click Finish to save the scanned file.
How to Copy
- Load blank sheets in the input tray. Lift the lid of the printer and place the original on the right front corner of the scanner glass.
- Press Start Copy in your printer’s control panel to start the copy job.
- To make multiple copies, enter the number of copies you want to create by pressing the copies option.
- Open the settings window and choose the option Resize to make sure the Actual is selected.
- Turn on the duplex printing option, if you want to print on both sides of the paper. The beginning steps of scanning and copying are alike.
- When the copy function is executed, the machine simply prints the digital image onto one or more blank sheets of paper .
- It does not store a digital copy of the image. Documents can be collated and stapled by high-end copiers.
- Copiers can create multiple copies of the scanned documents, hence reproducing large documents is quick and simple.
How to Fax
- Connect one end of the phone cord to the Fax port on the printer and the other end to the telephone jack on the wall.
- If you would like to connect an answering machine or extension phone then disconnect the answering machine phone cord from the phone jack, and then connect it to the phone port on the printer.
- Contact the phone company to determine which setup options are best as the printer might not be compatible with all digital service lines or providers.
- The fax time, date and header settings should be configured in order to use the fax feature.
- From the computer’s desktop, click Start, select All Programs, click HP, choose the folder for the printer.
- Click the icon with your printer’s name, and then open HP Printer Assistant.
- In the HP Printer Assistant window, select the Fax option, and then select Fax Setup Wizard. Follow the on-screen instructions to configure the fax settings.
- From the Home screen on the printer control panel, touch the Setup button. Choose Fax Setup, and then select Basic Setup.
- Select Time/Date and then choose the 12-hour or 24-hour format, then modify the date format.
- Select Fax Header and use the keypad to enter the fax number, and then touch the OK button.
HP Laserjet Pro 281fdw Troubleshooting
When you are having printer problems, you will have to find out if everyone is having this printer problem or if you are the only one having a problem. This document will provide the simple troubleshooting steps to fix the printer problem you have encountered.
Printer offline
- Download and run HP Print and Scan Doctor if you are using a system with Windows 8 or 10.
- Follow the instructions given on screen to fix the issue and if the printer still shows that its offline or if you’re not using Windows 8 or 10 please follow the next step.
- Change the print driver to the one you installed as it might have changed and please confirm if the printer is not set for offline use.
- Try to reset your printer when the printer is in “ON status” and restart your computer. Now try to reconnect and print.
Load paper error
- Remove the stack of paper from the input tray. Check if any obstruction inside the tray.
- Make sure that nothing blocks the paper from engaging with the rollers.
- Check the condition of the paper and replace it, if it is ripped, bent or curled.
- Confirm that, all the paper in the stack are of same size and type. Do not load mixed types of paper in the tray.
- Turn on the printer, wait until the carriage moves to the right side of the printer and becomes idle.