If you’ve had problems getting your HP LaserJet or OfficeJet Printer to work with the latest versions of macOS or with your new Apple Silicon M-series Mac, here we show you how to get it working including for macOS Sonoma, Sequoia and Tahoe.
HP Laserjet and Officejet Printers are some of the best all-in-one printers for Macs but updates to macOS often cause problems with them.
Printers affected include OfficeJets such as the HP OfficeJet 9025 and Laserjets such as the HP LaserJet Pro M479fdn, HP1102w, P1007, M751dn, M11, M12, M12W and M13 series.
Many HP LaserJet or OfficeJet Printer users that have either bought a new Mac or updated to the latest version of macOS have found that it has suddenly stopped working or won’t connect to their Mac.
Other have found that while they can get the printer to work, the scanner has stopped working.
There are many ways to get printers working again after an update to macOS but HP printers sometimes need a specific fix.
Although many printers will work without drivers on a Mac using AirPrint and Bonjour, some HP all-in-one printers will not meaning you must have the drivers in order to use it with a Mac.
The problem is when you go to the HP Laserjet driver website, there are no drivers for the latest versions of macOS 14. In this example, the last available drivers for one HP printer I tested are for macOS 13 Ventura – not much help.
If you try to install the macOS 13 driver in macOS 14 Sonoma for example, it does not work with the error message, “This update requires macOS version 13.0 or earlier”. Of if you are running macOS 11 Monterey, you’ll see the message “This update requires macOS version 12.0 or earlier.”
How To Make HP Printers Work With Any Version of macOS
Fortunately, there is a workaround to make HP printers including LaserJets and OfficeJets work with the latest versions of macOS.
- If you’re using an HP LaserJet M11, M12, M12W or M13 printer you need to download and install this older driver from the HP FTP site.
- If you’re using any other model of HP LaserJet or OfficeJet including the P1102W you need to download and install this older version of HP Essentials from the HP FTP site.
- Install the drivers and when the installation has succeeded, go to System Preferences > Printers & Scanners and right-click on the box on the left to select Reset Printing Preferences.
- You can then add your HP Laserjet printer as normal by clicking on the “+” symbol and you should see that your Mac has detected the printer in your version of macOS.
You should now be able to print including on Apple Silicon Macs with your HP Laserjet or OfficeJet Printer.
Forcing HP Printers To Work Using Pacifist
If you have problems downloading drivers from either of the two links above, then you can also force your HP printer drivers to install on a Mac running Monterey using a free tool called Pacifist.
Pacifist allows you more control over installer files and allows you to install HP drivers in any version of macOS.
Here’s how to use it:
- Install Pacifist on your Mac
- Download the HP Printer Software Update from Apple.
- Mount the file by double clicking on the DMG file you’ve downloaded.
- In Pacifist, select “Open Package” and navigate in Finder to “HP_PrinterSupportManual” to open the file “HewlettPackardPrinterDrivers.pkg”
- Select “HewlettPackardPrinterDrivers Contents” and at the top of the windows choose Install.
You should now be able to add the HP printer in macOS on your Apple Silicon Mac normally.
For more help on using Pacifist and fixing printer problems, check out our guide on how to fix a printer that’s stopped working after updating macOS.