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How do I set my default printer?

  • Press Alt-F2, enter system-config-printer then press Enter.
  • Right click on the name of the desired printer and select Set as Default.
  • Select Set as my personal default printer.


N.B.

  • If you specify a printer in your .bashrc using the PRINTER environment variable then lpr/lpq will use this printer instead of the printer specified via the Control Center.

  • If your default printer is not available on the machine you are logged in to, the system default will be used instead
  • The default printer setting is stored in the file ~/.cups/lpoptions.
  • The Printers section of All Settings acessed from the System Menu cannot be used to set a personal default printer despite that being the logical place to do such a thing. For some reason it unhelpfully only allows setting a system default, an operation which requires root.