If you have recently upgraded your operating system, you may notice that your Epson scanner is no longer working properly. One of the reasons is that the new Windows system has set your Epson scanner to compatibility mode without your knowledge. But don’t worry, please check the tips in this troubleshooting guide to see other causes and how we can get them resolved.

  1. Disable the Compatibility Mode of Epson Scanner
  2. Update the driver for Epson Scanner
  3. Check the Windows Services
  4. Repair corrupted system files

Before we start troubleshooting, please restart your computer and your Epson scanner to make sure that no unnecessary programs are interfering with the scanner. Generally, a simple reboot would help. But if the problem persists, kindly go through the following troubleshooting guide.

1. Disable the Compatibility Mode of Epson Scanner

When your Epson scanner is not working properly, the first thing you need to check is whether you’ve enabled the Compatibility Mode or not. If this is the case, kindly follow the steps below to disable it:

  1. On your desktop, right-click the Epson Scan icon and select Properties.
  2. Select the Compatibility tab from the top menu.
  3. Uncheck the Run this program in compatibility mode option.
  4. Click on OK to save the changes.

Check if the issue persists. If it does, continue the next fix.

2. Update the driver for Epson Scanner

When your Epson scanner stops working, another important thing you should do is to update your scanner driver, since an up-to-date scanner driver always fixes bugs and ensures the scanning tasks are properly done.

To update your scanner driver, here’s what you can do:

  1. Go to the Epson Support page and search for your product.
  2. Once you found your product, click Downloads and scroll down the page. If your operating system cannot be detected, you’ll be able to select your OS in the Operating System drop-down menu, and then click GO to view the compatible files. Once confirmed, click Download.
  3. Then, double-click to install the downloaded scanner driver file.
  4. When the new driver is installed, restart your computer for the change to take effect.
  5. Then check and see if the problem is fixed.

Either way, you can update your Epson scanner driver in a different way with the help of Driver Techie.

Its ever-growing driver database allows you to always have access to the latest device drivers that you need. More importantly, Driver Techie simplifies the driver update process, so all it takes is just 3 clicks (for Pro users), and all your drivers are updated.

To use Driver Techie to find you the latest drivers:

  1. Download and install Driver Techie, then launch it.
  2. Click Scan Now.
  3. After the scan, select all the drivers you need to update and click Update All. Then all your drivers will be updated automatically without you having to do anything else.

Please note that Update All is available for Pro subscribers only, otherwise, you can only manually update the driver one at a time. To see how to manually update the drivers one by one, please check this post.

If you’re a Pro user of Driver Techie, and need our technical support to help with the Epson scanner not working problem, please feel free to contact <support@drivertechie.com>.

3. Check the Windows Services

Now, if a driver update doesn’t work for you, you should check if the Windows Services are running properly, as Epson Scanner needs Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) Service to work. Furthermore, if your Epson Scanner can’t even be detected by your computer, you should check that the Shell Hardware Detection service is running as well.

To do so:

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R together to invoke the Run prompt. Type Services.msc and hit Enter.
  2. Scroll down your Services(Local) list and locate the Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) Service. Right-click it and select Properties.
  3. Change the Startup type to Automatic, and if the service is stopped, click Start and keep it running.
  4. Click Apply and OK to save changes.

Once done, restart your computer and check if the problem is resolved. If not, proceed with the next method.

4. Repair corrupted system files

Lastly, you should check if there are corrupted or missing files on your system, which prevent your computer from recognizing your scanner, or cause your scanner unable to work. In this case, doing a System File Checker scan would help. Here are the steps:

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R together to invoke the Run prompt, type cmd, and press Shift, Ctrl, and Enter together to launch the Command prompt.
  2. Paste the following command line and press Enter to execute:
    sfc /scannow

  3. Wait until the verification is 100% complete. The scan results will be shown after this process is finished.

Hopefully, your Epson scanner will be working properly as before. If you have any other questions, please feel free to leave a comment down below.