How to Connect a Canon Inkjet Printer Scanner to Your Phone

Scanning directly from a Canon inkjet printer to your phone is genuinely useful — no PC required, no cables, no waiting. But the process isn't identical for every printer or every phone, and the steps vary depending on which connection method your setup supports. Here's what you need to know to get it working.

What Makes Phone-to-Scanner Connectivity Possible

Canon inkjet printers with scanning capability use one of several technologies to communicate with mobile devices:

• Wi-Fi (local network) — Both the printer and phone connect to the same router
• Wi-Fi Direct — The printer creates its own wireless hotspot; your phone connects directly without a router
• Bluetooth — Supported on a smaller number of Canon models for basic tasks
• USB OTG — A wired option requiring a USB On-The-Go adapter, available on some Android phones

Most Canon inkjet models released in the last several years support Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct as the primary mobile connection methods. Older or entry-level models may only support one of the two.

The Canon PRINT Inkjet/SELPHY App Is the Starting Point

For most users, Canon's official mobile app — Canon PRINT Inkjet/SELPHY — is the core tool for connecting and controlling the scanner from a phone. It's available for both iOS (iPhone/iPad) and Android.

The app handles:

• Discovering Canon printers on your network
• Initiating scans from your phone
• Saving scanned documents as PDFs or JPEGs
• Adjusting scan resolution and destination

This is the recommended path for most Canon PIXMA, MAXIFY, and similar inkjet models with scanning capability.

Connecting Over Wi-Fi (Same Network Method)

This is the most common and stable setup.

What you need:

• A Canon inkjet printer with Wi-Fi capability
• A home or office Wi-Fi network
• A smartphone with the Canon PRINT app installed

General steps:

1. Connect your Canon printer to your Wi-Fi network using its control panel or LCD touchscreen. Most models walk you through this in the setup menu under LAN settings or Wireless LAN setup.
2. Install the Canon PRINT Inkjet/SELPHY app on your phone.
3. Open the app — it will scan for Canon printers on the same network and detect yours automatically.
4. Once registered, tap Scan within the app, place your document on the scanner glass, and select your output format and destination.

The printer and phone must be on the same Wi-Fi network (same SSID). This is the most frequent reason the connection fails — one device is on 2.4GHz and the other on 5GHz with separate network names, or a guest network is separating them.

Connecting via Wi-Fi Direct (No Router Required)

If you're working somewhere without a shared Wi-Fi network — or your printer isn't connected to one — Wi-Fi Direct lets your phone connect to the printer directly.

How it works:

• The printer broadcasts its own wireless signal
• Your phone connects to that signal like it would a Wi-Fi network
• The Canon PRINT app then communicates with the printer over that direct connection

To enable Wi-Fi Direct on most Canon inkjets, look for the option in the printer's LAN settings or Wireless settings menu. Once active, it shows up as a network on your phone (usually named something like Canon_ij_XXXX).

Limitation to know: When your phone is connected to the printer via Wi-Fi Direct, it loses its regular internet connection temporarily, since it's now on the printer's private network instead of your home router.

Using Apple AirPrint or Mopria for Scanning

📱 Some users prefer platform-native tools over a dedicated app.

• Apple AirPrint — Built into iOS and iPadOS, supports printing wirelessly on compatible Canon models. However, AirPrint does not support scanning as of current implementations. It's print-only.
• Mopria Scan — Android's Mopria standard does support wireless scanning on compatible printers. If your Canon inkjet is Mopria-certified, the Mopria Scan app can initiate a scan without installing Canon's own app.

Mopria Scan is worth knowing about if you're an Android user who prefers not to use manufacturer apps, but compatibility varies by printer model.

Variables That Affect How This Works for You

The actual experience differs based on several factors:

Common Reasons It Doesn't Connect

• Printer is connected to Wi-Fi, but the phone is on a different band or guest network
• The Canon PRINT app hasn't been granted local network permissions on iOS (check Settings > Privacy)
• Wi-Fi Direct is enabled on the printer, but the phone is still trying to find it on the main network
• The printer's wireless signal is off — some models let you toggle this independently of other settings

🔧 A quick test: try opening the Canon PRINT app while standing near the printer with both devices confirmed on the same network. If the app can't find the printer, check the printer's network status screen — most Canon inkjets display the current IP address and connection status directly on the panel.

What Differs Between Android and iPhone

Both platforms support the Canon PRINT app and the core scanning workflow, but there are differences:

• Android generally gives apps broader local network access by default; iOS 14+ introduced explicit local network permission prompts that users sometimes accidentally deny
• Android users have the additional option of Mopria Scan as an alternative
• iOS users may find AirPrint listed as a scanning option in some apps, but actual scan initiation through AirPrint isn't broadly supported — the Canon app is the more reliable route on iPhone

The right approach for your situation depends on which phone you're using, which Canon model is on your desk, and how your network is set up — each of those details shapes which method will actually work smoothly.