How to connect a Bluetooth thermal printer to your phone

Short answer: on an Android phone, open the sale screen in Chrome, turn the printer on, tap Printer, pick your printer from the list and press Pair. That is all. You do not need an app, and you do not need to pair it in the phone's Bluetooth settings first. From then on every bill prints by itself after you press Pay.

The rest of this guide is the detail: which printers work, the steps one by one, and what to do when nothing comes out.

What you need

• An Android phone with Chrome. Bluetooth printing from a web page works in Chrome on Android, and in Chrome or Edge on Windows, Mac and Chromebook. It does not work in Safari on an iPhone or iPad; see the iPhone section below.
• A Bluetooth thermal printer, 58 mm or 80 mm. The small 2-inch printers (58 mm) are the common Rs 4,000 to 8,000 ones; 80 mm printers are wider and suit supermarkets and restaurants.
• A printer that supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Most thermal printers sold in the last few years do. The box or listing usually says "BLE", "Bluetooth 4.0" or "Bluetooth 5.0", or "works with iOS and Android". A printer that only has old "classic" Bluetooth (often sold as "Android only, Bluetooth 2.0") cannot be reached from a web page. It still works through the print screen with a free app; see below.

Step by step: connect the printer

1. Charge the printer and load the paper with the shiny side facing the print head. Close the lid until it clicks.
2. Turn the printer on. The light should be steady or blinking blue. If it is already connected to another phone, switch that phone's Bluetooth off.
3. Turn on Bluetooth and Location on your phone. On many Android phones Chrome needs Location (or "Nearby devices") to look for Bluetooth printers. It is only used for the search.
4. Open Munshi in Chrome and go to Bikri (the sale screen).
5. Tap Printer at the top of the sale screen. Chrome opens a list of Bluetooth devices nearby.
6. Pick your printer. It usually shows by its model name (for example a name starting with MTP, PT, XP or the shop's brand). If you see more than one, pick the one that appears when you switch the printer on.
7. Press Pair. The till says "Printer connected" and the button changes to Printer ✓.
8. Tap Printer ✓ again, then Test print. A small slip with your shop name and "Rs 1,234" should come out. If it does, you are done.

In the same pop-up you can switch off Print every bill automatically if you only want to print when the customer asks, and Disconnect forgets the printer.

Choose the right paper size

Go to Settings → Printer size and pick 58 mm or 80 mm to match your paper. If the bill comes out squeezed into the left half, the setting says 58 but the paper is 80. If the right side is cut off, it is the other way round.

Printing every day

• After the first time, Chrome remembers the printer. When you open the sale screen next morning it connects again by itself where the phone allows it. If the button just says Printer without the tick, tap it once and pick the printer again.
• Print on the receipt prints the bill again on the same printer.
• In Recent bills, Print reprints an old bill. It is marked DUPLICATE so the customer cannot use it as a second bill.
• Urdu prints exactly as on the screen, because the bill is sent to the printer as a picture, not as letters.

It will not print: what to check

The printer does not show in the list. Turn the printer off and on again, keep it within a metre of the phone, and check that Bluetooth and Location are on. If it is paired to another phone or a computer, unpair it there. If it still does not show, it is probably a classic-Bluetooth printer; use the print screen method below.

It shows in the list but says it could not be used. The till shows "This printer could not be used over Bluetooth". That means the printer does not speak Bluetooth Low Energy. Use the print screen method below, or a BLE printer.

It printed once and then stopped. Many printers switch off after a few minutes without use. Turn it on again; the next bill wakes the connection by itself. If the till says "The Bluetooth printer did not answer", the printer is off, out of range or out of battery, and the bill opens on the print screen instead so the customer still gets one.

The slip comes out blank. The paper is in upside down. Thermal paper only prints on one side: turn the roll over.

The print is very light. Charge the battery fully. Cheap paper also prints light; a better roll fixes it.

The other way: the print screen

Every phone can also print through Chrome's print screen. Tap Print on the receipt and choose a printer at the top of the print screen. For a classic-Bluetooth printer on Android:

1. Install the free RawBT app from the Play Store.
2. Pair the printer in the phone's Bluetooth settings (the PIN is usually 0000 or 1234).
3. Open RawBT once and choose the printer.
4. In Munshi, tap Print on the receipt, and pick RawBT at the top of the print screen.

This is a few more taps per bill, which is why a BLE printer is easier for a busy counter. The print screen is also the way to print the FBR QR code: the Bluetooth slip shows the FBR invoice number, and the print screen prints the full QR.

iPhone and iPad

Safari on iPhone and iPad cannot reach Bluetooth printers from a web page. On an iPhone, use an AirPrint printer from the print screen, send the bill to the customer on WhatsApp, or keep an Android phone or a computer at the counter for printing.

On a computer

On a Windows or Mac computer, a USB thermal printer works from the print screen like any other printer. A Bluetooth Low Energy printer also connects from Printer in Chrome or Edge, the same way as on the phone.

Which printer should I buy?

For a small shop, a 58 mm Bluetooth printer that says BLE or works with iOS and Android is enough. For a supermarket or restaurant with long bills, an 80 mm printer is easier to read. Before you pay, ask the seller to print a test slip from Chrome on your own phone using the steps above. If it prints there, it will print from Munshi.

Bluetooth printing is part of the POS software and the billing software. Start free and try it with your own printer.