Fix For ScanSnap Blinking Blue Light

Fix For ScanSnap Blinking Blue Light

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 81 comments

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!

RP - February 4, 2018 Reply

This is a real problem on my ScanSnap S1300i purchased dec 2017. The blue blinking light happens randomly of and on again. The only way to get it to work on my Dell XPS 15 is to uninstall the SnapScan MANAGER. 2. Important shut down or reboot the computer 3. Then I have to reload the original software SnapScan Manager software (not just the updated SnapScan Manager update since apparently needs to recognize the original software to work). 4. Then update the SnapScan Manager to the newer update…Now the blue light will stop flashing and stay on and the software works.
Why is the SnapScan Manager being adversely affected? I have been carefully shutting down the computer before in-plugging the USB cable. I have been very careful and have no idea why the SnapScan Manager software corrupts itself?
Another pet peeve is using my laptop’s high end 4k screen I can barely read the SnapScan super small print and I am totally unable to use the scans image which is totally unusable…I can only use the software in LIST form . Please update you Fuji SnapScan software. I use Windows 10, Dell XPS 15 high end laptop.

Raja Adal - February 1, 2018 Reply

Awesome, thank you!

Josh - January 29, 2018 Reply

I used the recover button, but it tells me the “program’s operating environment is abnormal” and then does nothing else. Any idea what that means? I’ve tried unplugging and re-plugging things in, I’ve replaced the mini USB cable to make sure it’s not damaged and no change, I’m currently updating the software to see if that helps, but it’s kind of stuck, so I’ll go ahead and submit this comment.

Courtne - January 25, 2018 Reply

Daco,

You’re a genius, thank you so much! After trying so many other suggestions….I tried yours and it worked perfectly! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Mitch - January 24, 2018 Reply

The fixes mentioned here and on other sites seem to work only temporarily for me. None of them resolves the issue of needing to reboot the computer in order for Scansnap Manager to recognize the scanner. As Jeff Barr and Brittany mention above, it’s quite annoying. However, even with this inconvenience, the Scansnap is still MUCH more user-friendly (and faster) than my Canon AIO’s scanner functionality!

Jean Batty - December 4, 2017 Reply

If you are on an Apple, it may be as simple as just opening the ScanSnap manager. Sometimes the software does not automatically open. Use the search tool in the upper right corner and look for “ScanSnap Manager.” Once the software launches, you should be good to go.

    Jo Shields - April 4, 2018 Reply

    You were a late-night hero! So easy. Thank you. Thank you!

    ikomrad - May 13, 2018 Reply

    In my case, ScanSnap app was open but greyed out instead of the blue “connected” color.

    The fix was to
    Click on the Apple icon
    Click on Force Quit
    Select “ScanSnap”
    Click on “Force Quit”
    Start ScanSnap Manager

    My Scansnap device stopped blinking and worked fine afterwards.

      Ellie Knape - June 18, 2018 Reply

      You, my friend, are a hero. Thank you for saving the day!

robert najman - November 28, 2017 Reply

Nothing worked and I am frustrated. I tried all the solutions with the same result – blinking light. Tried switching cables, switching ports etc. I updated the services with local login. I tried recovery process, nothing worked. Tried un-installing and re-installing and did not correct. I tried on another computer and worked
I did notice one oddity in that in device manager the device is marked with an error indicating the drivers were not installed. Tried to update drivers but no drivers found . I can’t find any drivers for s1100.

Any advice would be appreciated

    Safa - November 28, 2017 Reply

    Did you try opening windows defender or a firewall that has been installed on your program. It may be that it is blocking the Scansnap application which was the culprit in my case.

      Jim - January 22, 2018 Reply

      Wow, after trying so many things to get my button to work on my IX500, this worked.
      I enabled the scansnap manager to go through firewall and it is working now.

rsc - November 10, 2017 Reply

This worked right away for me – just update to latest version of Scansnap software.

Ina - November 8, 2017 Reply

This worked like a charm…thank you!

Janay S. - October 14, 2017 Reply

Thanks, Evan! Instant fix.

Safa - October 5, 2017 Reply

I tried restarting and shutting down and both methods did not work.

Found out it was my firewall blocking the app. Go to Windows Defender > Allow an App Through Firewall> Check ScanScap.

Judy Kilvert - October 2, 2017 Reply

I have MacBook Pro.
Snap Scan s1300i – blue light keep flashing. I have rebooted laptop. I have disconnected everything, & re-connected, un-installed ScanSnap & re-installed, done ScanSnap manager -> settings -> turned off ‘use quick menu’ .
I have repeated the above several times, but still that blue light keeps blinking.

Chris K. - September 28, 2017 Reply

I have been looking for an answer to this and nothing worked for me. I was hesitant to delete and reload the program because I, as a general rule, am ridiculously and totally computer illiterate.

I went to the ScanSnap Manager Support Tools when the above tip didn’t work, I went to the Restore tab to see what was in there. I set it back to factory default and it started working again. What did I have to lose? I am pretty basic. Maybe it was just a coincidence, I don’t know, but I am so happy to have it working again. 🙂

Derek - September 8, 2017 Reply

Didn’t work for me. Followed all instructions…when I got to Recover and Execute all I got was a pop up
“Program’s operating environment is abnormal” “Ok”.
Nothing else??? What am I supposed to do?
tx

Kathryn - July 30, 2017 Reply

Mac users:
The following steps will let you know whether you are running the most current version of ScanSnap software:

Finder > Applications > ScanSnap Online Update > ScanSnapUpdater.app

Quit ScanSnap and reboot

Kathryn - July 30, 2017 Reply

Mac Fix Found:
Gotta tell ya…I love this site. I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out this problem. I only experienced blinking blue light when I tried to scan. It would blink for a few seconds and blue light would return to solid blue.

My equipment: Macbook Air and ScanSnap ix

FIX:
1) Like the Windows fix, it all starts with ScanSnap Support Tool—it can be accessed one of two ways:
Finder > Applications > double clip (open) ScanSnapSupportTool.app
OR
Open ScanSnap Manager and, from the “Tools” drop down menu > select ScanSnap Support Tool

2) Select “Recover” > “Check”

3) If a problem is found with one of the permissions, you’ll be asked if you want to correct it. [Note: you may need to enter your password to allow changes.]

4) My experience: nothing changed; no notice that permissions had been reinstated, no notice when change was complete. Nothing. Nada. So I tried to scan, again. Blue blinking light.

5) Shut down ScanSnap and reboot. Don’t ask me why…it makes a difference. I rebooted without quitting and still couldn’t scan. I quit ScanSnap, then restarted and TA-DA!!!

My ScanSnap ix500 now scans like a champ. Hope this helps.

Peter - July 25, 2017 Reply

This didn’t seem to work on my s1300i. Got a message that it’s not connected. This is the case whether I turn on the scanner by opening the lid or not.

The first time this happened I took it to get it diagnosed and it just began working for him for no reason. I had just finished successfully scanning some receipts and closed the scanner and program, opened it to scan one more and got the dreaded blinking light again. What do you think is the cause?

I’ve already updated the driver, windows 10 and usb drivers as well. I’ve tried unplugging the laptop power and resetting it but without success.

Peter

April - May 17, 2017 Reply

It did not work on mine. I feel like I tried everything. 🙁 Please help.

Sam - May 12, 2017 Reply

Thanks for this! It worked on my S1500. It went through and found the driver was missing, then automatically updated the driver and presto back in the scanning business.

Wendy - April 22, 2017 Reply

When I hit the “execute” button, I keep getting a popup window telling me “”ScanSnap Manager is running. Exit ScanSnap Manager, and then try again.” Only thing is, the ScanSnap Manager ISN’T running – at least not anywhere that I see. So I can’t get past this, to see if it will work.

Jerry - March 30, 2017 Reply

How about a solution to this problem on an iMac?

Harambe - February 27, 2017 Reply

Thanks, this is actually helpful. Now if you had something about the Android API for Scansnap, that would’ve been ace.

Daco - February 22, 2017 Reply

This worked for my Scansnap IX 500 in Windows 10:

1. Go to Control panel, and select “Administrative Tools”, and then open “Services”

2. Find service named “Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)”, right-click on it and select “properties” in the context menu

3. Select the “Log On” tab, then select “Log on as: Local System Account”, and check the “Allow service to interact with desktop” box

4. Click OK, and restart the computer.

    Brian - April 30, 2017 Reply

    Daco, you are brilliant this worked! I’ve stored it in evernote….

    Jules - June 21, 2017 Reply

    This is the ONLY thing that worked for me! Thank you so much!

    Bob - June 29, 2017 Reply

    This worked like a charm for me as well. You’re the man, Daco!

    L Shea - August 2, 2017 Reply

    OMG you’re a genius Daco….after hours of trying everything and plugging/unplugging, rebooting, changing everything I could think of…..I tried your solution and wah lah…..fixed in 2 minutes tops… I am a scanning maniac again. Thank you so much for taking the time to post your solution. You made a very frustrated person happy.

    Travis - September 2, 2017 Reply

    Daco, this was driving me nuts and your instructions worked like a charm! Really appreciate you taking the time to share the fix.

    pinky - June 6, 2018 Reply

    Thank you Daco. It works.

Robin - January 24, 2017 Reply

Thanks so much for the help! Couldn’t figure it out until I ran onto your blog!

Jeff Barr - January 17, 2017 Reply

Great that this works (I usually just have my users reboot, and it generally works fine after), but the question should be, why does the scansnap manager software lose its connection to the scanner, and what is Fujitsu doing to fix it? It’s not like these are inexpensive units which can just be easily replaced with something else that has actual working drivers. It doesn’t appear to be a hardware issue, nothing else connected via USB stops working, which would lead one to believe that they’ve got some sort of bug in their software. which needs fixing.

    Brittany - May 18, 2017 Reply

    Thank you!! I cannot stand how annoying the lose of connection is. The hardware works very well. I love the actual scanner, but I am constantly annoyed when trying to get the thing to scan to the computer!!

Phil - December 9, 2016 Reply

Thanks!

Arjen - November 14, 2016 Reply

Brilliant, it worked! Thank you!

Greg H - September 26, 2016 Reply

I can usually get my S1500 to recover after a few tries but today nothing is working.

Rene Hugues - September 14, 2016 Reply

my scansnap ix500 the blue light in the scan button is on all the time whether the door close or open and the orange light is off. it seems the unit is dead, no reset is heard when the door is open. Any Idea?
please help

Jake - September 12, 2016 Reply

This worked for my client, thank you so much! Traditionally we always just re-installed the manager software and it would work on reboot, but with remote sites/slow WAN links this was always a pain, so hopefully this continues to be a solution!

Ryan Nagy - August 28, 2016 Reply

Apparently, I simply needed to make sure that my USB cord was plugged all the way in! haha. But on the positive side, I did download the latest scansnap software version.

cheers!

Ryan

Trudy - July 25, 2016 Reply

I have tried all these things and the only thing that works for me is rebooting my computer, which I hate hate hate having to do every time I want to scan. I welcome any new ideas.

Carol - July 19, 2016 Reply

Didn’t work!

Mel - May 19, 2016 Reply

I noticed I didn’t even have the Support Tool software so I updated my ScanSnap software and before going through the steps the blue light stopped flashing and everything works. Maybe this is how they get users to install updates!! love this little scanner!!

Petunia022 - April 25, 2016 Reply

Thank you!! My ScanSnap “snapped” right out of the blinking blue light. Total excellent step by step instructions!!

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Robert Gillespie - February 5, 2016 Reply

Unfortunately, I have an older S300 ScanSnap and I couldn’t do what the instructions said. My ScanSnap Manager wouldn’t open.

Usually, I have to disconnect the computer connection and the power source on the ScanSnap and then re-boot my computer. After the computer is back up and running, I reconnect the cords on the back of the S300 and then it works for another few weeks!

Leighton T. Roslyn - January 20, 2016 Reply

I have found that short of doing the “Recover” process, just using Task Manager to stop the ScanSnap Manager Program works as well. Right click on the program name in Task Manager and then select “end task”. Then start the manager again from the Start Menu. That re-establishes the connection most times. Occasionally a reboot is required – but not often on my system.

cheryl - January 18, 2016 Reply

Oh my gosh! It is like it needs to delete the driver and reinstall every time and then it works. So turn it on, it doesn’t work, close scan snap manager, hit recover, which deletes drivers on the device. restart computer, Opens scan snap and reinstalls drivers? There is a delay….. and it works.

Richard - January 12, 2016 Reply

Just one more step needed in my case – restart the computer.

    Brooks Duncan - January 12, 2016 Reply

    Thanks Richard! And then it worked?

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