With the scanner redirection feature, you can scan information into remote desktops with scanners that are connected to the local client system. You can control scanner settings by selecting options in the remote desktop interface. This feature redirects scanning data with a significantly lower bandwidth than can be achieved by using USB redirection.

Scanner redirection supports scanning devices that are compatible with the SANE interface standard. You must install the SANE scanner device drivers on the local client system. You do not need to install the scanner device drivers on a remote desktop.

The scanner redirection feature does not support webcam devices. VMware recommends that you use the Real-Time Audio-Video feature to redirect webcams.

Note: Scanner redirection to the remote desktop does not work when you scan from an application that supports the WIA (Windows Image Acquisition) standard. To use scanner redirection, scan from an application that supports the TWAIN standard instead.

If a Horizon administrator has configured the scanner redirection feature, and if you use the VMware Blast display protocol or the PCoIP display protocol, a scanner connected to your local client system can be used in a remote desktop.

Important: Do not connect a scanner from the Connect USB Device menu in Horizon Client. The performance will be unusable.

When scanning data is redirected to a remote desktop, you cannot access the scanner on the local client computer. Conversely, when a scanner is in use on the local client computer, you cannot access it on the remote desktop.

Note: When you connect a scanner to a USB port on the local client computer, Horizon Client sends scanning data to the remote desktop through USB redirection by default. To send data through scanner redirection instead, configure a USB redirection policy to exclude your scanning device. For more information, see Setting USB Configuration Properties.

A Horizon administrator can configure group policy settings to control the options that available in the VMware Horizon Scanner Redirection Preferences dialog box. For more information, see the Horizon Remote Desktop Features and GPOs document.

Note: If a Horizon administrator configures scanner redirection to use a specific scanner and that scanner is not available, scanner redirection does not work.

Tips for Using the Scanner Redirection Feature

  • To change scanner redirection settings, click the scanner icon ( Use the scanner icon to connect a scanner to your remote desktop ) in the system tray or notification area of the remote desktop.

    If the scanner or serial port service does not start, restart the local client system.

    Note: You do not need to use the menu that appears when you click the scanner icon. Scanner redirection works without any further configuration. If the menu that appears does not list any scanners, an incompatible scanner is connected to the local client system. If the scanner icon is not present, the scanner redirection feature is either deactivated or not installed on the remote desktop. The scanner icon also does not appear on local client systems that do not support this feature.
  • If you want the TWAIN Scanning Properties dialog box to appear even if a scanning application does not display the scanning dialog box, click the Preferences option in the scanner icon menu and select the Force the TWAIN Scanning Properties dialog check box.
  • To display the actual scanner names rather than VMware Virtual nnn scanner, click the Preferences option in the scanner icon menu and select the Use vendor defined names for TWAIN scanners check box.
  • To select options to control image compression or determine how to select the default scanner, click the Preferences option in the scanner icon menu and select the Compression or Defaults tab.
  • Most scanners display a scanner settings dialog box by default, but some do not. For those scanners that do not display settings options, you can use the Preferences option in the scanner icon menu and select the Force the TWAIN Scanning Properties dialog option.
  • To display the TWAIN Scanner Properties dialog box on the remote desktop, click the Preferences option in the scanner icon menu and select the Agent (VMware Scanning Properties dialog) check box. Horizon Client for Linux does not support the Client (Native Scanning Properties dialog, if supported) option.
  • Scanning too large an image or scanning at too high a resolution might not work. In this case, you might see the scanning progress indicator freeze, or the scanner application might exit unexpectedly. If you minimize the remote desktop, an error message might appear on the local client system, notifying you that the resolution is set too high. To resolve this issue, reduce the resolution or crop the image to a smaller size and scan again.