Windows Fax & Scan "Could Not Complete Scan" Error Message after OneDrive cleanup from Desktop

Question

Windows Fax & Scan "Could Not Complete Scan" Error Message after OneDrive cleanup from Desktop

Connor Naaden 20

Hello:

I recently got rid of a bunch of (what I thought were) duplicate files on my desktop taking up tons of space. I may have deleted a critical folder some core Windows functions save stuff to. This may be why Windows Fax and Scan gives me an error message "Could Not Complete Scan" everytime I click new scan.

I was told to update the driver for the printer / scanner I'm using but this seems 1) to complicated for me to figure out, and 2) unnecessary considering the printer & scanner was working just fine before I deleted everything on my desktop.

Can somebody help please?

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Answer 1

Welcome Connor Naaden,

Thank you for the detailed explanation. Since the scanner was working before the OneDrive cleanup, it is possible that the folder Windows Fax and Scan uses to save scanned files was removed or is no longer available.

Please try the following:

Open File Explorer.
In the address bar, enter:%USERPROFILE%\Documents and press Enter.
Check whether a folder named Scanned Documents exists.
If it does not exist, right-click an empty area, select New > Folder, and create a folder named Scanned Documents
Open Windows Fax and Scan and try New Scan again.

A couple of questions to help narrow this down:

Does the Could Not Complete Scan message appear immediately when you click New Scan, or only after you start the scan?
Are you still able to scan successfully using the manufacturer's scanning software (if your printer/scanner includes one)?

If the answer is helpful, please click "Yes". If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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