Canon MF657Cdw / MF655Cdw / MF651Cw: The Wrong Canon Package Is Installed — MF Scan Utility Cannot See the Scanner

Last Updated on 14.04.2026 by DriverNew

Applies to models: Canon MF657Cdw, MF655Cdw, MF651Cw.

If the multifunction printer can print but MF Scan Utility cannot detect the scanner, or if you see a message such as “A scanner driver supporting this software is not installed”, the problem is usually not a hardware fault. In most cases, the issue is that the wrong Canon package is installed on the computer. In practice, this usually means only the printer driver or an incomplete software set was installed, while the scanner driver and required utilities are missing.

How the problem usually appears

the multifunction printer prints without errors;
MF Scan Utility does not start scanning;
a message appears saying the scanner driver is not installed or the scanner is not supported;
the Start menu contains the Canon printer driver, but there is no proper set of scanning software.

Why this happens

Canon does not use exactly the same components for printing and for scanning. The printer driver alone does not make scanning work. For this product line, Canon separately states that to use scanning you need to install the scanner driver and the required software in advance, and for a network connection you also need to register the machine in MF Network Scanner Selector.

In simple terms: if the computer can only print to the multifunction printer, that does not mean it is fully prepared for scanning.

Where to start

Close MF Scan Utility if it is open.
Check how the machine is connected: by USB or over the network.
Open the Start menu and check whether MF Scan Utility is installed.

If the program is missing, that is already a strong sign of an incomplete installation.

Step 1. Check whether MF Scan Utility is installed

Open the Start menu.
Find the Canon folder.
Check whether MF Scan Utility is listed there.
If the program is missing, the computer most likely has an incomplete Canon package installed.

For this Canon product line, scanning to a computer depends on MF Scan Utility and the scanner driver.

Step 2. Understand that the printer driver alone is not enough

This is the key point. Very often, Windows automatically installs a printer driver, so the user sees that printing works. But scanning still does not work because the scanner driver is missing.

If the multifunction printer prints but does not scan, do not treat that as proof that the Canon software was installed correctly.
Check whether the full Canon package is installed, not just the printer driver.

Step 3. If the machine is connected over the network, check the scanner registration

Canon explicitly states that in Windows, for a network connection, the machine must be registered in MF Network Scanner Selector. If this is not done, scanning may fail even when MF Scan Utility is installed.

Look in the Windows notification area next to the clock.
Find the Canon MF Network Scanner Selector icon.
Click it.
Find your machine in the list.
Select the check box next to it.
Click [OK].

If the machine is connected by USB, this step is not needed.

Step 4. If the machine is connected by USB, do not look for network registration

Canon separately notes that if the machine is connected to the computer by USB, installing the software is enough for scanning. Registration in MF Network Scanner Selector is required specifically for network use.

If you use a USB connection, the main focus should be on the full Canon driver and software package, not on network registration.

Step 5. Remove the current incomplete Canon installation

If the computer currently has only the printer driver or a broken Canon installation, it is usually easier not to repair it piece by piece, but to reinstall Canon from scratch.

Open Windows Settings.
Go to Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners.
Remove the Canon device from the list.
Remove MF Scan Utility if it is installed but not working correctly.
Remove the Canon drivers for this multifunction printer.
Restart the computer.

Step 6. Download the full Canon package for this product line

For a closely related model in the same product line, the solution reported in Canon Community was exactly this: instead of the “recommended” download that installed only printing, the full package had to be installed, something like MF657Cdw / MF655Cdw / MF651Cw Drivers (… / ScanGear). The user explicitly noted that the issue was that only the printer driver had been installed, not the scanner driver.

Open the official Canon support site for your model.
Find the full driver package for MF657Cdw / MF655Cdw / MF651Cw.
When choosing the download, do not look only for the word Printer; choose the full package that includes ScanGear and scanning components.
Download that package and install it.

Step 7. During installation, do not block Windows Firewall unnecessarily

Canon separately warns that driver installation may not complete correctly if sending and receiving the IP address is blocked in the firewall settings. This is especially important for network installation.

Run the official Canon installer.
If Windows asks for permission related to firewall changes or network exceptions, do not reject that request without a reason.
Complete the installation and restart the computer if required.

If such permissions are blocked, printing may sometimes continue to work while scanning does not.

Step 8. After installation, check MF Scan Utility again

Open the Start menu.
Launch MF Scan Utility.
Check [Product Name]/[Scanner].
Make sure your machine is selected.
Run a test scan.

Step 9. If the installation is correct but network scanning still does not work, check IPv4

Canon separately warns that the scan function is not available when the machine and the computer are connected in an IPv6 environment. For network scanning, you need a normal IPv4 environment or a USB connection.

If your network is non-standard, this is worth checking separately.

Step 10. If the problem remains only on one computer, compare with another PC

This is a very useful check. If the same machine scans correctly on another computer, the issue is almost certainly not in the multifunction printer itself, but in the software environment of one specific PC.

If you have a second computer, install the official Canon package on it.
Check whether scanning works there.
If everything works on the second computer, return to a full Canon reinstall and Windows checks on the first PC.

How to quickly tell that the installed package is the problem

If printing works but scanning does not — often only the printer driver is installed.
If MF Scan Utility is missing from the Start menu — the Canon package is almost certainly incomplete.
If the machine does not appear in MF Network Scanner Selector on a network connection — scanning will not work correctly even if the program is installed.
If the issue disappears after installing the full package — the cause was not the multifunction printer, but the incomplete or incorrect installation.

When to contact support

you already removed the old Canon installation;
you installed the full official Canon driver package;
for a network connection, you registered the machine in MF Network Scanner Selector;
you checked that IPv4 is used instead of only IPv6;
the error still repeats.

If scanning still does not recover after that, it is reasonable to contact Canon support and state immediately that the problem remains even after installing the full package, not just the printer driver.

Brief conclusion

For the Canon MF657Cdw, MF655Cdw, and MF651Cw, the situation where printing works but MF Scan Utility cannot see the scanner is most often caused not by device failure, but by an incomplete Canon installation. First, check whether MF Scan Utility is installed, then remove the old installation and install the full official Canon package with the ScanGear scanner driver. For a network connection, you also need to register the machine in MF Network Scanner Selector. In most cases, that is enough to restore scanning.