This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Megaera Lorenz, PhD. Megaera Lorenz is an Egyptologist and Writer with over 20 years of experience in public education. In 2017, she graduated with her PhD in Egyptology from The University of Chicago, where she served for several years as a content advisor and program facilitator for the Oriental Institute Museum’s Public Education office. She has also developed and taught Egyptology courses at The University of Chicago and Loyola University Chicago.
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Want to scan a document or image on your Mac? It’s easy to do so with apps like Preview and Image Capture, which are built into macOS. Once you get your scanner set up and connected to your Mac, you can start scanning right away. If you don’t have a scanner, you can use your Mac’s Continuity Camera feature to scan documents with an iPhone or iPad. In this article, we’ll explain the easiest scanning methods and common troubleshooting steps.
Quick Steps
menu and select System Settings . If you’re using an older version of macOS, this will be called System Preferences instead.
Click Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax… . If you already see your scanner in the list, you can skip this step. If not, click the button at the bottom of the main Printers & Scanners window to add your scanner.
Select your scanner. You should see your scanner in the list of options that appear in the pop-out menu. Click on it to select it.
Click Scan . Once your scanner is finished, the scanned page(s) will appear in the main Preview window, where you can edit, rename, or save your scan.
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Launch the Image Capture app. This is a built-in app that comes with macOS. Look for it in your Launchpad or find it with
Click Scan . When you’re ready, click the Scan button in the lower right corner of the window. The scanned image will appear in the destination you selected on your Mac (e.g., your Pictures folder).
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Go to System Settings > Printers & Scanners . If you like, you can open your scanner directly from System Settings to make a scan. To do so, navigate to the
Click Open Scanner… . You’ll see this button near the top of the window. Clicking it will launch a scanner window in the Image Capture app.
Hold your iPhone or iPad over the document. Unlock your iPhone or iPad and hold it with the camera facing the document you want to scan. Make sure you’re on the Home Screen with all apps minimized or closed.
Try deleting and re-adding your scanner. If the scanner was visible in your scanning app at some point but now you can’t access it, go back into Apple menu > System Settings > Printers & Scanners. If you see the scanner there, select it and click Remove Scanner (or Remove Printer). When you’re done, add it again using the Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax button.
Use an app to scan instead of the controls on your scanner. While many scanners let you scan by pressing a button on the scanner itself, this option doesn’t always work very well. Instead, try scanning with an app like Preview, Image Capture, or a third-party option that’s compatible with your scanner.
Connect the scanner directly to your Mac instead of a router. If you have an AirPort base station to manage your wireless network, you might have plugged your scanner into it. Instead, connect the scanner to a USB port on your Mac (you might need to use an adapter if your scanner doesn’t have a USB-C cable).
Log out all users and log back in. If multiple users are logged into your Mac, this can sometimes cause problems when trying to connect to a scanner. Try logging out of all user accounts on your Mac, then logging back in with the one you want to use. Then, try using your scanner again.
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Supposedly in the file designated by "SCAN TO" in the options menu, but you can also check "PICTURES."
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If you are using a wireless scanner and it is not working, check the scanner to make sure it is connected to the wireless network after a period of inactivity.
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