The printer half of your machine prints perfectly and the scan half does nothing, or Windows says there is no scanner at all.
Those are two different faults with one complaint, and which one you have is settled in about ten seconds. Most of what you will read mixes them together.
I read what this machine has for scanning before writing, and one of the readings shows exactly what an empty setup looks like.
The ten second split
Do this before anything else, because it halves the work. I would start nowhere else.
⭐ If the same machine still prints, the hardware is fine. So are the cable and the Wi-Fi. A real fault in any of them would stop printing too.
⚡ So a printing printer that will not scan is a software path, not a broken machine.
⚠️ If it prints nothing either, you have a connection problem. Different page, different order.
⛔ If Windows never listed it at all, you are installing rather than fixing. The next section is yours.
Getting Windows to see it in the first place
Microsoft's own steps, and the manual link is the one you will never notice.
⭐ Microsoft documents the simple case on its install and use a scanner page. Plug the USB cable in. Turn the scanner on. Windows installs it.
⚡ When it does not, Microsoft's route is Settings, Bluetooth and devices, Printers and scanners, then Add device.
⚠️ Then the line almost nobody clicks: "If the scanner that needs to be installed isn't discovered and displayed in the list, select the Add a new device manually link."
⛔ That link is how you add a network scanner by address, when discovery will not find it.
The network condition that stops wireless scanners
One sentence from Microsoft, and it probably explains yours.
⚡ Microsoft states it: "If the scanner and Windows device are both connected to the network wirelessly, make sure that both are on the same wireless network/SSID."
⭐ Two bands count as two networks. A 2.4GHz scanner and a 5GHz laptop will not find each other.
⚠️ Your guest network counts as separate too. That is by design, and it blocks exactly this.
⛔ That is the commonest cause of all. A scanner that printed fine yesterday usually moved band. Same rule catches wireless printers.
The app, which may simply not be there
Quick to check, and it is the fault on a lot of fresh installs.
⭐ Microsoft's own note: "If the Scan app doesn't appear in the list of search results, it might not be installed. To install the Windows Scan app, install it from the Microsoft Store."
⚡ It is not part of Windows. Search Start for Scan. See whether you have it at all.
⚠️ It is not installed on this laptop at all. That is ordinary on a machine that has never scanned anything.
⛔ Your maker's own software is the other route. It often has features the Windows app does not.
What this machine reports, and what it cannot show you
Read rather than assumed, and one part of it is a nil. I checked all four here.
⚡ The Windows Image Acquisition service is running, on Automatic. That is the service every scanner needs.
⭐ There are zero imaging devices attached here, and four printers installed. The service is up. It has nothing to talk to.
⚠️ Yours will look like this if no scanner has ever been plugged in. Service up, device list empty.
⛔ No scan was performed for this page and no scanner was attached. ⚠️ The steps are Microsoft's own and the service state is this machine's, and neither is a demonstration of the fault.
Where the file goes, which people ask afterwards
Two lines, and the default catches you once.
⭐ Microsoft names it: scans land in "the Pictures/Scans folder in the user folder".
⚡ You can change it in the Scan app. Use the save location option, before you scan rather than after.
⚠️ The file type is yours too: JPEG, PNG, TIFF or Bitmap in the app's dropdown.
⛔ None of those four is PDF. That surprises people. Your maker's own software usually offers it.
When it is the service rather than the scanner
Three checks, in order, and none of them costs you anything.
⚡ Windows Image Acquisition has to be running. Type services.msc, find it, and read your status column.
⭐ It should be on Automatic. It reads Automatic and Running here, which is what you want.
⚠️ If it is stopped, start it there and try again. Do that before touching a driver or a cable.
⛔ And if scanning broke on the day of an update, that is its own shape. Driver changes are the usual reason.
Status: scanning tooling and service state read here 29 August 2026, Windows 11 Home 25H2 on a laptop, checked against Microsoft's own install and use a scanner page. ⛔ No scanner was attached, no scan was run, no file name is named on this page, and I wrote nothing to the machine.
Why does my printer print but not scan on Windows?
Because printing and scanning use different software paths on your machine. The printing half working rules out the cable, the Wi-Fi and the hardware, since a real fault there would stop both. Look at the scanner software, the Windows Image Acquisition service, and whether both devices are on the same wireless network.
How do I add a scanner Windows cannot find?
Settings, Bluetooth and devices, Printers and scanners, Add device. When your list comes back empty, Microsoft says to select the Add a new device manually link, which is how a network scanner gets added by address rather than by discovery.
Where is the Scan app in Windows 11?
Search Start for Scan. Microsoft says that if it does not appear it might not be installed, and to install the Windows Scan app from the Microsoft Store. It is a separate download and it is not on this laptop at all.
Where do scanned files go by default?
Microsoft says the Pictures folder, in a Scans folder inside your user folder. You can change that in the Scan app before scanning. The app offers JPEG, PNG, TIFF and Bitmap, and none of them is PDF.
The Short Version
- If it still prints, the cable, the Wi-Fi and the hardware are fine.
- Microsoft's route: Settings, Bluetooth and devices, Printers and scanners, Add device.
- The Add a new device manually link is how a network scanner gets added by address.
- Both devices must be on the same wireless network, and two bands count as two.
- The Windows Scan app is a separate download from the Microsoft Store.
- It is not installed on this laptop, and there are zero imaging devices here.
- The Windows Image Acquisition service reads Running and Automatic here.
- Scans default to Pictures, then Scans, and the app cannot save a PDF.
Where to Next
Try printing a test page first. That one result decides which half of this page you need.
If it prints, leave the hardware alone and go to the software and the network.
Check that the scanner and the PC are on the same wireless network, not two bands of it.
Search Start for Scan, and install the app from the Store if it is missing.
And if your scanner needed the manual add by address, tell me the brand in the comments. That link is buried and worth other people knowing about.
Isaac Smith is the founder and editor of PC Glance, a website that covers computers, laptops, and technology. He is a tech enthusiast and a computer geek who loves to share his insights and help his readers make smart choices when buying tech gadgets or laptops. He is always curious and updated about the latest tech trends.