HP print driver issue - HP Officejet 6500plus

Consider the extra cost VueScan Professional to drive your HP OfficeJet 6500Plus scanner. You can trial VueScan before purchase, though some features may not be active until after purchase. It requires no HP software or drivers to support the E709a, or E710a-f and probably others in this immediate family on Big Sur.

As a side note, I was confronted in 2010 by Canon no longer supporting a scanner that I owned, and I purchased VueScan Professional at that time. The current VueScan Professional still supports this scanner on Big Sur, and I have never paid the vendor any update, or subscription fee in eleven years. I don't receive any benefit from the vendor for mentioning their product here.

That HP caused printer driver mixup was resolved and the HP Printer Drivers v5.1 for Mac was updated on Dec 11, 2020 to clear up that fiasco. That HP driver download offers support for the following models where the support columns on the right are Print (P), Scan (S), and Fax (F) in that order.

If you model does appear here, then download and install the linked HP driver package above. Afterward, and with your printer powered and connected, visit System Preferences > Printers & Scanners panel, right-click on your device entry, and choose Reset printing system… When you re-add the device, select the appropriate HP driver entry. This may also present scanner configuration capability on Printers & Scanners panel.

On the other hand, if your particular device is not shown in the above matrix, and HP no longer provides online driver downloads for this device (ended with macOS 10.12), then you do have a paperweight. If this is the case, I suggest your next printer choice is among Apple's AirPrint supported devices so you can remain vendor driver independent in the future. AirPrint support is built into the operating system for networked devices.

I've had the same problem. My old Mac runs High Sierra. Stopped scanning. As you say, HP no longer seems to support the 6500 with OS drivers, and the version of the driver on the Apple site -the installer won't let me install on my drive. . That driver was supposedly compatible with 10.5.x. /High Sierra. Thankfully I have a new Air with Big Sur, and I was able to download the new drive from the Apple site, and the scanner works using that computer.