Scan to email from a home printer

Your printer can scan a page and email it to you. To do that it needs a mail server to hand the message to — printers cannot send email by themselves, the same way a letter needs a post office.

That setting is called SMTP, and this page is about what to put in it when the obvious answer stopped working.

What is an SMTP server?

It is a computer that accepts your message and delivers it. Your printer connects to it, proves who it is with a username and password, hands over the scan, and disconnects. Three things go in the printer’s settings:

Setting	What it is
Server (or SMTP server, outgoing server)	the address to connect to
Port	which door to use — almost always `587` or `465`
Username and password	proof you are allowed to send

That is the whole idea. Everything else on this page is about which server to use.

Why Gmail and Hotmail stopped working

For years people typed their own Gmail or Hotmail address and password into the printer, and it worked.

It does not any more. Google and Microsoft both stopped accepting a plain password from devices, because a password typed into a printer is a password sitting in a printer. They now want a sign-in method almost no printer can do.

If your printer says “SMTP server requires authentication”, “login failed”, or simply stops sending after years of working, this is usually why. Nothing is broken and retyping the password will not help.

Some Gmail accounts can still use an app password, which is a separate password just for the printer. If you have two-step verification switched on, that is worth trying first — it costs nothing and keeps everything in one place.

If that does not work, use a relay

A relay is a mail server whose whole job is to accept mail from devices like yours. ZeroSMTP is one, it is free, and it does not ask for a card:

Setting	Value
Server	`mx.msgwing.com`
Port	`587` — or `465` if your printer only offers SSL
Authentication	On
Username / password	from registration
From address	the one you are given

Get a free account →

Two things to know before you start, because they matter more at home than anywhere else:

Scans arrive from a generated @msgwing.com address, not from your own. For scanning a document to yourself, to family, or to an accountant, that is usually fine — the attachment is what matters. If it has to look like it came from your own address, this is the wrong tool and the alternatives page says which one is right.

The limit is 200 messages a day and no paid tier lifts it. A household will never reach that. A small office scanning invoices all day might.

Where the setting lives on your printer

Almost every printer hides this behind its web interface: find the printer’s IP address on its own screen (usually under Network or Wi-Fi settings), then type that number into a browser on a computer on the same network.

Brand	Where to look
HP	`Scan` or `Networking` → `Outgoing Email Profiles` — full HP guide
Canon	Remote UI → `Settings/Registration` → `TX Settings` → `E-Mail Settings`
Epson	Web Config → `Network` → `Email Server` → `Basic`
Brother	Web Based Management → `Network` → `Protocol` → `SMTP`
Others	every brand, with menu paths

It still does not send

Check whether the printer can reach a mail server at all. From a computer on the same network:

npx zerosmtp-check

It tests the connection and reports what it found. No installation and no mail is sent. If it cannot connect either, the problem is the network rather than the printer — some internet providers block these ports on home connections, and troubleshooting covers what to do about it.

If the printer shows an error code or message instead, paste it:

npx zerosmtp-check --explain "535 5.7.139 Authentication unsuccessful"

Updated 23 Aug 2026