Auto-print receipts (skip the dialog)

By default, every time you click Print receipt at the checkout desk Chrome pops a print dialog and waits for you to confirm. That extra click adds up over a busy Sunday. The fix is a one-time Chrome setup that tells the browser to skip the dialog and send straight to your default printer.

What's happening

The web platform deliberately makes `window.print()` show a dialog — websites can't silently print without your permission. Chrome offers an opt-in flag, `--kiosk-printing`, that lets the library skip the dialog for trusted, intentional print jobs like a checkout receipt.

You only need to launch Chrome with the flag once on the checkout-desk computer. Other devices (your phone, your home laptop, the cataloguer's machine) keep showing the dialog as normal.

Step 1 — Set your default printer

The kiosk-printing flag sends jobs to whatever the operating system says is the default printer. So before you do anything Chrome-side:

• macOS: System Settings → Printers & Scanners → click your receipt printer → "Set as default"
• Windows: Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners → uncheck "Let Windows manage my default printer" → click your printer → Set as default
• ChromeOS: Settings → Advanced → Printing → Printers → click the printer → set as default

Step 2 — Launch Chrome with the kiosk-printing flag

You need to start Chrome with `--kiosk-printing` (and ideally `--no-first-run` so existing sessions aren't disrupted). The flag only applies for that launch — close Chrome and reopen normally and the dialog comes back.

## macOS

Open Terminal (Spotlight → "Terminal") and run:

```

"/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome" --kiosk-printing

```

To make this a desktop shortcut: open Script Editor → File → New, paste:

```

do shell script "open -a 'Google Chrome' --args --kiosk-printing"

```

Save as Application (not Script) — e.g. "Checkout Chrome.app" on the Desktop. Double-click it to launch Chrome in silent-print mode. Drag it to the Dock for one-click access.

## Windows

Right-click your existing Google Chrome shortcut → Properties → in the Target field, add ` --kiosk-printing` to the end (note the leading space). The full target looks like:

```

"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --kiosk-printing

```

Click OK, then double-click the shortcut as normal. (Tip: copy the shortcut first, name the copy "Checkout Chrome", and modify only that copy — your other Chrome shortcuts stay regular.)

## ChromeOS

Chromebooks don't easily expose the flag from the GUI. The simplest workaround is the `crosh` shell:

```

Ctrl+Alt+T → type: shell → then: google-chrome --kiosk-printing

```

Most church libraries running on a Chromebook just accept the print dialog and press Enter — that's also fine.

Step 3 — Test it

With kiosk-printing Chrome running:

1. Sign in to Shelfwise as a librarian

2. Go to /checkout, scan a barcode, complete a checkout

3. Click "🖨 Print receipt"

A small popup window should briefly appear, the receipt should print without any dialog, and the popup should close itself. Total time: about a second.

If the dialog still shows, double-check:

• You actually launched Chrome from the shortcut/script with the flag (not just any Chrome window)
• Your default printer is correctly set in the OS, not in Chrome
• The receipt window isn't being blocked by a popup blocker — allow popups for your library subdomain

When to skip this

A lot of libraries actively prefer the dialog — it lets staff change paper size, select a different printer, or skip printing entirely. If a printed receipt isn't essential for you:

• Turn off the printer entirely. The email receipt sent automatically at checkout doubles as the patron's record.
• Or just accept the dialog and hit Enter — modern Chrome remembers your last choice, so it's just one keystroke after the first time per session.

Troubleshooting

## "It's printing to a different printer, not my receipt printer"

The Windows default printer isn't always what Chrome uses. Two things to check, in order:

**1. Turn off "Let Windows manage my default printer"** — when this Windows setting is on, the OS auto-switches the default to whatever you last printed to. Open Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners → scroll down → uncheck "Let Windows manage my default printer". Then click your receipt printer in that same list and click "Set as default".

**2. Tell Chrome to remember the receipt printer** — Chrome keeps its own "last used printer" per profile, separate from the Windows default. This is what the --kiosk-printing flag actually uses. You set it once from a *normal* Chrome window (not the receipt popup):

> ⚠️ **Don't try this inside the receipt popup window.** That popup is designed to auto-close after printing, so the print dialog closes before you can pick a printer. You need a completely separate Chrome window.

• **Close every** Chrome window launched from your kiosk-printing shortcut. Any Chrome window inheriting --kiosk-printing will silent-print instead of showing the dialog.
• Open Chrome from your **regular** Start-menu / Taskbar shortcut — NOT the kiosk-printing one.
• Go to any normal webpage (google.com works).
• Press **Ctrl+P**. This time the dialog stays open.
• In the **Destination** dropdown, pick your receipt printer.
• Click **Print** — Chrome now permanently remembers that as your last-used printer for this profile. The page that prints will be mostly blank; that's fine.
• Close the regular Chrome window.
• Relaunch Chrome from the **kiosk-printing** shortcut.
• Try a checkout receipt again. It should now land on the receipt printer silently.

Chrome's last-used printer preference persists across restarts and is shared across all Chrome windows on the same profile — including the kiosk-printing ones. You only need to do this once.

## Other things to check

The popup window opens but nothing prints: your default printer is offline or not connected. Check the printer light + paper.

The notification says a different printer is offline: that printer is what Chrome thinks is your last-used. Follow step 2 above to switch it.

Multiple receipts print at once: you have multiple browser tabs / windows open from prior sessions. Close them.

The popup window won't close: the print job was cancelled, so the browser's "afterprint" event never fired. The window stays open until you close it manually — annoying but not broken.

Receipt is cut off: switch your receipt printer's paper width in Settings → Receipts to match your hardware (2.25" vs 3.125").

For anything weirder, email hello@tryshelfwise.com with a screenshot of the receipt window.