With the scanner redirection feature, you can scan information into remote desktops and published applications with scanners that are connected to the local client system. This feature redirects scanning data with a significantly lower bandwidth than can be achieved by using USB redirection.

Scanner redirection supports standard scanning devices that are compatible with the TWAIN and WIA (Windows Image Acquisition) formats. You must install the scanner device drivers on the local client system. You do not need to install the scanner device drivers on a remote desktop.

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 or published application.

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 or published application, 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 or published application.

A Horizon administrator can configure group policy settings to control the options that available in the VMware Horizon Scanner Redirection Preferences dialog box.

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. In a published application, the system tray icon is redirected to the local client computer.
    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 does not list any scanners, an incompatible scanner is connected to the local client system. If the scanner icon does not appear, the scanner redirection feature is either disabled 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.
  • If you plan to use the Real-Time Audio-Video feature to redirect webcams as recommended by VMware, click the Preferences option in the scanner icon menu and select the Hide webcam type imaging devices check box.
  • Most TWAIN 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. To display the TWAIN Scanner Properties dialog box on the local client system, select the Client (Native Scanning Properties dialog, if supported) check box.
    Note: In the agent-side TWAIN Scanner Properties dialog box, some less-common options might not be included. To use these less-common options, select the Client (Native Scanning Properties dialog, if supported) check box.
  • 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.