Install Windows Fax and Scan
- Open Settings > System > Optional features.
- Next to Add an optional feature, choose View features.
- Search for Windows Fax and Scan, tick it, then choose Next and Install.
- When it's finished, find it by typing Fax into the Start menu.
On some versions of Windows it's listed instead under Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows features on or off > Print and Document Services.
What it can't do
- It saves scans as picture files (such as JPEG or TIFF), not PDFs.
- From a flatbed, every page is a separate scan and a separate file.
- It doesn't straighten crooked pages, crop to the paper or skip blank pages.
- Faxing needs a fax modem and a phone line, which almost no modern PC has.
Scanning to PDF instead
Metre2 Scanner is a free Windows app built for the job Fax and Scan never did well: putting several pages into one PDF.
- Works with USB and network scanners that have a Windows (WIA) driver, and driverless network printers.
- Flatbed or document feeder, and both sides where the scanner supports it.
- Each page straightened and cropped as it comes in; blank pages skipped.
- Reorder, rotate, delete or rescan pages before saving.
- Save as PDF, JPEG or PNG. No ads, no account, works offline.
Step-by-step instructions are in how to scan multiple pages into one PDF.
What about faxing?
Most organisations that once asked for a fax now accept a PDF by email. Where a fax really is needed, internet fax services send one from a PDF for a fee. Scan to PDF first, then send the file.