ScanSnap On El Capitan - Your Experience?

ScanSnap On El Capitan – Your Experience?

So OS X 10.11 El Capitan is out. Does the Fujitsu ScanSnap work with it?

Whenever a new version of an operating system is released, I put up a post to collect experiences and resources for the ScanSnap. If you’ve made the El Capitan upgrade, please leave a comment below with how it is working out for you.

I’ve done some searching and haven’t come across any concrete problems yet, but at the time of writing a new version of ScanSnap Manager with official El Capitan support has not been released.

Usually they give a time frame when the update will be out, but not this time. I’ll update the post when I learn more.

Update 12/07/2015: The ScanSnap El Capitan update has now been released. Follow the Online Update Instructions or see the support page for your model.

ScanSnap El Capitan Compatibility

The short version is, all current and some discontinued ScanSnap models will be supported.

If you want further details, here is the support page for each model:

  • ScanSnap iX500: Supported. See this page and the instructions below.
  • ScanSnap iX100: Supported. See this page and the instructions below.
  • ScanSnap SV600: Supported. See this page and the instructions below.
  • ScanSnap S1500/S1500M: Supported. See this page and the instructions below.
  • ScanSnap S1300/S1300i: Supported. See this page and the instructions below.
  • ScanSnap S1100/S1100i: Supported. See this page and the instructions below.
  • ScanSnap S300M: Not Supported. See this page.
  • ScanSnap S510M: Not Supported. See this page.

Preparing Your ScanSnap For OS X El Capitan

If you have a ScanSnap iX500, iX100, SV600, S1500/M, S1300/S1300i, or S1100/S1100i the best way to go is to do an online update.

To do that:

  • Right-click on the ScanSnap icon in the Dock
  • Go to Help > Online Update
  • Follow the instructions

If you want to see this in video form, I’ve created a short video.

Your Experience?

So, how is your ScanSnap and related software working on OS X El Capitan?

I’d appreciate it if you left a comment either way. I’ll update this post as new information becomes available.

About the Author

Brooks Duncan helps individuals and small businesses go paperless. He's been an accountant, a software developer, a manager in a very large corporation, and has run DocumentSnap since 2008. You can find Brooks on Twitter at @documentsnap or @brooksduncan. Thanks for stopping by.

Leave a Reply 82 comments

Jeff Davies - August 28, 2017 Reply

Hello fellow Scansnap sufferers…
I have some relief for you.
I have a S300M which did not work with Sierra.
But I tried other drivers.
The S1500 manager V3.2L80 works just fine..!!!
Here’s the link:
http://www.fujitsu.com/global/support/products/computing/peripheral/scanners/scansnap/software/s1500m-setup.html
So much for Fujitsu’s rush to abandon its customers when a solution is available…

Bernd Arridh - January 6, 2017 Reply

Hey there,

I had great results using Vuescan to keep my own collection of negative film scanners running. Vuescan does support almost all Fujis Snapscan models, as it seems: http://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/fujitsu.html#scanner-drivers

You can test the Vuescan software without problems.

Best regards,
B

Marc - November 3, 2016 Reply

S300 works just fine on Mac El Capitan AND MacOS Sierra using Scansnap Manager 3.2. L31 (3.2.3.1. 1038 from 2011-08-09). Note: I am using the S300 model, not the S300M.

Bret - October 17, 2016 Reply

I’m running El Capian (OS X 10.11.6 and a ScanSnap S1300i with ScanSanp Manager version 6.3 L50.

Every time I open up my ScanSnap S1300i, my operating system starts acting erratic. Cursor jumping around, drop down menus opening and flashing, etc. It’s to erratic to even highlight anything and click on it. When I close my scanner, all that stops. Very frustrating.

Bret

denke42 - October 12, 2016 Reply

I’ve been using my ScanSnap S1500M on El Capitan for a few months without noticing any problems – and I didn’t even know about the software update. I’m using V3.2 L63. Should I update? I’m leery of fixing what ain’t broke.

sut2910 - September 29, 2016 Reply

I have a S510M which Fujitsu shows as “End of Life”. Don’t tell my scanner that… I found that if I want to upgrade my mac beyond the OS that Fujitsu cares to support, I will first clone my mac primary boot drive to an external bootable disk using Superduper. Now I can continue using my scanner by booting from that whenever I need to scan stuff. Beats buying a scanner every few years just because the manufacturer isn’t making any money supporting the old ‘End of Life’ scanner, even though it is in perfect working order.

Jennie - August 21, 2016 Reply

In August 2016 I bought a Macbook Pro running ElCapitan. Computer worked fine for a week until I downloaded scansnap Receipt. Macbook had a Kernel panic, would not run correctly. Apple replaced the computer. Same thing happened with new computer as soon as I installed scansnap receipt. I really loved the software on my previous laptop until I upgraded “it” to ElCapitan. Now I’m wondering if that was why I need to replace my previous computer in the first place.

Judi Short - August 12, 2016 Reply

I got a new Macbook Pro about 3 weeks ago running El Capitan. I downloaded the new driver for my ScanSnap S1500M (whih is supported) It has been running just fine, until today, when it won’t do anything. System Preferences doesn’t show it is installed, and at the same time Fijitsu says my software is installed and doesn’t want to download. Don’t know where to start. Turned scanner off for half an hour, didn’t make a difference.

Willard McCarty - July 11, 2016 Reply

Addendum after reverting to OSX 10.11.5: no improvement.

Willard McCarty - July 11, 2016 Reply

I have just purchased and installed a ScanSnap SV600, running under El Capitan 10.11.6 Beta (15G26a), with the latest version of the ScanSnap software. Scanning proceeds usually for a few scans then crashes, often when I attempt to end the scan and save the results. I have hooked the SV600 up to an old Windows 7 machine (ugh); the scanning works perfectly but very slowly because the machine is slow. The experiences I have had over the last few months with El Capitan suggest strongly to me that the problem is Apple’s. Many crashes with many bits of software. Previous experience with my Macs was without any problems at all, so the disappointment is great.

Eric Whiteside - February 11, 2016 Reply

I have an S1100 and it still does not work with El Capitan even after updating. It’s a paperweight now. 🙁

    Jason B - January 8, 2017 Reply

    Same with mine. The scanner works on my desktop, but not my laptop. What gives Fujitsu????

David N - January 26, 2016 Reply

David’s suggestion to use the S1500/S1500M software worked to get my S300M running again on El Capitan 10.11.4 beta.

Dale Chayes - January 8, 2016 Reply

My original (Mac) Snap Scan 5110EOXM is not supported under El Cap. Although I really like(ed) the Snapscan, I am inclined to not buy another Fujitsu due to their lack of support of my current model.

    Dale - January 8, 2016 Reply

    That said, it seems to work fine…..

      Ruben - January 8, 2016 Reply

      Great, now I know I can upgrade the iMac that runs that scanner!

Ruben - December 19, 2015 Reply

I own a S1500M, just upgraded (clean install) to El Capitan and got the latest drivers from Fujitsu for El Capitan, all works fine including scan to searchable PDF.

Peter Bonifacio - December 13, 2015 Reply

Impossible to get my s1300i to work on El Capitan. This scanner is the worst hardware I’ve had the misfortune to own.

Brooks Duncan - December 7, 2015 Reply

Hi everyone, as Ray said (thanks for the update Ray!) it looks like the ScanSnap El Capitan drivers have been released as of Dec 3, 2015.

I’ve updated the post. If you’ve been having El Capitan challenges, please give the update a try and let us know if it fixes things. Thanks!

    Scott - June 4, 2016 Reply

    I have converted across from Windows 10 (works really well) to El Capitan and I have 2 issues:

    1) There is no ScanSnap Organiser Viewer to remove blank or unwanted pages; and
    2) It disconnects and re-connects on Wi-Fi all the time.

    I found 1) very useful under Windows 10, and miss the features.

    Any thoughts on how I can edit, remove or rotate pages?

    Thanks in advance,
    Scott.

Ray - December 5, 2015 Reply

Fujitsu updated their Mac drivers a few days ago. El Capitan is now officially supported for the Scansnap devices mentioned in the article above.

David - December 5, 2015 Reply

I have the ix500 and honestly it’s driving me insane. Ever since I updated, I can’t keep a wireless connection for more than a minute or two, and then it will spontaneously reconnect a minute or two later. Nothing else has changed.

gajah - November 12, 2015 Reply

I have an even older Scan Snap, model fi-5110EOXM. Experience so far with El Capitan has been frustrating. Driver version V22L15 has worked, but rarely and inconsistently. When it does not work, it just bounces in the dock and has to be force quit. This is even with gatekeeper turned off. I’ve tried installing V3.2L31, with the same results – eternal bouncing in the dock. I’ve uninstalled all, and then re-installed V22L11 and then V22L15 on top of that and had it work once. (Incidentally, to even attempt this you have to mess with “pkgutil” in terminal to eradicate the instalelr receipt from the newer version, otherwise the V221L11 installer won’t run: ‘sudo pkgutil –forget jp.co.pfu.ScanSnap.V10L10’) But not again after a system restart. The frustrating thing is that I know it CAN work, so why can’t it work all the time? I doubt Fujitsu will be of any help.

    Jeff Stearns - January 10, 2016 Reply

    I also have a Scan Snap model fi-5110EOXM. I’ve been using it since it was new 10+ years ago.

    When Fujitsu declared end-of-life for this model, I started pretending that it was a model ix500. The ScanSnap Manager program is perfectly happy with that.

    My scanner is now connected to a mid-2010 MacBook Pro. ScanSnap Manager version 6.3 L41 is installed.

    I’ve been running OS X 10.8.6 on the MacBook Pro for many years, but I finally gave in and made the upgrade directly to OS X 10.11.2.

    ScanSnap Manager survived the upgrade just fine. All my settings remained intact. I didn’t need to perform any upgrades or change any settings.

    The scanner still works like it used to, with one notable exception: the ScanSnap Manager application now quits every few days. It might be terminating on its own, but I suspect that OS X is actually killing it due to inactivity. It’s simple enough to re-launch it once or twice a week, so I haven’t bothered investigating further.

Floyd Bloom - November 10, 2015 Reply

Brooks I have no ptoblems at all in using my ScanSnap ix500 in El Capitan. Thanks to the USB 3 interfface, it feels as fast if not faster than with Yosemit.

David B - November 10, 2015 Reply

I’ve upgraded my Macbook Pro to El Capitan and confirm no problems using the ix500 with it.

    Karen W - April 21, 2018 Reply

    ix500 had been fine with El Cap but NOT now, perhaps as of v10.11.6 or sometime in at turn of year 2018. Search works for only a few pages, rotation for only about half of pages (same pages? haven’t checked). Have repeatedly scanned same document on different settings: little change.

    . Somehow Online updater has de-coupled, can’t re-download that piece. Redownloaded what Fuji’ told me to today, 4-21-18. Problems continue.

    Problem a disaster: I’d scanned 100s of documents, thrown them out; didn’t notice in my testing of search that not al pages searched.

Laura - November 7, 2015 Reply

I have an S1500M that I use with both a Mac Mini and a MacBook Pro and a Thunderbolt display. The USB cable was running through one of the Thunderbolt display USB ports.

After upgrading to El Capitan and the new ScanSnap Manager, the connection kept timing out when I would scan. I could usually get a single page or two to scan successfully but nothing bigger, and sometimes it wouldn’t work at all. I moved the cable so it was plugged directly into my MacBook Pro rather than the display and now it appears to work correctly. So there is some issue with running the connection through the Thunderbolt display.

Thierry - November 7, 2015 Reply

I recently upgraded to 10.11 with full install.
I took the Manager for my S1300i (On the website, they give it only compatible until 10.10)
Anyway, it worked fine.
No issue so far.
I have to scan some more to check all the previous features I was using (multiple page, OCR, etc.)

    Thierry - November 7, 2015 Reply

    It’s version 6.2 L22 that I installed

Ricky Maveety - November 6, 2015 Reply

I can’t get my software to install on El Capitan. It just says there is an error and it can’t install in “this environment.”

Lovely.

Matt Brand - November 2, 2015 Reply

I’m running Scansnap Manager 2.2 L11 with an S510M and it seems to be working fine. I have kept an installer of this version around, because I don’t think it will work with newer versions.

Andrew - November 2, 2015 Reply

OS X 10.11.1 (El Capitan) with ScanSnap S510M – I can confirm that the workaround posted by David Oct 23, 2015 works. Thank you David!

    EMH - January 27, 2016 Reply

    Andrew – I can not locate the referenced post. Is it possible to provide the workaround again?

Phil - November 2, 2015 Reply

My S300M stopped working with OS X 10.11.1. It would scan most of the page, pause for about 20 seconds, then finish scanning.

I downloaded v 3.2.31 using the link provided by David (thanks for the link), and everything works fine now. Hopefully this little gem (my S300M) will keep chugging along for a while longer.

RAE - October 30, 2015 Reply

S1300i “will be supported” is still on the Fujitsu site. Frustrating

Rob Lewis - October 30, 2015 Reply

Just updated from Mavericks to El Capitan, and based on the smallest possible test (scanning 1 page into Paperless), my S510M seems to work. Didn’t reinstall any software.

    Rob Lewis - November 2, 2015 Reply

    I tried updating to the S1500M driver and that seems to work too.

    BTW, the excellent VueScan program also supports our scanners, and it is actively maintained and enhanced: http://www.hamrick.com

Burke - October 29, 2015 Reply

My iX500, works fine until I either shut it down or time passes and it shuts down automatically. Once it shuts down/powers off, it will not automatically “engage” when I feed it some papers to scan. I have to unplug the power cord, plug it back in, and then it’s good to go.

Any thoughts on how to fix this annoying hangup would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!!

Rogerio - October 28, 2015 Reply

I Have a ScanSnap S300M that is now “unsupported” by Fujitsu. I installed El Capitan and it continues to work smoothly as always. It is also working perfectly well with my DevonThink Pro Office!

Evan - October 24, 2015 Reply

I have an old S300, and it wasn’t working using Fujitsu’s driver for the S300M. By way of background, the S300 is the Windows model, and until a couple of years ago, I had to hack the S300M driver to get the S300 to work on my Mac (the S300 and S300M are identical, except that Fujitsu built a kill pill into the S300M driver so it wouldn’t work with the S300. Fujitsu eventually removed that so the S300 and S300M worked identically).

I just got the S300 working by using the S1500M download (ScanSnap Manager V5.1L30). I remembered that back when I had to hack the driver years ago, it involved using the S1500M driver. I figured I’d give it a try. I’ve only tried a few scans, but so far it appears to be working.

    Brooks Duncan - October 25, 2015 Reply

    Thanks for this Evan!

Brad - October 23, 2015 Reply

The only problem I had was with OCR conversion, That is a minor problem that was quickly fixed. I really didn’t need to use ScanSnap’s OCR conversion because I have Adobe Acrobat Pro, which has outstanding text recognition,

Jennifer McLane - October 16, 2015 Reply

Wait to update until today, went perfectly with no problems! My ScanSnap ix500 works perfectly. I did update my software but works fine no hang ups with me.

Glyn - October 16, 2015 Reply

Did have a problem with the ‘Searchable PDF converted’ crashing after the last update.
Fixed using the ‘Snapscan Support Tool’ as some files had wrong permissions!

Greg - October 15, 2015 Reply

My Scansnap S300M is still working on El Capitan despite it being “unsupported”. I didn’t even have to reinstall the scansnap software.

Brad Kitson - October 15, 2015 Reply

ix500 doesn’t work at all. Scansnap Manager is grayed out when running. Exasperated.

Bernd Traber - October 15, 2015 Reply

I did it again – I completely swiped my HDD and did a clean install of El Capitan on my 2010 iMac 27″ w/ a ScanSnap S510M hooked to it.

Just like last year w/ Yosemite, I installed Scansnap_V22L11.dmg and after that Scansnap_V22L16.dmg. I than dropped AbbyfindeReader for SnapScan into my program folder. I carried this installed programm with me from Mavericks I guess.

I had to play around with the settings to get it to work. In ScanSnap Manager I first set up everything with QuickMenu and then I disabled QuickMenu and set everything up. Now I have a working system and workflow. Tada!

Kate - October 14, 2015 Reply

I was going to get all steamed up about non-support of S510M, but then I checked my scanned receipts. I paid $405 for it seven years ago, which is less than $5 a month. Maybe it IS time for a new one…

Bob - October 14, 2015 Reply

I have a S300M, just installed El Capitan and seems to be working fine. Did nothing but click on Scan Manager and let it go.

Michael M. Cohen - October 14, 2015 Reply

Worked fine right after installation of 10.11. Several days later an update came– installed that and it continues to work fine. I have always used it in conjunction with Paperless.

    Rob Lewis - October 30, 2015 Reply

    What scanner model?

George - October 14, 2015 Reply

I have not tried ScanSnap so far on El Capitan because I had to go back to Yosemite. Apple Mail will not work for me on El Capitan. I am now stuck back on Yosemite; thank God I have backups. Apple has no shame; I left Microsoft computers because of nonsense. i am not a computer geek, and I will go back to Windows, if I don’t get the help I need. Apple appears to be just another money grubbing American company. Talk about being great, Apple is not!

    Rand Baldwin - October 14, 2015 Reply

    George,

    Sorry to hear you’re having problems with El Capitan.

    Did you verify your permissions, verify the internal disk or SSD, and upgrade your apps before upgrading the OS?

    I have a 2012 MacBook Pro Retina, did all that, and upgraded with no problems whatsoever, so I doubt your problems are (all) Apple’s fault. I bought my first Mac in 1984, owned probably 20+ Macs, and have never had a serious problem after upgrading to a new OS.

phil - October 14, 2015 Reply

IX500 and S!300i no Problems with update to 10.11 and ScanSnap

Reto - October 8, 2015 Reply

Similar to Robin, my S300M is an “unsupported” scanner. Did anybody upgrade to El Capitan with such a scanner? Results?
Thanks.

    Deb - March 27, 2019 Reply

    My S300m worked fine under el captain with scansnap Manager v 3.2.L91. I was able to update from that version of scansnap manager to the most recent v.6.3L70 but followed instructions to first install v6.3L50, then 6.3L61, and finally v.6.3L70 (I checked along he way and all worked). I have not been able to install the other apps (organizer, receipts) however. Apparently my SN and Part number are not recognized to allow me to download and install. Anyone have a workaround that would allow that?

Des Dougan - October 5, 2015 Reply

This is seriously weird – yesterday ScanSnap Manager wouldn’t start; today, it works fine – and no reboot in between.

Brad - October 5, 2015 Reply

iX500 works okay in WiFi. I pushed the button directly on the machine to scan. I haven’t tested the USB connection.

The S1100i won’t open ScanSnap Manager on the same computer when it is hooked in via USB. I get the bouncing program and it becomes non-responsive.

Des Dougan - October 4, 2015 Reply

My ScanSnap software bounces and closes – no messages in the Console. Opened the Wireless tool, which sees the scanner, but says it is not supported. Haven’t yet tried USB as I’ll need to dig out the cable if Fujitsu don’t get an update out shortly.

Daniel - October 4, 2015 Reply

IX500 was working perfectly on my mac with Wi-Fi and Yosemite, but disconnects quite often in El Capitan. Seems that the soft is loosing the scanner over Wi-Fi. Restarted, re-installed the software, reconfigured the whole thing, but problem is still there. Hope a new update will solve this quickly since i do not wish to connect my scanner back to USB !

Jim - October 3, 2015 Reply

I have a Scan Snap ix500 and I have not had any problems scanning or reading scanned documents. I still need to wirelessly scan to find out if all is well with El Capitan.

Bernie Molloy - October 3, 2015 Reply

I can scan using USB, but I am unable to scan using wifi at all. I have been at it for about an hour now. Everything is updated. I have tried to connect directly to the IP address assigned to my scan snap, I have tried multiple times to reset through the wizard, and I have even tried cussing at it. I will keep at it, but it looks like it will be USB scanning for a while for me.

    Brooks Duncan - October 3, 2015 Reply

    Bernie, was it working fine before El Capitan?

      Bernie Molloy - October 3, 2015 Reply

      It worked like a charm in Yosemite. Subsequently, I have done a complete un/re install of the scan snap software and still can’t get it to go. I have given it all of the time I have for today but I will be trying full resets of my router (airport extreme current model) and possibly a clean install on a different computer. I will post results.

        Tom Robbins - October 8, 2015 Reply

        Good luck, Bernie. I’ve been down that path, already, (reloading software, reconfiguring wi-fi settings) and still just cannot get the ix500 to work over wi-fi. Have finally turned off the wi-fi on the scanner and am resigned to using USB until wi-fi works reliably again.

          Bernie Molloy - October 16, 2015 Reply

          I am in the same boat now. I spent far too much time on this and it is still not working. I guess I am going to have to plug that USB cable back in too.

Ben Cochez - October 1, 2015 Reply

I upgraded to El Capitan GM a few weeks ago, and my Scansnap iX 500 is running fine. I use Finereader OCR Pro along with it, without issue.

    Brooks Duncan - October 1, 2015 Reply

    Awesome Ben, thanks for the report. Sounds smoother than Yosemite was.

Robin - October 1, 2015 Reply

So I have a ScanScap S510M. Support ended a long time ago, but the machine just keeps working. Do I need to finally give up and buy a new ScanSnap? Any word if it still works in El Cap anyway?

Thanks.

    Tabitha - October 8, 2015 Reply

    Robin-Fujitsu said the same thing about Mavericks, but I didn’t have a problem using my S510M on it. I’m planning on upgrading today, so I can let you know what I find out.

      David - October 8, 2015 Reply

      How did it go? Waiting to upgrade myself…

        Alex - October 11, 2015 Reply

        Working fine for me on El Capitan with a S510 (Windows version) using ScanSnap Manager Version 3.2L70

          David - October 23, 2015 Reply

          I was using an old ScanSnap Manager Version 2.2L16 with Yosemite and my S510M (the Mac version of the scanner). It stopped working after installing El Capitan! Bummer! So I read Alex’ comment above about using ScanSnap Manager Version 3.2L70 with the Windows version of the S510 and El Capitan. I couldn’t find V3.2L70, but I did find the ScanSnap Manager for Mac (V3.2L31) Setup Program which is the installer and then I was able to use the V3.2L71 updater (which requires that V3.2L31 be installed first). And it works now! The setup program is on this page:
          http://www.fujitsu.com/global/support/products/computing/peripheral/scanners/scansnap/software/s1500m-setup.html
          The updater is on this pagepdater:
          http://www.fujitsu.com/global/support/products/computing/peripheral/scanners/scansnap/software/mac-mg32.html
          Don’t worry that the web pages say this is for the S1500/S1500M… it works great with the S510M.

          Brooks Duncan - October 23, 2015 Reply

          Thanks for the tip, David!

          Andrew - November 2, 2015 Reply

          I can confirm that David’s workaround for the S510M works (OS X 10.11.1).

          Keith - November 24, 2015 Reply

          I too was temporarily stumped after installing El Capitan, only to find that my ScanSnap S510M appeared to have become a fancy paper weight! Thanks, David, for your research and lucid write-up. My scanner is, once again, a functional device among my desk-top clutter.

          Lorrie - November 24, 2015 Reply

          David – I follow your response and when I go to scan with my S510M I get a general error occurred.

    Steve - October 23, 2015 Reply

    No worries! I have visted Fujitsu’s website and they will not support the S510M running El Capitan. Neither did they support issues running yosemite.
    I just installed El Capitan and the Scanner still works.
    Old hardware still performing well without the manufacturer’s sake.
    Steve

      Lorrie - November 24, 2015 Reply

      Steve – How is your S510M scanner working on El Capitan? Ever since I up dated to that OS my scanner has not worked and did what David suggested and it still does not work. I love this scanner and any help would be greatly appreciated.

      Lorrie

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