How to Scan From Your Printer to Your Computer (Windows and Mac)

To scan from your printer to your computer, put the document face down on the scanner glass, then on Windows open the free Windows Scan app, pick your printer, choose a file type such as PDF or JPEG and click Scan. On a Mac, go to System Settings > Printers & Scanners, select your printer and click Open Scanner. The printer has to be connected by USB or on the same Wi-Fi network, and Windows saves scans to Pictures > Scans unless you choose another folder.

That works for almost any all-in-one printer from HP, Canon, Epson, Brother and others. Below you will find every other way to do it, including the brand apps, scanning from the printer's own screen, scanning several pages into one PDF, and what to do when the computer cannot find the scanner.

1. Your printer can scan. Only all-in-one (multifunction) printers have a scanner. If there is no lid with glass under it, and no document feeder on top, your printer cannot scan.
2. The printer and computer are connected. Either a USB cable, or both on the same Wi-Fi network. Guest networks and the 5 GHz vs 2.4 GHz split on some routers can keep them apart. If your computer already shows the printer as offline, fix that first with our printer offline guide.
3. Windows or macOS sees the scanner. On Windows 11, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Printers & scanners. On Windows 10, go to Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners. On a Mac, go to System Settings > Printers & Scanners. If your printer is not listed, click Add device (Windows) or the Add Printer, Scanner or Fax button (Mac).

Every method below ends with the same result: a file on your computer. Pick the one that fits your setup.

Windows Scan is Microsoft's free scanning app and works with most printers that Windows recognizes as a scanner.

1. Turn on the printer and place the document face down on the glass, lined up with the corner marker, or load pages into the document feeder.
2. Click Start, type Scan and open the Scan app. If it is not there, install Windows Scan free from the Microsoft Store.
3. Under Scanner, select your printer.
4. Under Source, choose Flatbed, Feeder or Auto-configured.
5. Under File type, choose the format. JPEG or PNG suit photos. Recent versions also list PDF; if yours does not, update the app in the Microsoft Store.
6. Click Show more to change color mode, resolution and the Save file to folder.
7. Click Preview (flatbed only) to check the crop, then click Scan.
8. When it finishes, click View to open the file.

Unless you change it, the file lands in your Pictures > Scans folder. One limit: each flatbed scan is saved as its own file. For several pages in one PDF, use the feeder, a brand app, or combine them as shown in the PDF section below.

Windows Fax and Scan is an older built-in tool that still works well with many scanners, including some the Scan app will not see.

1. Click Start, type Windows Fax and Scan and open it. On Windows 11, if it is missing, go to Settings > System > Optional features, click View features, search for fax and add Windows Fax and Scan.
2. Click Scan in the lower-left corner, then New Scan in the toolbar.
3. Check the scanner name, choose a profile (Document or Photo), the source, color format, file type and resolution.
4. Click Preview, adjust the dotted crop box if needed, then click Scan.

Scans appear in the app and are saved to Documents > Scanned Documents. You can right-click a scan to email it or save it elsewhere. It saves image formats such as JPEG, TIFF, PNG and BMP, not PDF.

Macs can scan from most all-in-one printers with no extra software.

From System Settings

1. Place your document on the glass or in the feeder.
2. Open the Apple menu, then System Settings > Printers & Scanners.
3. Select your printer in the list and click Open Scanner.
4. Tick Use Document Feeder if you loaded the feeder; leave it off for the glass.
5. Click Show Details to set Kind (Color, Black & White or Text), Resolution, Format and the file name.
6. Choose where the file goes from the Scan To menu, then click Scan.

With Image Capture

Open Image Capture from Applications (or Spotlight with Command + Space), select your printer under Devices or Shared in the sidebar, and you get the same scan window with Show Details, Scan To and Scan.

On the glass, choose Detect Separate Images from the Size menu to scan several photos at once and save each as its own file. If Open Scanner is missing, install your printer maker's macOS software or remove and re-add the printer.

HP Smart is HP's free app for Windows (Microsoft Store), Mac (App Store), iPhone and Android.

1. Open HP Smart and select your printer on the home screen. Add it with the plus sign if it is not shown.
2. Click the Scan tile.
3. Choose the source (Glass or Document Feeder), the preset (Document or Photo), and the page size, color and resolution.
4. Click Scan. To add more pages from the glass, click Add (or the plus sign) and scan the next page.
5. Click Save, choose PDF to keep all pages in one file (or JPG for images), pick the folder and save.

The scan preview lets you crop, rotate and reorder pages before saving. Exact button names vary a little between app versions.

Canon's scanning app is IJ Scan Utility on Windows. On a Mac, recent models use IJ Scan Utility Lite. Download it from your model's page on Canon's support website if it is not installed.

1. Open IJ Scan Utility. On Windows, look under Start > Canon Utilities.
2. Choose your printer from the Product Name list.
3. Click Settings..., select Document Scan (or Photo Scan) and set the paper size, resolution, Data Format (choose PDF, or PDF (Multiple Pages) to combine pages) and the save folder. Click OK.
4. Click Document or Photo to scan.

The main screen also has Auto, which detects the item type, Stitch, for items larger than the glass, and ScanGear, for detailed color correction. Canon's default save location for documents is your Documents folder. If a scan stops with an error number, look it up in our Canon error codes guide.

Epson printers use Epson Scan 2, and many newer models also install Epson ScanSmart, a simpler app. Both are free from your model's Epson support page.

Epson Scan 2

1. Open Epson Scan 2 (on Windows, under Start > EPSON; on a Mac, in Applications > Epson Software).
2. Pick Document Mode or Photo Mode from the Mode menu.
3. Set the document source, size, image type and resolution.
4. Set Image Format to PDF, JPEG or another format, and choose the Folder.
5. To build a multi-page PDF from the glass, tick Add or edit pages after scanning (some versions put this under an After Scanning option). After each page, click Add, then Save when done.
6. Click Scan.

Epson ScanSmart

Open ScanSmart, click Scan (or Scan Double-Sided on models that support it), add pages if needed, then click Save and pick PDF or another format.

Most all-in-ones can send a scan straight to a computer on your network, but the computer must be ready to receive it.

HP

1. On Windows, install HP's full printer software, open HP Printer Assistant (search for your printer name), and go to Scan > Manage Scan to Computer > Enable. It is off by default.
2. At the printer, tap Scan, then Computer, pick your PC and a shortcut such as PDF, and tap Start.

HP's Scan to Computer from the panel is Windows only. On a Mac, use HP Smart.

Canon

1. On Windows, make sure IJ Network Scanner Selector EX2 is running (its icon is in the notification area). Right-click it, choose Settings, open Scan-from-Operation-Panel Settings, select your printer and click OK.
2. At the printer, choose Scan, then the PC destination, and start.

Epson

1. Install Epson Scan 2 and Epson Event Manager (or ScanSmart on newer models) and keep the computer on.
2. At the printer, choose Scan > Computer, select your computer, pick a format such as PDF or JPEG, and press start.

If your computer is not in the printer's list, it is usually asleep, on a different network, or a firewall is blocking the brand's scan software. Menu names vary by model, so check your printer's manual if a step does not match.

PDF is the right format for documents, forms and anything you will email or print. Here is the fastest route for each setup:

• Windows Scan app: set File type to PDF. With the document feeder, all pages go into one PDF; from the glass, each scan is its own file.
• Mac: in Show Details, set Format to PDF and tick Combine into single document.
• HP Smart: scan the first page, click Add for each next page, then save as PDF.
• Canon: set Data Format to PDF (Multiple Pages) in Settings.
• Epson Scan 2: Image Format PDF with Add or edit pages after scanning.

Already scanned pages as separate files? On Windows, select the images in File Explorer, right-click, choose Print (on Windows 11 it may be under Show more options), and pick Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer; that saves them as one PDF. On a Mac, open the files together in Preview, then choose File > Print and Save as PDF.

Tip: if you need searchable or editable text, the Mac's PDF option can turn on OCR in recent macOS versions, and the Canon, Epson and HP apps include OCR on many models.

Photos need different settings from documents.

Clean the glass with a dry microfiber cloth first; dust shows up on every photo. To scan several prints at once, leave space between them and use the Mac's Detect Separate Images, Canon's Photo or Auto mode, or Epson's Photo Mode, which can split them into separate files.

If a scan finished but you cannot find the file, check these default folders:

• Windows Scan app: Pictures > Scans
• Windows Fax and Scan: Documents > Scanned Documents
• Canon IJ Scan Utility: Documents (or the folder set in Settings)
• Epson Scan 2: the folder shown in the Folder field
• HP Smart: the folder you picked when saving
• Mac: the folder shown in the Scan To menu

Still lost? On Windows, open File Explorer, click Recent or Home, and look at the newest files. On a Mac, open Finder and choose Recents.

1. Restart all three: printer, computer and Wi-Fi router.
2. Print a test page. If printing fails too, the connection is the problem, not the scanner. Our printer not printing guide walks through it.
3. Check the network. The printer and computer must be on the same network. A printer that keeps dropping off often needs a fixed IP address; see our permanent offline fix. Brother owners can follow our Brother Wi-Fi setup guide.
4. Install the full software from the maker's site. The basic driver Windows installs automatically sometimes prints but cannot scan.
5. Remove and re-add the printer in Printers & scanners.
6. Try USB. If USB scanning works, the problem is the network or firewall.
7. Look up any error code on the printer screen with our printer error code lookup.

If you have worked through these and the scanner still will not show up, a $1 chat with a tech expert can usually pin down whether it is a driver, network or printer setting.