Manufacturer reference · Software published by HP Inc.

HP Printer Drivers, Explained

Independent educational reference · Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by HP Inc. · Hosts no files, offers no support services, requests no remote access

About 14 minutes
3 figures, 2 explorers, 6 addresses to read
Checked against HP’s pages, September 2026

Read this first

This page explains what the search phrase hp printer drivers refers to, which pieces of software HP actually publishes under that heading, and the only places they legitimately come from. It is written by an independent publisher with no relationship to HP Inc. Nothing on this page can be downloaded; the page hosts no files, installs nothing, and offers no assistance with any device. HP’s product and software names appear for identification only, and every outbound link is labelled and leads to HP’s own domain.

Section One · Meaning

Five different things the phrase can mean

A person who types hp printer drivers is rarely looking for a driver in the strict sense. The phrase stands in for at least five pieces of software that HP publishes, and they live in three different places — the computer, the phone, and the printer itself. Sorting the phrase into the right box is most of the work.

Five meanings. Each card says what the thing is, where HP publishes it, and what it is not.

the driver basic driver full feature driver HP app firmware

Lives on the computer · invisible

The driver itself

A small piece of software living inside the operating system’s print service, whose only job is to convert a document into the command stream one particular family of printers expects. It has no icon and no window; it is used every time a page is printed and is otherwise never seen. HP writes one for each family of printers and each operating system.

Where HP publishes it: Inside the packages on support.hp.com, and, for most models, through the operating system’s own driver delivery — HP’s documentation states that print and scan drivers for most of its printers install automatically when the printer is connected by cable or added over the network.
What it is not: Not the HP app, not a setup program, and not something a website outside hp.com can supply on HP’s behalf.

Lives on the computer · a package

The basic driver

HP’s name for a driver-only package: the translation layer and nothing else. HP describes it as the smaller file, suited to computers that do not meet the requirements of the larger package and to people who want printing without extra tools. It is published per model and per operating system.

Where HP publishes it: The model’s page in HP Software and Driver Downloads on support.hp.com, listed as “Basic driver” where one exists.
What it is not: Not a scanning tool, not a setup assistant, and never something with a price attached.

Lives on the computer · a package

The full feature driver

HP’s larger package for Windows and Mac, also called the full solution driver. HP describes it as the basic drivers plus tools for printing and scanning and the HP Printer Assistant software, with a guided connection setup. Not every model has one: HP’s own note says its availability is confirmed by entering the model on HP’s setup address.

Where HP publishes it: The model’s page on support.hp.com; on a Mac, HP’s setup address offers the HP Easy Start app, which retrieves the right package.
What it is not: Not the same thing as the HP app, even though it overlaps with it; and not a “driver pack” covering every model at once.

Lives on the computer and the phone · visible

The HP app

HP’s companion application — for years listed as HP Smart, and since 2025 being replaced in the stores by an application HP calls simply the HP app. HP describes it as the tool to print, scan, check ink levels and put a printer on a wireless network from a computer or a mobile device. It is the thing most people picture when they say “drivers”, and it is not one.

Where HP publishes it: The platform stores — Microsoft Store, Mac App Store, App Store and Google Play — with HP Inc. as the developer. HP’s setup address, start.hp.com, routes to those listings.
What it is not: Not a driver, though it commonly installs one on a computer during its first run; on phones no driver exists at all.

Lives on the printer · not on the computer

Firmware

The software that runs inside the printer itself. It is not a driver and never touches the computer, but HP lists firmware updates on the same model page as its drivers, which is why the two are searched for together. HP documents two delivery routes: directly from the printer, and through a computer.

Where HP publishes it: The model’s page on support.hp.com, under a firmware heading, and through the printer’s own update function.
What it is not: Not something a third-party “driver updater” can supply; firmware is signed by HP and accepted only from HP.

Figure 1. The five things “hp printer drivers” can refer to, and where each one runs. Only the first three are anything like a driver; the app is an application and firmware belongs to the printer.

Section Two · Distribution

Where HP drivers come from, by operating system

The legitimate routes are decided by the operating system, not by the search engine. Each system has at most three, and every one of them is published either by HP or by the company that publishes the operating system.

Windows macOS iPhone and iPad Android

Figure 2. Three channels at most, and each is published either by HP or by the operating system’s own publisher. A website outside those three is not a channel, whatever its name contains.

Windows

On current Windows versions a basic driver usually arrives on its own: HP’s documentation states that print and scan drivers for most of its printers install automatically when the printer is connected by cable or added over the network, and Microsoft has been steering Windows toward its own IPP class driver for Mopria-certified printers, which needs no manufacturer package at all.

Beyond that, the HP app comes from the Microsoft Store and installs the driver on its first run, and the model page on support.hp.com lists the full feature and basic packages for anyone who wants a particular one. Business laser fleets have a fourth HP-published option, the Universal Print Driver, covered in the vocabulary below.

macOS

Apple’s current guidance leads with AirPrint: the Mac finds a compatible printer on the network by itself and prints to it, and scans from it, with no HP package. HP’s own Mac setup page says the same. Apple no longer supplies manufacturer drivers itself; where a package is wanted, it comes from the manufacturer.

For HP that package is reached through HP Easy Start, a small application HP publishes for macOS that locates and installs the best available driver and software for the model. It is what HP’s setup address offers when a Mac visits it. The HP app, obtained through the Mac App Store, adds scanning, supply levels and account features on top.

iPhone and iPad

There is no such thing as an HP driver for iOS or iPadOS. Printing is built into the system through AirPrint, which HP documents as the route for its printers, and the only HP software involved is the HP app from the App Store, which adds scanning, ink levels and the guided wireless setup.

A page offering an “HP driver for iPhone” is therefore offering something that does not exist; the phrase itself is the tell.

Android

Android prints through print services. The Mopria service built into recent Android versions reaches compatible HP models by itself; HP additionally publishes the HP Print Service Plugin on Google Play, which HP’s documentation names as its route for Android, alongside the HP app for scanning, setup and account features.

Both are store listings with HP Inc. as the developer. No file from a website is involved on Android at any point.

Section Three · Reading the page

What HP’s own driver page looks like, and how its address reads

HP publishes its packages in a section it calls HP Software and Driver Downloads, on its support domain. The page has a recognisable shape, and its address has a recognisable segment. Both are worth knowing, because the imitations copy the shape and cannot copy the segment.

Figure 3. The shape of a model page in HP Software and Driver Downloads, drawn as a wireframe. The numbers are explained alongside.

1 · The lookup. HP’s page asks for a product name or a serial number before it shows anything, because packages are published per model. A page that offers “HP drivers” without ever asking which printer is describing a product HP does not publish.
2 · The detected system. HP reads the visiting operating system and lists the packages for it, with a control to change it. The same address shows a Windows visitor the full feature and basic packages and a Mac visitor HP Easy Start.
3 · The driver section. Packages are listed by type — full feature, basic — each with an operating system, a version and a size. Every one of them is published without charge.
4 · Firmware. Listed on the same page but destined for the printer, not the computer.
5 · What is absent. No price, no subscription, no telephone number in the body of the page, no “activation” step and no request to install a helper before the list appears. Any of those on a page calling itself an HP driver page identifies it as something else.

The address carries the second kind of proof. In support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/printers the registered domain is hp.com; support is a subdomain that HP created inside its own name, and whatever follows the first single slash is a path of HP’s choosing. HP’s setup address, start.hp.com, which the older printed address 123.hp.com forwards to, reads the same way. The practice below applies that reading to six addresses; look-alikes use the reserved .example ending, which nobody can register.

Reading practice

Six driver-page addresses

Each address opens to show the segment that identifies its owner.

support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/printersreveal

Reads as HP’s domain

support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/printers

The registered domain is hp.com. This is the entry to HP Software and Driver Downloads; the country code and the word drivers sit in the path.

hp-driver-download.example/printersreveal

Does not read as an HP domain

hp-driver-download.example/printers

The registered domain is hp-driver-download.example. The hyphens join the brand to other words in a name that belongs to whoever registered it, which is not HP.

start.hp.com/us/en/setupreveal

Reads as HP’s domain

start.hp.com/us/en/setup

HP’s current setup address. start is a subdomain inside hp.com, exactly as support and 123 are.

drivercentral.example/hp/laserjetreveal

Does not read as an HP domain

drivercentral.example/hp/laserjet

The brand and the product family appear only after the first slash, where the site’s operator chooses the words. The registered domain is drivercentral.example — the pattern of the all-brands driver site described further down.

www.hp.com/gb-en/printersreveal

Reads as HP’s domain

www.hp.com/gb-en/printers

HP’s product site for the United Kingdom, served as a path under hp.com rather than as a separate domain, which is how HP publishes every country site.

support.hp.com.driverhub.example/downloadreveal

Does not read as an HP domain

support.hp.com.driverhub.example/download

Read from the right: the registered domain is driverhub.example, and support.hp.com is a subdomain its operator created inside that name. The genuine address at the top of this list ends in hp.com before the first slash; this one does not.

The address checker on this site reads the identifying segment of any address, in the browser, without sending it anywhere.

Section Four · Inside the packages

What each HP package actually puts on a computer

HP’s names are more precise than the searches that lead to them. Five of them account for nearly everything a person will meet, and they differ in what they contain, which system they are for, and whether they exist for a given model at all.

Full feature driver Basic driver HP Easy Start HP app Universal Print Driver

Windows and Mac · per model · from support.hp.com

Full feature driver

HP’s comprehensive package, which HP also calls the full solution driver. Its own description: recommended to get the most from the printer, with a guided installation and connection setup, tools to manage printer settings, perform maintenance and check ink levels, and additional software options. On Windows it includes the HP Printer Assistant. It is the largest of the packages, and it is published per model — HP’s note is that its availability for a given printer is confirmed by entering the model on HP’s setup address.

Contains: The print driver, the scan driver where the model scans, the connection setup, and HP’s maintenance and supply tools.
Distinguishing mark: Listed on HP’s model page with an operating system, a version number and a size, and no price.

Windows and Mac · per model · from support.hp.com

Basic driver

The driver-only package. HP describes it as a driver-only solution for basic printer functionality, including support for most Windows, Mac and third-party applications; it is the smaller file, and HP notes that it suits computers that do not meet the requirements of the full feature package. It installs no assistant, no scanning application and no account features.

Contains: The print driver, and on some models the scan driver, and nothing else.
Distinguishing mark: Sits beside the full feature entry on the same model page; it is never sold, licensed or “activated”.

macOS only · from start.hp.com or support.hp.com

HP Easy Start

A small application HP publishes for macOS rather than a driver in itself. HP’s description: a driver installation app that simplifies the process for supported Mac operating system versions, locating and installing the best available driver and software and guiding the connection setup. It is what HP’s setup address offers when a Mac visits it, and it retrieves what the model needs from HP’s own servers.

Contains: The retrieval logic only; the driver and software it fetches come from HP during its run.
Distinguishing mark: Published by HP Inc. and offered on hp.com addresses only; an “Easy Start” from any other domain is not HP’s.

Windows, macOS, iOS, Android · from the platform stores

The HP app

HP’s companion application, listed for years as HP Smart and, since 2025, being replaced in the same store listings by an application HP calls simply the HP app. HP describes it as the tool to print, scan, check ink levels and put the printer on a wireless network from a desktop computer or a mobile device. On a computer it commonly installs the driver during its first run, which is why it is so often mistaken for one.

Contains: The visible application: guided setup, scanning, supply levels, account and subscription features. Not the driver itself.
Distinguishing mark: A store listing with HP Inc. as the developer. It is never a file from a website, and it is free on every platform.

Windows · business printers · from support.hp.com

Universal Print Driver

A single Windows driver HP publishes for its business laser and multifunction printers, so that one driver can address many models across an office network rather than one driver per model. It comes in PCL 6 and PostScript variants and is aimed at administrators. It is not intended for a home inkjet, and its name is often borrowed by third-party “universal driver” sites that offer nothing of the kind.

Contains: One print driver covering a documented list of HP business models; no scanning software.
Distinguishing mark: Published on support.hp.com under its own entry, with the models it covers listed by HP.

AttributeFull featureBasic driverHP app

Print driver includedYesYes — and nothing elseInstalled during first run on a computer; none on phones

Scanning toolsYesNoYes

Guided wireless setupYesNoYes — HP’s documented path

Published throughModel page on support.hp.comModel page on support.hp.comPlatform stores, developer HP Inc.

PriceNoneNoneNone

Official sources · leaves this site

Where HP publishes its drivers and software

The addresses below belong to the manufacturers themselves. They are the only places from which setup software, drivers and support material should ever be obtained, and they are intended to be typed into the browser's address bar — the strip at the very top of the window — rather than into a search box. Each link leaves this site and opens the manufacturer's own domain. This reference is not affiliated with any of them.

HP · HP Inc.

www.hp.com Corporate and product site
support.hp.com Support, drivers and documentation
123.hp.com Setup shortcut printed on packaging
start.hp.com Current setup address; 123.hp.com forwards here

HP serves its country sites as paths under hp.com (for example hp.com/in-en or hp.com/gb-en) rather than as separate domains.

A brand name appearing inside a longer address — as a prefix, a subfolder, a hyphenated addition, or a word inside an unrelated domain — does not make that address official. The identifying part of any address is the segment immediately before the first single slash. The address checker on this site reads that segment automatically.

Section Five · Security

Five things that pose as HP drivers

The phrase is searched constantly and the genuine article is free, which leaves exactly one way for a third party to earn from it: by inserting something between the searcher and HP’s page. Each pattern below does that in a different way. None of them originates with HP.

The all-brands driver site

What it looks like: A site on a domain of its own offering drivers for HP, Epson, Brother, Canon and every other manufacturer from one catalogue, often with download counts, star ratings and a large green button. The HP name appears in the path or in a page title, never in the registered domain.
Why it is not HP: HP publishes its packages only on its own support domain and in the platform stores, per model, without charge. No manufacturer licenses another site to redistribute its drivers to the public, and a file that has passed through a third party carries whatever that party added to it.
HP’s own arrangement instead: The model page on support.hp.com, reached by product name or serial number, listing packages for the detected operating system.

The driver-updater utility

What it looks like: A program that offers a free “scan”, reports dozens of outdated or missing drivers on a computer that is working perfectly, and then charges a licence fee to replace them. The HP printer is one line in a long red list.
Why it is not HP: HP does not publish a driver-scanning utility for consumers, and neither Microsoft nor Apple needs one: both operating systems maintain drivers through their own update services. The report exists to sell the licence, and the “drivers” it installs are, at best, the free ones repackaged.
HP’s own arrangement instead: Firmware and package updates listed on the model page, and driver maintenance left to Windows Update and macOS.

The “driver unavailable” pop-up

What it looks like: A page or pop-up window styled as a system alert — a red banner, an error code, sometimes a siren sound — announcing that the HP driver is missing, corrupt or blocked, with a telephone number to call and a warning not to close the window.
Why it is not HP: Neither HP nor any operating system reports a driver problem by displaying a telephone number in a browser. The window is a paid advertisement for a call centre, and the number leads to the remote-access approach described on the HP setup page of this site.
HP’s own arrangement instead: HP publishes its contact routes on its own domain, behind a model-and-serial-number step; nothing on its driver page rings.

The wrapped installer

What it looks like: A small “download manager” or “installer” that arrives first and promises to fetch the HP driver. During its run it offers — or simply installs — browser toolbars, “optimisers”, search redirects and other programs that have nothing to do with a printer.
Why it is not HP: HP’s packages are the packages: the file on the model page is the software, signed by HP, and the platform stores deliver the HP app directly. A wrapper that has to run before the real thing appears belongs to whoever wrote the wrapper, not to HP.
HP’s own arrangement instead: A package published under HP’s name on its own domain, or a store listing installed by the store itself.

The paid “driver support” plan

What it looks like: A page that gates the HP driver behind a fee, a monthly subscription, a “registration” or an “activation code”, sometimes bundled with a promise of unlimited assistance from technicians.
Why it is not HP: Every package on HP’s model page is free, and the HP app is free on every store. A price attached to an HP driver is a price for something HP does not sell, and the assistance sold with it is the remote-access pattern under another name.
HP’s own arrangement instead: Free packages, free app, and support terms stated by HP on its own domain for the product and country.

No HP driver channel involves any of these

A fee, a subscription or an “activation code” for a driver

A telephone number displayed by a driver page or a pop-up

A third-party “scan” of the computer for outdated drivers

A “download manager” that runs before the software appears

A file from a domain outside hp.com or the platform stores

Section Six · Vocabulary

Twelve terms from HP’s driver pages

The words as HP uses them on its own model pages and in its own documentation, each opening to a plain description.

Driversoftware

The converter inside the operating system’s print service that renders a document into the command stream a particular family of printers expects. Never seen in use; supplied by HP, by the operating system’s update service, or by the HP app during its first run.

Basic driverHP package

HP’s driver-only package for Windows and Mac: the smaller file, with printing and on some models scanning, and none of the tools. Listed per model on support.hp.com.

Full feature driverHP package

HP’s larger package, also called the full solution driver: the basic drivers plus printing and scanning tools, the HP Printer Assistant on Windows, and a guided connection setup. Published per model where one exists.

HP Printer AssistantHP software

The Windows program that the full feature package installs alongside the driver, gathering printing, scanning, maintenance and supply tools in one window. It is part of the package, not a separate download.

HP Easy StartHP software

HP’s small macOS application that locates and installs the best available driver and software for a model and guides the connection. Offered by HP’s setup address when a Mac visits it, and listed on the model page.

HP appHP software

HP’s companion application for computers, phones and tablets, formerly listed as HP Smart. Printing, scanning, ink levels and wireless setup; distributed only through the platform stores with HP Inc. as the developer.

HP Print Service PluginHP software

HP’s print service for Android, published on Google Play. It lets Android’s own print dialog reach HP printers directly; HP’s documentation names it as the Android route alongside the HP app.

Universal Print DriverHP package

One Windows driver covering many HP business laser and multifunction models, in PCL 6 and PostScript variants, intended for office networks and administrators. Published on support.hp.com with the list of models it covers.

HP Software and Driver DownloadsHP page

The section of support.hp.com where HP posts drivers, additional printing and scanning software and firmware updates for most of its printers and operating system versions, reached by product name or serial number.

AirPrintstandard

Apple’s driverless printing and scanning technology built into macOS, iOS and iPadOS. HP’s own Mac and iPhone setup pages document it as the route for its printers; no HP package is involved.

Mopria and the IPP class driverstandard

An industry driverless printing standard built into Android and used by Microsoft’s own IPP class driver on Windows. On a Mopria-certified printer, Windows can print with no manufacturer driver at all.

Firmwareprinter software

The software inside the printer, listed on the same HP model page as the drivers but destined for the device, not the computer. HP documents delivery directly from the printer and through a computer.

Section Seven · Reference

Questions people bring to HP driver searches

Are HP printer drivers free?

Yes, without exception. Every package on an HP model page — full feature, basic, HP Easy Start, firmware — is published without charge, and the HP app is free on every platform store. A fee, a subscription or an “activation code” attached to an HP driver is the surest sign that the page asking for it is not HP’s.

Where is HP’s own driver page?

In the section HP calls HP Software and Driver Downloads, on support.hp.com, where a product name or serial number leads to the model’s page and the packages for the detected operating system. The signpost above links to it. Its address ends in hp.com before the first single slash; that segment, not the look of the page, is what identifies it.

Does a Windows 11 computer need an HP driver at all?

Often not as a separate step. HP states that print and scan drivers for most of its printers install automatically when the printer is connected by cable or added over the network, and Microsoft’s own IPP class driver handles Mopria-certified printers without any manufacturer package. The HP app, from the Microsoft Store, installs a driver during its first run for those who want its features. The full feature or basic package on support.hp.com remains available for anyone who wants a specific one.

Does a Mac need an HP driver?

For most recent models, no: AirPrint, built into macOS, prints and scans without any HP package, and both Apple’s and HP’s documentation lead with it. Where HP software is wanted, HP Easy Start — offered by HP’s setup address to a Mac — retrieves the right package, and the HP app on the Mac App Store adds scanning, supplies and setup.

Is the HP app a driver?

No. It is a visible application for printing, scanning, ink levels and wireless setup. On a computer it commonly installs a driver during its first run, which is why the two are confused; on a phone or tablet there is no driver to install and the app works with the system’s own printing. It is published only through the platform stores, with HP Inc. as the developer.

What is a “driver updater”, and is it HP’s?

A third-party program that scans a computer, reports outdated drivers and charges to replace them. It is not HP’s, and neither Windows nor macOS needs one: both maintain drivers through their own update services, and HP lists its firmware and package updates on the model page. The report such a program produces exists to sell its licence.

Why does HP’s page ask for a serial number?

Because packages are published per model, and a serial number identifies the model precisely, including regional variants. A product name works too. A site that offers HP drivers without ever asking which printer is describing a product HP does not publish.

Is there an HP driver for an iPhone or iPad?

No such thing exists. Printing on iOS and iPadOS is built into the system through AirPrint, and the only HP software involved is the HP app from the App Store. A page offering an “HP driver for iPhone” is offering something that cannot be installed.

Does this site host or provide HP drivers?

No. This is an independent educational publication with no relationship to HP Inc. It hosts no files, links only to HP’s own domain and the platform stores, offers no assistance with any device, operates no telephone or chat service, and never requests remote access. For any specific printer, HP’s own model page is the resource.

Scope, limitations and trademarks

HP, HP Smart, HP Easy Start and HP Printer Assistant are trademarks of HP Inc., referenced here for identification and descriptive purposes only. AirPrint is a trademark of Apple Inc.; Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation; Android and Google Play are trademarks of Google LLC; Mopria is a trademark of Mopria Alliance, Inc.; PostScript is a trademark of Adobe. Package names and descriptions are quoted from HP’s own published pages as they read in September 2026; HP renames, adds and withdraws packages at its own discretion. This page describes what HP publishes and where; it is not a procedure, hosts nothing, and is not a substitute for the documentation supplied with any device. Look-alike addresses in the practice use the reserved .example ending and refer to no real site. Printer Setup Reference is published independently by Deepanshu and has no affiliation with, endorsement from, or authorisation by HP Inc.