How to Scan on a Mac: A Step-by-Step Setup Guide

Macs scan through built-in tools like Printers & Scanners, Image Capture, and Preview, and a scanner needs either a direct USB or same-network connection before it appears.

Apple builds the whole workflow into macOS — no subscription or downloaded app — but the scanner must be reachable first. Below: setup, the mode choices that decide whether text comes out sharp or muddy, and when to use one tool over another.

Connect The Scanner And Add It To Your Mac

A scanner must be powered on and connected by USB or on the same network before macOS lists it. Apple’s Mac help documentation treats both connection types as supported.

1. Plug in the scanner and connect via USB, or join it to the same Wi-Fi or Ethernet network as the Mac.
2. Turn the scanner on and let it finish its startup cycle.
3. Open Apple menu > System Settings > Printers & Scanners.
4. Select the scanner or all-in-one printer. If missing, check the cable or network connection, then install any manufacturer-supplied software or driver.

On macOS Catalina or earlier, that panel lives under System Preferences instead; the label changed, the contents did not. When the scanner name appears, setup is done and scan buttons are live.

Scan With Printers & Scanners

Printers & Scanners is the default route and handles flatbed and automatic document feeder without extra software. Open the panel, select your device, and click Open Scanner.

Load paper first: a stack goes in the feeder; a book, photo, or receipt goes on the glass. In the scan window, check Use Document Feeder for a stack, leave it unchecked for the flatbed.

Under Scan To, choose a folder to save there or an application to open the scan directly. Click Show Details for output settings:

• Kind — Text for high-contrast black-and-white documents, Black & White for grayscale, or Color for photos and color pages.
• Resolution — higher numbers capture finer detail but produce larger files.
• Detect Separate Images — for flatbed scanning, saves each item as its own file and straightens crooked pages. Leave visible space between items so they split cleanly.

Click Scan; when the progress bar disappears, your file is on the Mac.

Image Capture And Preview As Quick Alternates

Image Capture and Preview reach the same scanner with fewer clicks, and both are already installed.

Open Image Capture, select the scanner under Devices or Shared, and hit Scan. A feeder can pull a multipage document into one file; a flatbed can capture several items as separate files. In Preview, go to File > Import from Scanner > your scanner, then set Flatbed or Document Feeder, kind, orientation, size, and destination before clicking Scan. If the scanner is absent from either menu, Apple points back to Printers & Scanners to fix the configuration.

Own an iPhone? File > Import from iPhone or iPad > Scan Documents in Preview pulls a phone scan straight in, provided Continuity is set up across your Apple devices.

Fixes When The Scanner Will Not Appear

A missing scanner almost always traces to power, connection, or a missing manufacturer driver — not a broken Mac. Work through the list in order.

• Confirm the scanner is on and awake — sleeping units drop off the network list.
• Reseat the USB cable or reconnect to Wi-Fi, then reopen Printers & Scanners.
• Install the manufacturer’s macOS driver or scanner utility if the device is older than the Mac’s operating system.
• Restart the Mac and scanner together, then check the list again.

Compatibility rests with the manufacturer’s driver support, not macOS itself; a model with no current driver will never appear. Shopping for a unit that works with Apple’s built-in tools? This roundup of scanners that work well with Mac narrows the field fast.

Apple’s own instructions live in the Mac help guide to scanning images and documents, which covers every setting in the panel.