DYMO LabelWriter 550 setup guide

DYMO LabelWriter 550 setup goes in one order: install DYMO Connect for Desktop first, then plug in the power, load a genuine DYMO LW roll, and only then connect the printer to your computer. After that, open a label at the size of your roll and print one test at actual size. The steps below follow DYMO's LabelWriter 550 user guide (PDF), which covers the 550, the 550 Turbo and the 5XL.

• You needThe LabelWriter, its own power adapter and USB cable, and a roll of genuine DYMO LW labels.
• Time it takesThe software install, a minute to load the roll, then one test label.
• What you getA printer your computer can see, and a label that prints at the size of the roll.

Which 550 do you have?

There are three printers in the 550 family, and they don't connect the same way.

• LabelWriter 550 connects with the USB cable in the box.
• LabelWriter 550 Turbo has USB and a LAN port, so it can also sit on your network with an Ethernet cable.
• LabelWriter 5XL has USB and LAN too, and it takes wide labels up to 4 inches.

The 550 and 550 Turbo print up to 2.25 inches (56 mm) wide on media up to 62 mm. So the everyday address and small barcode rolls fit, but a 4 x 6 shipping label is a 5XL job. All three print at 300 dpi.

Install the DYMO software before you plug in the USB cable

This is the step people skip, and it's the usual reason the printer never shows up. DYMO's guide is clear: install DYMO Connect for Desktop before you connect the printer. The LabelWriter driver is installed along with it, so this one install covers both.

1. Download the latest DYMO Connect for Desktop for your computer from DYMO's support site (support.dymo.com). Check that page for the current Windows and macOS versions it supports. The minimum system list in the printed guide is older than the current download.
2. Run the installer and let it finish. Keep the USB cable unplugged.
3. Plug the power adapter that came with this printer into the back, then into the wall, and press the power button. The models draw different power, so an adapter from another LabelWriter may not work.
4. When the install is done, plug the USB cable into the printer and the computer. The USB status light on the front comes on.
5. Open DYMO Connect once and check the printer is in its list. On a Mac, if it isn't listed after the install, add it in macOS printer settings.

On a 550 Turbo or 5XL over the network, install DYMO Connect on every computer that will print to it. Then plug in the LAN cable, wait for the LAN status light, and choose Add Network Printer from the File menu in DYMO Connect. If the printer is on USB and LAN at the same time, it shows up twice, once with each icon.

Load a genuine DYMO LW roll

The 550 series works only with authentic DYMO LW labels. The rolls carry Automatic Label Recognition, which tells the DYMO software which size is loaded and how many labels are left. A roll the printer doesn't recognize won't print, and the power light flashes as if the roll were empty.

1. Turn the printer on and lift the cover.
2. Take out the spool. Put the roll on it so the labels feed from underneath, with the left edge against the side of the spool.
3. Slide the spool guide on and press it tight against the roll. No gap on either side, or the labels drift as they feed.
4. Drop the spool back into the slots. Push the first label into the exit slot with its left edge against the left edge of the slot.
5. Press the feed button. If the first label is only a partial one, feed it out.
6. Slide the label guide over until it touches the right edge of the label without pinching it, and close the cover.

Keep spare rolls in the black bag they came in. Thermal labels fade in sun and heat, and an old roll prints faint.

Match the label size in the app and the driver

A wrong-size label usually means three settings disagree: the roll in the printer, the size of the design, and the paper size the driver thinks it has. Get all three to say the same thing.

Read the part number on the roll. 30252 is the 1-1/8 x 3-1/2 inch address label. 30334 is a 2-1/4 x 1-1/4 inch label that fits a barcode. 30321 is the larger 1-4/10 x 3-1/2 inch address label. Open the same size in the editor, and pick the same label in the print dialog's paper size. If your roll isn't one of the cards below, set a custom width and height that matches it, or look it up on the DYMO label sizes page.

DYMO 30252 addressDYMO 30252, 3.5 x 1.12 in. Name and address columns. DYMO 30334 barcodeDYMO 30334, 2.25 x 1.25 in. Product, size, SKU columns. DYMO 30321 large addressDYMO 30321, 3.5 x 1.4 in. A taller address block for a longer address.

The address card loads a short fictional list of names and addresses so you can see how rows fill the label. The barcode card loads fictional products with a CODE128 SKU. The 30321 card opens the larger address layout with one sample address.

Print your first LabelWriter 550 label from the browser

1. Open https://app.mylabelmaker.com with the DYMO 30252 address label. No signup. It's already 3.5 x 1.12 inches.
2. Type a name and address you can read at arm's length.
3. In the printer list at the top, pick This computer.
4. Click Print this and ask for one copy. The editor tells you the paper size it opened and asks you to use 100% or actual size.
5. In the system print dialog, choose the LabelWriter 550, pick the 30252 paper size, and turn off any fit-to-page or scaling.
6. Print. Check that the text sits inside the label and nothing is cut off at either end.

Designing here means you don't open DYMO Connect to lay out the label. It doesn't mean the printer works without DYMO's software: the browser hands the page to the driver that DYMO Connect installed. If you have a list in a spreadsheet, the next step is printing DYMO labels from Excel or Google Sheets. If you're deciding between the two apps, see this editor next to DYMO Connect.

When the 550 is missing, the size is wrong, or the label comes out blank

These steps come from DYMO's documentation, not from a test on our own printer. If the self-test prints and your label still doesn't, the problem is in the software or the size settings, not the hardware.