How to scan with an HP printer
Using the HP Smart app on Windows, where the settings hide, and what to do when the Scan button does nothing.
The app you want is called HP Smart. Not "HP Scan", not "HP Scanner". That trips people up before they start, because searching the Microsoft Store for "scanner" will not find it.
Do this first: scan a document
- Press the Windows key, type HP Smart, and open it. If it is not there, open the Microsoft Store, search for HP Smart, and install it. If it asks you to sign in or create an HP account, that prompt is HP's rather than ours; ask us first if you are not sure.
- Put the page face down on the glass. If you have several pages and your printer has a feeder on top, use that instead.
- Click Scan. Some versions label it Printer Scan.
- Choose Document rather than Photo, unless it really is a photo.
- Check Input Source. Pick Scanner Glass for a single page, or Document Feeder for a stack.
- Check Paper Size matches what you put in. Usually Letter.
- Click Scan, then choose what to do with it: save it, email it, or share it.
The one that catches people out. HP Smart can also scan using your computer's camera. If your scan comes out looking like a photo of a page taken at a slight angle, the input source is set to the camera rather than the scanner. Change Input Source and scan it again.
Saving it somewhere you will find it again
- Save as PDF for anything with more than one page, or anything you are going to send to somebody. It opens the same way on every computer and phone.
- Save into Documents, not Downloads. Downloads is a temporary pile. Documents is backed up on most of the computers we look after. Is OneDrive working, and is my file safe? explains how to tell at a glance.
If the Scan button does nothing
This one is not you. Scanning through HP Smart on Windows 11 has a habit of quietly failing. Work down this list:
- Check the printer is switched on, and that it is on the same Wi-Fi as your computer, or that its USB cable is plugged in at both ends.
- Close HP Smart completely, then open it again.
- Restart the computer. This clears most of them.
- Try the Windows Scan app instead. Search the Microsoft Store for Windows Scan, sometimes listed just as Scan. It is made by Microsoft, works with most scanners including HP ones, and is a good deal simpler. Plenty of people end up preferring it.
- If Windows does not see the printer at all, the driver may be missing. There is an HP link on our Downloads page.
Scanning straight to a folder or to email
Some office copiers can scan directly to a shared folder or send straight to an email address, with no computer involved. That is set up on the copier itself rather than in this app, and it is worth us doing with you. If yours used to do that and has stopped, tell us rather than working around it, because it usually means a password or a folder moved.
Did this not sort it out?
If none of the steps above gets you scanning, tell us which step you reached and whether the printer is on Wi-Fi or USB. That usually saves a round of questions.
Tell Michael which step you got to and what the screen says. A photo of the screen from your phone is perfect.