Fix For ScanSnap Blinking Blue Light

Fix For ScanSnap Blinking Blue Light

82 Comments

If you have a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner and are stuck with a blinking blue light when you open the top, this post may help you out. The instructions are for Windows.

I haven’t had the issue myself, but awesome DocumentSnap reader Evan from Connecticut sent in the following. Take it away, Evan:

I was wondering if you were aware of the issue with the ScanSnap scanners where the blue light keeps blinking when you open the top and the ScanSnap button on the task bar shows the scanner is not ready to scan?

I looked up the solution on the Fujitsu site and other sites as well. Each one wanted me to delete the software and reload it among other things.

I did not want to go through all that so I kept looking. I actually forgot how I found the solution but here it is:

1) Go to the “Start” menu

2) Click on “All apps” at the bottom of the page

3) Scroll down to ScanSnap Manager

4) Click on the ScanSnap SUPPORT TOOL

5) Choose the first option – “Recover Scansnap Connection” option

6) Press the “Recover button”

7) Follow the instructions

Which will tell you to shut down ScanSnap Manager.

Once that happens the program fixes itself. I had the scanner on and the blue light was blinking when I did this recovery.

Open Scansnap Manager and you should be all set.

This fixed the problem for Evan’s ScanSnap S1300i, but should apply to any model.

If it helps you out or if you have a different “blinking blue light” fix, please leave a comment below to help others. Thanks Evan!

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

John - February 24, 2026 Reply

Thanks, it worked for me.

Don - August 17, 2021 Reply

Thanks Dee Those Instructions Worked.

Scan Snap Blinking Blue Light on Scanner

Go to your start menu and search for the word Services – open the application services (also shows as View Local Services).
You should see a long list of services, we will be changing 10 of them.

DCOM Server Process Launcher
Network Connections
Network Locations Awareness
Plug and Play
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
Remote Access Connection Manager
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
Shell Hardware Detection
Telephony
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)

Make sure all of these say Running and Automatic, if they do not, please double click on them and change them.

Double click on Windows Image Acquisition, go to the tab that says Log On, and then click on Local System Account,
and Allow Service to Interact with Desktop. Click apply, and then Ok on the little pop up.
Then go back to the tab at the top that says General (next to Log On),
and stop the service, and then start it. If it gives you an error message, reboot the computer and then test

Dee - January 14, 2021 Reply

I have a Scansnap S1500M and wasn’t able to get the scanner work recently. I followed some of these instructions here but they didn’t work. I reached out to Fujitsu directly via email, and they responded with instructions that worked! I wanted to share in case it can help someone else.
____
Go to your start menu and search for the word Services – open the application services (also shows as View Local Services). You should see a long list of services, we will be changing 10 of them.

DCOM Server Process Launcher
Network Connections
Network Locations Awareness
Plug and Play
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
Remote Access Connection Manager
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
Shell Hardware Detection
Telephony
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)

Make sure all of these say Running and Automatic, if they do not, please double click on them and change them.

Double click on Windows Image Acquisition, go to the tab that says Log On, and then click on Local System Account, and Allow Service to Interact with Desktop. Click apply, and then Ok on the little pop up. Then go back to the tab at the top that says General (next to Log On), and stop the service, and then start it. If it gives you an error message, reboot the computer and then test.
______

Johnny - November 17, 2020 Reply

Dave (from 2018),
Thanks for your detailed instructions. Those worked, and I hope that puts this problem to bed. Problems started with Scansnap downloaded the new Scansnap Home to replace Scanscap Organizer. I used to have this problem with Organizer, but with Home, it happened EVERY time I tried to use the scanner.

PHU VUONG - June 12, 2020 Reply

Lately, I have the same problem as Terri Lane!
The blink of blue light; reset and download a new driver, it does not solve the problem.
Is the Windows 10 problem or the Scansnap S1300i software issue?
The scanner is useless now!

Terri Lane - June 8, 2020 Reply

I have had the S1300i for a year or more. It occasionally has the “blinking blue light” problem. In the past I read to uninstall and reinstall. I tried before and it worked. This time no luck. I tried the above solution (Start|All Apps|ScanSnap Mngr|Support Tool|… and so on. Every time I do this I get a response that “ScanSnap Manager is running. Exit ScanSnap Manager, and then try again.” I have exited out of everything that I can think of and still no luck. I have powered the scanner off and tried it. It says it was not connected. HELP! This is a great machine WHEN IT IS WORKING.

Shelly - January 31, 2020 Reply

This did not work for me. I have been fighting with this issue for months. I have to uninstall and reinstall using the web, not the disc. It’s getting really OLD!

Ukia - November 19, 2019 Reply

Sorry Dave from July 12, 2018, did your fix, worked briefly, now back to blinking blue light.

Ukia - November 8, 2019 Reply

The Dave – July 12, 2018 was the only thing that worked for me. Thanks Dave!

Debby Justice - March 28, 2019 Reply

On the Fujitsu S510, What does it mean when the blue light starts flashing after you hit the scan button?

amac - February 4, 2019 Reply

Maybe one of you can help me with a different issue. I have a scansnap ix500 and when I reboot the PC I get a message “Do you want to allow this app from an unknonw pulisher to make changes to you device? It wants Administrator credeentials. The program PfuSsMon.exe is making the request. I then have to get my IT guy to login and then I can scan again. We don’t have administrator rights to our computers. Is there a way for this dialog box to go away?

Patricia Sweeney - February 3, 2019 Reply

Jerimiah,

Wireless scanning is grayed out for ix500 and Windows 10. Running “recover scansnap connection” it immediately crashes, generating this nuisance error:
“Scansnap manager is running Exit Scansnap manager and then try again.”

Patricia Sweeney - February 3, 2019 Reply

Alex,

I am right there with you. Wireless scanning with Scansnap ix500 and Windows 10 should not be so difficult. Scansnap has failed to update drivers, making my life impossible. I am looking in to buying one of those Xerox Documates you mention.

Samir - December 27, 2018 Reply

Updating ScanSnap software (right-clicking and saying update) did the trick for me as what Brooks had didn’t quite work. Luckily, I didn’t have to try what The Dave did. Even though it has been 3 years since Brooks posted it (though I listen to him on Asian Efficiency) I hope it helps.

Leon - October 24, 2018 Reply

Thank you! This worked for me!

Ming - September 21, 2018 Reply

I’ve been having the problem The Dave described. The S1500 just doesn’t connect at all to the scansnap manager. When I flip it open, it’s blue for a few seconds and then turns off. I’m pretty sure it stopped working after one of the windows patches but I’m not sure which one since it’s been so long now. I tried the detailed instructions The Dave provided but it didn’t work for me. It still doesn’t work. Help please. Desperately trying to get this device working again other than being a big paperweight.

Alex - June 2, 2018 Reply

This is definitely a windows 10 issue with scansnap (maybe just usb 3 issue) . I’ve had s1500 on my windows 7 (usb 2) and it NEVER lost connection for 8 years! I have my system on 24/7. I now upgraded to Windows 10 and keep losing connection every 2nd day. End tasking/restarting the scansnap manager doesn’t work and only the reboot works.

I’ve just enabled all scansnap manager connections through firewall and adjusted windows acquisition service as per Daco trick. Will see if that solves it.

If that doesn’t then I’m throwing this garbage out and will never return to Fujitsu again and will go with Xerox Documate. Not sure if it is the same with ix500 as it has newer drivers than s1500 (2015 was the last update for it)

    Gina - June 13, 2018 Reply

    Did you find a solution for your connection issue? I am having the same problem, not sure how to repair it. I’ve contacted Fujitsu but they weren’t able to help.

    The Dave - July 12, 2018 Reply

    Had to spend some QUALITY time with Fujitsu to get to the bottom of this. In my case it was a matter of windows and Fujitsu altering settings and not communicating with each other. Thus the scanner loses connection and flashes blue after a couple of uses. I cant believe Fujitsu will not post this solution anywhere, but here’s the fix.

    1. Open the Control Panel>Category View
    2. Select User Accounts>User Accounts>Change User account Control Settings
    a. Change the Control Settings to “Never Notify”

    3. Run services.msc. Be sure all the following services are set to “running,” and “Automatic”:
    a. DCOM Server Process Launcher
    b. Network Connections
    c. Network Location Awareness
    d. Plug and Play
    e. Remote Access Auto connect Manager
    f. Remote Access Connection Maanger
    g. Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
    h. Shell Hardware Detection
    i. Telephony
    j. Windows Image Acquisition

    4. Open the Properties for the “Windows Image Acquisition” process. Select the “Log on” Tab
    a. Set the “logon as” to “Local System”
    i. Be sure “Service with Desktop” option is checked.

    5. Save the settings and reboot the computer
    6. Confirm the scanner is now functional. It may take up to 2 minutes after this reboot for the new Scansnap settings to load.

      The Matt - August 3, 2018 Reply

      Thanks you SO much for this, it finally fixed the issue for me, you just restored my sanity. 🙂

      Amanda - August 7, 2018 Reply

      Thank you for this solution!
      I had tried the recovery tool several times with no success, reinstalled ScanSnap manager a few times before it would start flashing again a couple of days later. This appears to have worked for me! Thanks!

      Efraim - August 8, 2018 Reply

      Thanks a million. Your solution worked! A perfect set of instructions.

      Ukia - November 8, 2019 Reply

      Thanks Dave for the post; it was the only thing that worked!

Jeremiah - May 28, 2018 Reply

Nothing is working on my end. I go to the ScanSnap Support Tool and run “Recovery.” The response I get is “The program operating environment is abnormal.” I go to my Windows Defender to see if the app is being blocked by the firewall. Nope. The app doesn’t even show up as a program to be blocked. I have updated to the latest versions of Windows 10. Nothing is working. I am beyond frustrated at this point.

    robert najman - May 28, 2018 Reply

    The only way I made it work was to remove the software and re-install from scratch. Never had a problem after re-install. The process is included in the discussion. One observation is that it always worked on a usb-2 port, if you have that option available to you

Kristin Nelson - April 13, 2018 Reply

Thanks! This worked. Couldn’t find the ScanSnap Manager in task bar to close but then tried the system tray and it was there and worked! Thanks so much!!!

Debbie - April 11, 2018 Reply

I don’t see an option for Scansnap Support Tool or Recover Scansnap Connection when I select ScanSnap Manager for my model fi-511OEOX

Christine - March 29, 2018 Reply

Thank you!!!

Joel - February 5, 2018 Reply

Awesome – that’s what I needed. Thanks!