Universal Print: phone release and print jobs per licence

The options

• 

  100 jobs a month

  Microsoft 365 Business Premium

  CHF 17.82

  Microsoft list price for Switzerland, excl. VAT, as of 4 October 2026 [1]

  Includes

  • Universal Print: each licence adds 100 print jobs a month to the organisation’s pool [2]

  Limits

  • –Max 300 users [3]

  SPB
• 

  100 jobs a month

  Microsoft 365 E3

  CHF 35.32

  Microsoft list price for Switzerland, excl. VAT, as of 4 October 2026 [4]

  Includes

  • Universal Print: each licence adds 100 print jobs a month to the organisation’s pool [2]

  SPE_E3
• 

  100 jobs a month

  Microsoft 365 E5

  CHF 54.33

  Microsoft list price for Switzerland, excl. VAT, as of 4 October 2026 [4]

  Includes

  • Universal Print: each licence adds 100 print jobs a month to the organisation’s pool [2]

  SPE_E5
• 

  5 jobs a month

  Microsoft 365 F3

  CHF 8.10

  Microsoft list price for Switzerland, excl. VAT, as of 4 October 2026 [5]

  Includes

  • Universal Print: each licence adds 5 print jobs a month to the organisation’s pool [2]

  SPE_F1
• 

  5 jobs a month

  Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3

  Sold only under a Microsoft agreement or together with a qualifying licence, without a public list price. IT partners can quote it.

  Includes

  • Universal Print: each licence adds 5 print jobs a month to the organisation’s pool. Windows 10/11 Enterprise E5 adds the same [2]

  WIN10_VDA_E3
• 

  Standalone licence

  Universal Print

  Swiss list price: not stated [2]

  Includes

  • Universal Print for one user, adding 5 print jobs a month to the organisation’s pool [2]
• 

  Add-on: more print jobs

  Universal Print volume add-on

  Microsoft’s US list price: USD 25 a month for 500 jobs, USD 300 a month for 10,000 jobs, annual commitment billed monthly. Swiss list price: not stated [2]

  Includes

  • More print jobs for the whole organisation, in packs of 500 or 10,000 a month [2]

Key differences

1. 1Universal Print is Microsoft’s print service in the cloud: every job goes through Microsoft’s service on its way to the printer, instead of through a print server of your own [6]
2. 2Your licences decide how much you can print, not how many printers you have. Every Microsoft 365 E3, E5 or Business Premium licence adds 100 jobs a month; Microsoft 365 F3 and Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3 or E5 add 5 [2]
3. 3The jobs go into one pool for the whole organisation. The person who prints the quarterly report can use up what the colleague on holiday didn’t, and the pool refills at the start of every month [2]
4. 4A job is a document, not a page: 15 copies of a 10-page contract count as one job, colour or black and white, single- or double-sided [2]
5. 5A held job counts once it reaches the printer or a third-party release service, even if nobody ever picks it up. Jobs that fail inside the service don’t count [2]
6. 6Run out and printing doesn’t stop. The administrator is alerted and is expected to buy more licences or a volume add-on [2]
7. 7Microsoft’s plan comparison for small businesses lists no Universal Print in Microsoft 365 Business Basic or Business Standard [3]
8. 8Every job comes from a named person signed in with their work account. Printing from service accounts isn’t supported, so there is no anonymous guest printing [7]
9. 9Printers with Universal Print built into their firmware connect straight to the cloud. Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Lexmark, Ricoh, Sharp, Xerox and others make them [8]
10. 10Older printers need the Universal Print connector: a Windows app on a PC or server at the site that stays on around the clock, with Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise or Windows Server 2025 recommended. It only makes outgoing connections, so no inbound firewall rules [9]
11. 11There is no offline printing: every job goes through Microsoft’s cloud, even when the printer is on the same desk [6]
12. 12Microsoft lists North Europe and West Europe as the European regions for Universal Print; no region in Switzerland is listed [2]

What to do, and when

1. At your desk

   Print as usual to the Universal Print printer or the pull-print queue. The job waits in Microsoft’s cloud, not in the printer’s tray. [10]

2. At the printer

   Scan the QR code stuck on the printer with your phone’s camera. Since 18 August 2026 it opens the Universal Print portal in the browser; the Microsoft 365 Copilot app no longer releases jobs, and existing QR codes keep working. [10]

3. On your phone

   Release your job in the portal. Only then does the printer get it. [10]

4. Any printer, one queue

   With Universal Print anywhere (pull printing), one queue follows you: send the job once and release it at whichever printer you walk up to. It is included with Universal Print at no extra cost. [11]

5. Badge instead of phone

   Some printer makers add badge release on top of Universal Print anywhere. That comes from the printer maker, who may charge to switch it on. [12]

6. If nobody comes

   A job nobody collects is cancelled after 3 days. [7]

Who it’s for

• 25 people on Microsoft 365 Business Premium bring 2,500 print jobs a month. Count documents, not pages, before you buy anything extra.
• On Microsoft 365 Business Standard you don’t have Universal Print. Business Premium adds it, and so does a standalone Universal Print licence, with 5 jobs a month and no public Swiss price.
• Shops and warehouses on Microsoft 365 F3 get 5 jobs per person. If the shop floor prints delivery notes all day, plan for a volume add-on.
• Confidential printing (HR, payroll, contracts): turn on QR release on the shared printer, so nothing sits in the output tray until its owner is standing there.

ClearSource’s reading of Microsoft’s documentation — not a recommendation for your situation.

What changed recently

1. 18 August 2026

   QR-code release moved from the Microsoft 365 Copilot app to the browser-based Universal Print portal [10]

2. November 2025: badge release from printer makers became generally available on top of Universal Print anywhere [13]

3. June 2025: Universal Print anywhere (pull printing) became generally available [13]