How to Fix “You need a WIA driver to use this device” Error While Scanning?

What is WIA Driver?

For those who don’t know WIA stands for Windows Image Acquisition which enables the graphics software including a scanner, Photoshop and other such to communicate with your imaging hardware.

The main reason you are facing this error is due to a missing, outdated or incompatible WIA driver.  You can fix this error by installing a correct WIA driver in your PC or update it.

Try out these easy solutions to fix “You need a WIA driver to use this device” error.

1. Restart Your Windows Image Acquisition Service

Most of the times restarting your PC fixes even the significant issues with your PC. As discussed above, WIA provides image acquisition services for scanners. Restarting WIA service is necessary. Here’s how-

• Go to your PC’s Search bar and type Services and open it from the results list

• Now in the Services window, search for Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
• Right-click on the Windows Image Acquisition icon and choose Properties from the drop-down menu
• Select the startup type as Automatic in the WIA services properties and hit the Start button in the service status icon

Note - If the service status is already running, stop it and restart it

After you hit the Start icon, Windows 10 starts the WIA service on your local computer. This process may take a while.

• After the service process is complete, hit the Ok button to confirm

You can also start the other two services including Shell Hardware Detection a nd the Remote Procedure Call (RPC)

Once it’s all done, try to use your printer and scanner and check if you are asked to install WIA scanner while scanning.

2. Uninstall Scanner Driver

You can try out this quick fix to solve the WIA driver error on your PC by just uninstalling it through Device Manager. Here’s how-

1)    Press and hold Windows + X keys to open the Power menu

2)    Select Device Manager from the list of options

3)    Now search for Imaging devices from the list and expand it

4)    Right-click on your scanner and select Uninstall from the drop-down menu

After that, reboot your PC. Your system will scan all the devices and later install Windows 10 WIA driver for your scanner. Your scanner will now copy the files correctly.

3. Update or Install Scanner WIA Driver Manually

The error message itself suggests you install the WIA driver from the manufacturer’s website or the installation CD. Well, most of losing these installation CDs because we think we’ll never need them.

You don’t have to worry as you can install WIA driver from the scanner’s official manufacturers website like- HP, Kodak, Canon or so. Let’s do it-

• Go to the scanner’s manufacturer’s website for example- HP, Dell and such other
• Search for the correct scanner drivers and download them manually
• Install the latest scanner driver and update the firmware step by step

You can also try to use any third-party tools to install or update your scanner WIA driver. Once the scanner driver update is complete, test the scanning function and check if you can still see the error.

4. Troubleshoot Your Scanner

If after trying out all the above solutions, you can still see the error “You need a WIA Driver to use this device” you’ll have to use the troubleshooter to fix this problem.

Troubleshoot is an automatic tool that can fix all the scanner issue. Check it out-

• Press the Windows key and go to Settings ( gear icon)
• Tap on Update and Security

• Select Troubleshoot
• Choose Hardware and Device and hit the Run the Troubleshooter button

Your system will now scan all your Windows system devices and the scanner as well. Identifies the errors and repairs them automatically.

If you are using a printer for scanning documents and facing this issue, use the troubleshooting tool for the printer.

These solutions are most likely successful in solving all your scanner issues.

That’s not all! You can also perform a system restore to fix the WIA driver missing problem.

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See Also:

• Three best ways to Scan & Fix Hard Drive Errors using CHKDSK in Windows 10
• Driver irql_less_or_not_equal” Error in Windows 10 – Simple Ways to Fix it
• How do I fix the DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE Error on Windows?

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