Sharp BP-50C36: Setup, Drivers, Ink and Common Problems

Is the Sharp BP-50C36 right for you?

A 36 ppm A3 colour MFP that suits busier departments than the BP-50C31 without moving to the premium BP-70C line. Sharp's single-pass duplex feeder and colour scanning to searchable PDF make it a capable document-capture station as well as a printer. In heavily used sites the drum units rather than the toner tend to dictate maintenance intervals, so ask your dealer what the contract covers.

Best for: Busy departments with high colour copying and scanning volumes

Setting up the Sharp BP-50C36

Register the paper stocks used in each tray on the touchscreen so automatic tray selection works and the fuser applies the right temperature to heavier media. Enable Sharp's data security and SSL settings in the web interface, and disable unused protocols such as FTP and raw Telnet management. For scan-to-folder on modern Windows, create a dedicated local service account on the target PC and share the folder explicitly rather than relying on Everyone permissions.

1. Unbox and prepare. Remove every piece of shipping tape and packing material, install the toner cartridge and drum unit, and load paper in the tray.
2. Join your Wi-Fi. Keep the printer close to the router for setup. Most printers only connect to the 2.4GHz band, so if your router broadcasts one merged network name you may need to split the bands temporarily. See our Wi-Fi guide if it will not join.
3. Install the setup app. Use Sharp's official app rather than a driver you found on a search result — third-party driver sites are the most common source of printer malware.
4. Add the printer. On Windows 11: Settings › Bluetooth & devices › Printers & scanners › Add device. On macOS: System Settings › Printers & Scanners › Add Printer.
5. Print a test page and run a scan if this is an all-in-one, so you find any problem now rather than when you are in a hurry.

Ink, toner and supplies

The Sharp BP-50C36 uses the following consumables. Match the number exactly when you buy: the same printer family often uses several different cartridge numbers by region.

• Sharp BP-GT30 series black toner
• BP-GT30 colour toners
• BP-CD10 drum units
• Waste toner container

High-yield (XL) versions almost always cost less per page if you print regularly. On third-party ink and toner, read our honest assessment first, and note that some manufacturers push firmware that rejects non-original chips.

Full specifications