Tired of Risky and Wasteful Printing? Pull Print Solution from Microsoft Universal Print to Improve Office Security and Save Money

How Does Microsoft’s New Pull Print Universal Print Make Office Printing Safer and Easier?

Printing in a busy office can be a challenge. You send an important document to print, but you get delayed on your way to the printer. When you finally arrive, you might find the paper is gone, or worse, it is not there at all. This creates a serious risk if the document contains private information. It also leads to waste when printouts are forgotten and thrown away.

Microsoft has a new feature that helps solve these common problems. It is called Universal Print Anywhere. Microsoft just made office printing much better. They released Universal Print Anywhere on August 12, 2025. This new tool helps workers print from any place and pick up papers at any printer they want. This guide will explain what it is, how it helps your business, and how it works in simple terms.

What is Universal Print Anywhere?

Think of Universal Print Anywhere as a smart waiting room for your print jobs. Normally, you send a document directly to a specific printer. With this new feature, you send it to a single, central place in the cloud. The document waits securely for you.

You can then walk up to any printer in your company that is part of this system. Once you are at the printer, you tell it to release your document. This is sometimes called “pull printing” because you are pulling the print job to the printer you are standing in front of. This gives you more control and makes printing much more secure.

This works like this:

1. You print a document from your computer
2. You don’t need to choose which printer to use
3. You walk to any printer in your building
4. You scan a special code with your phone
5. Your papers come out safely

How This Improves Your Business

Adopting this way of printing offers significant advantages. It addresses key concerns for nearly any organization that handles documents.

Improves Security

Confidential papers are no longer left sitting on a printer tray for anyone to see. Documents only print when you are physically present to collect them. This simple change is a powerful step in protecting your company’s private information.

Reduces Waste and Saves Money

Many print jobs are never collected. This wastes paper, expensive toner, and electricity. By requiring you to be at the printer, this system nearly eliminates forgotten printouts. Over time, this leads to considerable cost savings and supports your company’s environmental goals.

Makes Printing Simpler for Everyone

Employees no longer need to search through a long list of printers to find the right one. This is especially helpful in large offices or for people visiting a different company location. You just print to the central queue and pick it up from the most convenient machine. This reduces employee confusion and calls to the IT help desk.

Works with All Devices

This feature works on Windows computers and Mac computers. All workers can use it no matter what computer they have.

How to Set This Up

Setting up Universal Print Anywhere takes three main steps:

Step 1: Connect Your Printers

Add all office printers to Universal Print. Use the Universal Print Connector if needed.

Step 2: Turn On Safe Printing

Pick which printers can use this feature. Set up the safety settings for each printer

Step 3: Set Up User Login

1. Create special codes for each printer.
2. Put these codes on or near each printer.
3. Show workers how to use their phones to scan codes.

What Workers Need

Workers need the Microsoft 365 app on their phones. This app is free. It works on:

• Android phones (version 16.0.16501 or newer)
• iPhone (version 2.76 or newer)

When workers want to print, they scan the code at any printer with this app. Then they log in and get their papers.

How It Works in Practice

The process is designed to be straightforward for everyone involved.

For an Employee

1. You select “Print” on your document as you always do. Instead of choosing a specific printer like “3rd_Floor_East,” you choose the one Universal Print queue.
2. You walk to any company printer that is set up for this system.
3. At the printer, you use your phone to scan a QR code that is attached to the machine. This requires the Microsoft 365 mobile app.
4. After scanning the code, you confirm your identity. Your document then prints out right in front of you.

For an IT Administrator

1. Setting this up builds on the existing Microsoft Universal Print system. The steps are logical for managing the company’s printers.
2. Register Printers: First, ensure your office printers are connected to Microsoft’s Universal Print service. This can be done directly if the printer supports it or by using a connector tool.
3. Enable Secure Release: For each printer you want to include in the pull print system, you turn on the “secure release” option in the settings. You can control which specific printers are part of this group.
4. Generate QR Codes: You will create a unique QR code for each printer. This code is then printed and attached to the corresponding machine for employees to scan.

Getting Started

This valuable feature is now available to organizations that use Microsoft 365. It is included with existing Universal Print licenses at no additional cost. Your team can start using it on Windows and macOS devices. To scan the QR codes, employees will need the Microsoft 365 mobile app on their Android or iOS phone. This system is a powerful tool for making your office printing safer, cheaper, and much more convenient.

What Comes Next

Microsoft is working with printer companies to make this even better. Soon, workers might use ID badges instead of phones to get their papers. This will work with systems companies already have.

Universal Print Anywhere solves real problems that offices face every day. It keeps papers safe, saves money, and makes printing easier for everyone. The best part is that it costs nothing extra for companies already using Microsoft 365.

This feature shows how technology can make work life better without making things more complicated. Workers get what they need with less hassle. Companies save money and keep information secure. Everyone wins with this simple but powerful improvement to office printing.