Question :

I have a Canon CanoScan 5600F scanner that worked great with my previous Mac, but now I have upgraded to a new M4 Mac running macOS 15 Sequoia.

I’ve looked on the Canon website and searched the internet, but there is no macOS 15 Sequoia compatible driver available for this scanner.

Is there any way to use this CanoScan 5600F scanner in macOS 15 Sequoia ?

Answer :

Yes, there is …and it still works (nearly) the same way on Intel Macs and Apple silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) Macs running macOS 15 Sequoia :

• goto Canon’s US website : https://www.usa.canon.com
• choose Support > Scanners > Film & Negative Scanner > CanoScan 5600F
• or use this link : https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/scanners/film-negative-scanner/canoscan-5600f/canoscan-5600f?subtab=downloads-drivers
• there, click on the “Drivers & Downloads” tile (huge button)
• then, choose “macOS Mojave v10.14” (even though your on macOS Sequoia v15 – don’t worry) as your operating system and “English” as your language
• now, you will see 2 drivers listed :
  • > 5600F Scanner Driver Ver.14.11.5h (Mac) : msd_-mac_cs5600f-14_11_5h-ea8_2.dmg
    • > ICA Driver Ver.4.1.4a (Mac) : misd-mac-ijscanner2-4_1_4-ea21_3.dmg
• download both of them
  • note that despite the fact that both are versions from 2018, these will still work with macOS 15 Sequoia
• goto your downloads folder
• first, double-click on the file named msd_-mac_cs5600f-14_11_5h-ea8_2.dmg
• this will mount the ScanGear_CanoScan 5600F_141105.pkg
• again, click on that and version 14.11 of the ScanGear driver installer will open
• now, follow the on-screen directions and the latest ScanGear driver will be installed
• if you have an M1/M2/M3/M4 Mac, you will need to allow to allow the Rosetta Intel-simulator software too (probably only needed for the installer, the actual driver can probably do without)
• then, double-click on the file named misd-mac-ijscanner2-4_1_4-ea21_3.dmg
• this will mount the Canon IJScanner2_040104.pkg
• again, click on that and version 4.1.4 the IJScanner2 driver installer will open
• now, follow the on-screen directions and the latest IJScanner2 driver will be installed
• when done, click on the Apple-logo top-left in the top menu bar
• in the pulldown menu that appears, click on “System Settings”
• in the window that opens, scroll down in the menu list on the left and click on “Printers & Scanners”
• if the CanoScan 5600F is already listed in the Scanners chapter, click it
• if not, click the “Add Printer, Scanner or Fax” button first to add the scanner
• when done, click the CanoScan 5600F in the Scanners chapter
• when the scanner details open on the right, click on the “Open Scanner”-button
• now, the built-in macOS ImageCapture.app will open and it will immediately do a preview scan of whatever is in the scanner

NOTE : you might run into a small problem every once in a while ; when the automatic scanning preview starts, you might get an error saying “Scanner reported an error – Cannot communicate with scanner for these reasons: – Scanner is turned off. – USB cable is disconnected. Please check and try again.” If so, just flip the scanner’s ON/OFF-switch in OFF-position manually and then back into ON-position. Then click “OK” in the error message window, then click the “Overview” button in the ImageCapture window. That should help in making the scanner preview work again.

enjoy 😉