Room1.07Floor 1 Help desk and devices
Business printer and scanner support
Printing, scan to email and scan to folder set up properly for Microsoft 365 offices, with printers pushed to every computer automatically and the December 2026 scan-to-email change handled before it breaks your copier.
- Printing and scanning that works
- Scan to email and to folders
- Printers pushed to every PC
- Help through the help desk
Scan to email and the change at the end of December 2026
Most office copiers send scans by email using a simple username and password stored on the device. Microsoft calls this Basic authentication for SMTP AUTH, and it has been retiring it from Exchange Online for years. Every other email protocol lost Basic authentication in 2022. Sending mail from devices and applications was the last exception.
Under Microsoft’s current timeline, nothing changes until the end of December 2026. At that point, Basic authentication for SMTP AUTH is switched off by default for existing Microsoft 365 tenants. Administrators can still turn it back on for a period, and Microsoft has said it will announce the final removal date in the second half of 2027. New tenants created after December 2026 will not have the option at all.
When it stops working, the failure is easy to miss. Staff press scan, the copier says the job was sent, and the email never arrives. Many offices discover the problem only when a client asks where the signed document went.
The Exchange admin center has a report that lists every device and application still sending this way. We run it, match each entry to a real copier, scanner or piece of software, and move each one to a method that will keep working.
Ways to keep scan to email working
There is no single right answer. The best option depends on how old the device is, whether your office has a fixed IP address, and who the scans need to reach.
| Option | How it works | What it needs | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modern sign-in on the device | The copier signs in to Microsoft 365 with OAuth, the same modern method Outlook uses | A model and firmware version that supports it, which many current business copiers do | Most offices with copiers less than about five years old |
| A relay connector | The copier sends to your Microsoft 365 mail endpoint, which recognizes your office by its fixed public IP address | A static IP from your internet provider and outbound port 25 allowed | Older devices that cannot do modern sign-in, in offices with a fixed IP |
| Microsoft’s own sending services | High Volume Email for Microsoft 365 or Azure Communication Services accept mail from devices and applications that cannot use modern sign-in | Setup in Microsoft 365 or Azure, with some limits on who can receive the mail | Line-of-business applications and devices with no other path |
| Skip email altogether | The copier saves scans straight to SharePoint, OneDrive or a shared folder | A device with a cloud connector, or a scan-to-folder setup | Offices where scans are filed rather than sent to someone |
One method we avoid is Direct Send, where a device sends unauthenticated mail straight to your own domain. It still works in many tenants, but it is a favourite tool of phishing attackers impersonating internal staff. Microsoft added a setting in 2025 that lets tenants reject it entirely, and our email security setup turns that setting on wherever it can.
Universal Print: printing without a print server
Universal Print is Microsoft’s cloud print service. Laptops send print jobs to Microsoft 365, and Microsoft 365 passes them to the printer. There is no Windows print server to patch, no drivers to push around by hand and no VPN needed to print in the office from a laptop that spent the morning at home.
You may already pay for it
Universal Print is included with Microsoft 365 Business Premium, E3 and E5. Each licence adds 100 print jobs a month to a pool shared across the whole company, so a 30-person firm has 3,000 jobs a month between everyone. That is enough for most offices that print as part of the work rather than as the work.
Old and new printers both work
Printers with built-in Universal Print support register directly. Older printers connect through a small connector program on any always-on Windows machine in the office.
Printers appear on their own
We publish printers to laptops through Microsoft Intune, by office or department. New staff find the right printers already installed on their first morning, and the printers in the Mississauga office do not clutter the list for people in Toronto.
When it is not the right fit
Very high-volume printing, label printers in a warehouse and printers that need special driver features are often better served by a traditional print server. We tell you which printers belong where.
Why staff can no longer add printers themselves
In 2021 a group of Windows printing flaws known as PrintNightmare allowed attackers to take over computers through printer drivers. Microsoft’s fix changed the default so that installing a printer driver needs administrator rights. That is why ordinary staff now get an administrator prompt when they try to add a printer, and why the old habit of letting everyone install printers from the network has had to stop.
The answer is not to give everyone administrator rights back. It is to install printers for people, either through Universal Print and Intune or through Group Policy from a print server, so nobody needs to add one by hand.
Microsoft is also steering Windows towards its own built-in printer driver, which works with any printer that supports the Mopria standard, and away from manufacturers’ drivers. Windows 11 includes a protected print mode that uses only that built-in driver. When we help you choose a new printer, we check for Mopria support so it keeps working as Windows tightens further.
Leased copiers: who does what
Most offices lease their main copier from a dealer whose service contract covers the hardware, parts and toner. We do not repair copier hardware. We look after everything that connects the copier to your business.
The dealer looks after
- Paper jams, worn rollers and mechanical faults
- Toner and drum supply
- Hardware replacement under the lease
- Meter readings and billing
We look after
- Scan to email, scan to folder and scan to SharePoint
- The address book and its link to your Microsoft 365 directory
- Network settings, firmware updates and security settings
- Driver deployment and printing from every laptop
One detail is often forgotten. Most office copiers have a hard drive or flash storage holding copies of recent scans and print jobs. When a lease ends, that storage should be wiped using the copier’s own secure erase function, or the drive removed, before the machine leaves your office. We arrange it with the dealer and record that it was done.
The everyday printing problems we fix
Printing generates more help desk requests than almost anything else in an office, and most come from a short list of causes. Fixing the cause, rather than clearing the same jam in the queue every week, is the point.
- A printer that disappears every few days. Its IP address keeps changing. A fixed reservation on the network ends it.
- Scan to folder broke overnight. The account the copier uses to save files had its password changed. We set it up with a dedicated account that does not expire.
- Jobs stuck in the queue. Usually a stalled print spooler or a driver mismatch. We clear it and remove the mismatched driver from every machine.
- Everything prints single-sided in colour. Driver defaults. We set double-sided black and white as the default for everyone, which pays for itself in toner.
- The wrong default printer. Windows switches the default to the last one used. We turn that behaviour off.
Printing problems are handled through our help desk like any other request. For setting up printing in a new office, it is part of the plan from the start.
Printing and scanning work we quote
- Scan to email moved off Basic authenticationFixed quote
- Universal Print set up and printers deployed by IntuneFixed quote
- Print server replaced or rebuiltFixed quote
- Scan to SharePoint or OneDrive configuredFixed quote
- Copier security settings and end-of-lease wipeFixed quote
- Printer selection for a new officeFixed quote
Questions people ask
Will our copier stop scanning to email?
It may. At the end of December 2026, Microsoft switches off Basic authentication for SMTP AUTH by default in existing Microsoft 365 tenants. Copiers that send scans with a stored username and password will fail, usually silently. Administrators can re-enable it for a while, and Microsoft will announce the final removal date in the second half of 2027. The safe course is to move each device to a supported method now.
Which option is best for scan to email?
If the copier supports modern sign-in to Microsoft 365, that is the best long-term answer. If it does not, a relay connector tied to your office's fixed IP address is reliable. If scans are mostly filed rather than emailed, scanning straight to SharePoint or a shared folder avoids the question entirely. We check each device and recommend one path for each.
What is Universal Print and do we already pay for it?
Universal Print is Microsoft's cloud printing service, which removes the need for a print server. It is included with Microsoft 365 Business Premium, E3 and E5, with 100 print jobs a month per licence pooled across the company. If you have those licences, you already own it.
Why can't staff add a printer themselves any more?
Since Microsoft's 2021 fixes for the PrintNightmare flaws, installing printer drivers needs administrator rights by default. Rather than giving everyone administrator access, which would be a serious security risk, we install printers for people automatically through Intune or Group Policy.
Do you repair printers?
We do not repair printer or copier hardware. Mechanical faults are handled by your copier dealer or the manufacturer. We look after everything that connects the printer to your business: scanning, drivers, network settings, security and printing from every computer, and we will coordinate with the dealer when the problem is theirs.
What should happen to a copier's hard drive when the lease ends?
It should be securely erased, or removed, before the copier leaves your office. Most business copiers keep copies of recent scans and print jobs on internal storage. The copier's own secure erase function is usually enough, and the dealer can confirm it in writing. We arrange it and keep a record.
Can we scan straight to SharePoint or OneDrive?
Yes, with most current business copiers. Many have connectors that save scans directly to SharePoint or OneDrive, and others can scan to a folder that syncs. For documents that get filed rather than sent, it is often simpler and more secure than scan to email.
We have one printer and six people. Do we need any of this?
Probably very little. A small office usually needs a fixed IP address for the printer, a driver installed for everyone, and scan to email moved to a method that survives Microsoft's change. That is a short job, and it removes most of the printing complaints a small team has.
Tell us what’s going on
Pick how urgent it is and leave a way to reach you. The help desk replies by phone or email. If work has stopped, call 647-812-3775 instead.
Something broken, or something to plan?
For anything urgent, call. A technician answers the emergency line 24/7. For everything else, open a ticket and tell us what is going on.