Mac no longer works with scanner

Question

Level 1

8 points

Mac no longer works with scanner

My Macbook Pro will no longer work together with my Epson printer/scanner to scan. It will print to the printer (Epson Work Force Pro, WF-4725), but when I try to turn on the scanner, I get the message "You do not have permission to open the application 'Epson ES0147'". I have looked all over the computer for this application, and it's not there. I've tried restarting and rebooting both the Mac and the printer, that doesn't help. I've deleted the printer and the software, reintroduced it and restarted everything, no good. I spent two hours in a chat with Apple Support doing a variety of restarts and permission checks, etc - nothing has helped. The Mac did recently update its operating system: currently OS11.5. The last thing that Apple support suggested - which hasn't yet been done, as I was two hours in the chat and had work to do) was reinstall the operating system and do a disk repair with disk utility, which seems excessive. Any ideas what might have gone wrong, and what I can do about it? Many thanks for your help!

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.5

Posted on Jul 26, 2021 8:09 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Gary Scotland

Level 7

25,929 points

Jul 26, 2021 9:18 AM in response to Madser

Have you downloaded and installed the latest Epson Scanning driver for the WF 4725?

Its easily found on the Epson website in the Support printers section.

The UK download page is here:

https://www.epson.co.uk/support?productID=21257&os=38#drivers_and_manuals

The file name is epson636725eu.dmg

Date released 5 Oct 2020

version Epson Scan 2

The driver is a TWAIN driver and will work using Image Capture app on the Mac

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Answer 2

Aug 10, 2021 8:40 AM in response to Bjmaxwell55

Here it is again, slightly edited:

In the Finder, press Command-Shift-G and paste

/Library/Image Capture/Devices

Locate the application with the name of your scanner there.

CONTROL-Click and choose Open. Confirm.

After that, scanning should work normally.

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Answer 3

Jul 26, 2021 9:04 AM in response to Madser

Did you try scanning using Preview or Image Capture?

I have not installed any of the manufacturer's scanning software in over a decade.

Just

Preview File->Import from Epson ...

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Answer 4

Kreif

Level 1

4 points

Aug 26, 2021 2:32 PM in response to Madser

Used Epson ScanSmartapp; otherwise, locked out of preferences like you. Kind of crazy, but it works for ET 4076 too.

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Answer 5

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,144 points

Jul 26, 2021 12:34 PM in response to Madser

Since your WF-4725 is now printing and scanning, I would not mess with success. However, this device is also supported by Apple’s built-in AirPrint when networked (not connected via USB cable) for both printing and scanning (Image Capture).

AirPrint operates independently of Epson drivers and scanning software. When one resets the printing system in Printers & Scanners panel, one chooses AirPrint for the device instead of Epson drivers.

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Answer 6

djl25

Level 1

12 points

Jul 30, 2021 8:40 AM in response to Madser

It’s not just Epson. My Canon flatbed scanner no longer works, and I’ve seen people online complaining about HP as well. Something about the 11.5 update has broken scanning for a LOT of people.

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Answer 7

Madser Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 26, 2021 9:10 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Hi, thanks for your response! I've tried scanning with image capture - the same message comes up (it was one of the things tried with the support rep in the chat). I use the scanner through system preferences; I don't use the printer's software. Maybe I should have, but I've just deleted it all in the hope to eliminate that bizarre application that doesn't seem to exist, in case it was buried in there.

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Answer 8

Madser Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 26, 2021 12:13 PM in response to Gary Scotland

Hi Gary, thanks for that. It didn't work initially with just the scan drivers, but once all the software was downloaded I was able to use the Epson software to access the scanner. I'm used to going through the Mac's system preferences, which I prefer, but if something works, then that's a result. Thanks very much for your tip and the link.

If anyone out there has any idea why the system preferences won't work and always give me that error message, I'd be very interested in hearing it.

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Answer 9

chet53

Level 1

8 points

Aug 10, 2021 5:42 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thanks for this tip. I was getting the same message reported by many (that I didn't have permission to use the scanner on my HP printer––the printer connection was fine and working), and this simple fix, which took about a minute to implement, did the trick. HP Easy Scan is now working on my new MI Mac desktop.

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Answer 10

Teezum

Level 1

4 points

Aug 25, 2021 8:01 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I was getting so frustrated because I was unable to scan some important documents. After messing around for a couple of hours I came across this post and I was finally able to scan my documents. Thank you so much for the help!

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Answer 11

Madser Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 31, 2021 8:31 AM in response to djl25

Thanks for this - I was wondering if there was perhaps something more general up, as nothing has seemed to work with it. I guess we just have to wait for them to do an update with the fix?

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