Even in this day and age where almost everything is online and virtual, it still can’t be helped that you will become some physical documents. And the all-time manner to preserve these documents is to scan them and save them on your hard drive, cloud storage, or NAS.



To do so, you need a multifunction or all-in-ane printer. However, these devices tin be confusing to set up and use. They often require different apps and drivers, even if you’re using other models from the same maker.

Luckily, both Windows and Mac permit you to do it hands. Here’s how.

Scanning on Windows

If you’re a Windows user, your computer will automatically detect your device once information technology’southward plugged in via the USB port. Whether your printer is a wireless or network device, Windows volition automatically discover it, provided it’s connected to your network or to the computer’southward Bluetooth connection.

However, if your estimator doesn’t discover it, you will take to ready the automobile up manually.

Manually Adding a Printer


screenshot of printers and scanners in windows settings

Before starting this process, you must ensure the following: your printer has power, is turned on, and is continued to your computer. If you have a network or wireless printer, yous should also check if it’s connected to the aforementioned network that your computer uses.


Once yous’ve double-checked the above, try to restart your printer and see if your reckoner volition detect it now. If it still doesn’t, then allow’south proceed with calculation your printer manually.

First, click on the
Start
button, then go to
Settings. In the Settings window, go to
Devices
>
Printers & scanners. Under the
Add together printers & scanners
department, select the
Add together a printer or scanner
button. Await for the estimator equally it tries to find nearby devices, both continued directly to your computer or via the network.


manually adding a printer by other options screenshot

Once your estimator detects all nearby devices, select the one yous desire to use and click on
Add device. It will then automatically add together your machine, and you tin can choose it from your scanning options later.

However, if that doesn’t happen, click on
The printer that I desire isn’t listed
link. Windows will then open a wizard to add your printer. Just follow the instructions to install your device.

Once you’ve added the hardware, you can open the apps to start your browse. Windows offers two ways of scanning documents; the first is the legacy
Windows Fax and Browse
app, and the second is the newer
Windows Scan
app. We volition tackle both beneath.

Windows Fax and Browse


Screenshot of the legacy Windows Fax and Scan app

Click on Start, then go to
Windows Accessories
>
Windows Fax and Scan
to access the app. In the Windows Fax and Scan window, select
New Scan. A New Scan window will so announced. Ensure you’ve chosen the correct device under
Scanner. Otherwise, click on
Change…
to option the correct one.

In one case you’ve picked your device and have fix your scan settings, click on
Preview
to start scanning and meet how your document will appear. And once you’re happy with the results, click on
Scan
to scan and relieve the image.

The saved prototype will and then appear in the chief window of the Windows Fax and Scan app. If you want to access the file, it’s usually saved in your
Documents
>
Scanned Documents
folder.

Windows Browse


Windows Scan screenshot

This app isn’t ordinarily pre-installed in Windows. You first need to get to
Microsoft Shop, search for Windows Scan, and then download and install information technology. Once it’southward prepare upwards, launch it from your
Starting time Menu
past clicking on
Browse.

A new
Browse
window volition announced. If you have multiple scanners, choice out the correct device, select the
File type
you desire to save your browse, and then printing
Preview. Yous will then meet your browse in the main window. Yous tin can likewise adjust the edges of your file by dragging and dropping the white circles at the corners of your file.

Once you’ve finalized your settings, click on
Browse. Later your file is scanned, the app will show a pop-up at the acme of the window telling you the file name of the scan and where it’south saved. Click on
View
to open the file in a photo app, or press
Close
when yous’re done. You tin access the saved file in your
Pictures
>
Scans
folder.

Scanning on a Mac

If you have an Apple computer, yous tin can as well browse from any multifunction printer using your device. Showtime, go to
System Preferences
>
Printers & Scanners
to cheque if your multifunction printer is installed on your system. You should run across it listed in the left column; otherwise, you lot need to add together information technology.

Calculation Your Printer


screenshot of how to add a printer on a mac

To do so, click on the
+
sign. An
Add Printer
window will then announced. If you’re using a USB printer, information technology should appear automatically listed in this window. Only if you lot’re using a network printer, you should click on the
IP
icon and set it upwardly using its network address.

All the same, if your device is still not found in the Add Printer window, you accept to visit your printer make’s website and download the pertinent drivers.


Starting Your Scan


Screenshot of how to scan on a Mac

Once your device is installed on your Mac, become back to
Printers & Scanners. Select the device you want to use, then click on the
Browse
tab. You should see your device’s proper noun in the main window, then underneath it, click on the
Open Scanner…
push button.

A
Scanner
window volition and then open. In the lower bar,
select the folder
where you want to salve your scanned file,
selection the paper size
of your document, then press
Scan. The printer volition first execute a preliminary browse to determine the docs it’s working with. It will so scan each certificate it detects and save it as a separate file.

To observe the file y’all’ve recently scanned, head to the folder you’ve selected in the previous paragraph.

Digitizing Your Life

It’s definitely a practiced idea to keep digital copies of your about of import physical files. These could be your birth document, property titles, and contracts. That mode, fifty-fifty if yous lose the original document, you still have access to their copies for your reference.

However, wherever you’re storing these copies, e’er ensure that it’south in a safe identify. If you’re saving information technology on your computer or a cloud storage service, ensure it’s encrypted. And if you are keeping it on an offline server, secure those drives in a locked condom. That way, your most precious belongings, like your identity, cannot be easily stolen.