Recommended Videos Set up the scanner You need to set up your all-in-one printer and connect it to your computer, of course. Depending on the model, you might connect via Wi-Fi, USB, or Ethernet.

Microsoft offers the Windows Scan app that you can use to capture documents and save them to your PC. To use it, you first need to add your printer to the PC if you haven't already.

Your physical document will now appear on your Windows PC, probably after some whirring from the scanner itself. Enjoy the resulting PDF, JPEG, or whatever file type you need.

That’s fine if it’s only once in a while, but if you deal with a lot of documents or are just dissatisfied with your strategy, the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 mobile scanner ($199) is an alternative.