Scan to Email or Folder Not Working

Category: Printers & Scanners · Audience: Customers & Technicians · Est. time: 15–30 min

Summary

"Scan to Email" and "Scan to Folder" on multifunction printers break for predictable reasons: mail‑server security changes, a changed password, or the destination folder/permissions. This is usually a printer‑config job for a technician.

Symptoms

• Scanning to email fails or times out
• "Authentication failed" / "SMTP error" on the printer
• Scan to a network folder returns "access denied" or "path not found"

Scan to Email

1. Test the copier can reach the network. Print a config page; confirm it has a valid IP, gateway, and DNS.
2. Check the SMTP (send mail) settings on the printer. Modern Microsoft 365 tenants have disabled basic authentication and legacy SMTP. Options:

• SMTP AUTH client submission (smtp.office365.com, port 587, STARTTLS) with a dedicated mailbox + app password — requires SMTP AUTH enabled for that mailbox.
• Direct send (<tenant>.mail.protection.outlook.com, port 25) — sends only to *internal* recipients, no login, but needs a static public IP / connector.
• A third‑party SMTP relay if the above aren't available.

1. If it broke suddenly, the cause is almost always Microsoft disabling basic auth or a changed mailbox password. Contact BBN Support to reconfigure with a supported method.

Scan to Folder

1. Confirm the destination PC/server, share name, and folder still exist and are shared.
2. Verify the username/password the copier uses hasn't expired (service accounts should have non‑expiring passwords).
3. Check the folder's share + NTFS permissions allow that account to write.
4. Test from a PC: \\<pc-name>\<share> and try creating a file, to confirm the path/permissions.

If that doesn't work

• Note the exact error on the printer panel and the printer make/model.
• Escalate to BBN Support — scan‑to‑email in particular usually needs an M365‑side change (SMTP AUTH / connector).

Prevention

• Use a dedicated service mailbox with a non‑expiring/app password for the copier, and document it with BBN.