Short review of Windows Fax and Scan

Windows Fax and Scan is a utility program built into all modern versions of Windows operating software. I did not use this utility program until recently when I became discouraged by my lack of ability to maintain my earlier version of an Abobe Acrobat program in a Windows 10 operating system without switching to a subscription-based program with Abobe. (I used Adobe Acrobat desktop versions up to 12 but not the hosted software.)

There seems to be little published in the realm of third party review of this software so I thought I would add a few notes here.

Efficient paper-to-PDF transfer is important to an online accountant. I prefer to avoid handling paper at all but sometimes it is unavoidable. My volume of electronic document creation is minimal, maybe a few per day. My document storage is handled by OneDrive that is also integrated into the Windows 10 operating system.

Windows Fax and Scan has operated flawlessly for my purposes over the first month of use and appears to operate both my Brother and HP multi-function machines faster than Adobe Acrobat.  There seem to be fewer keystrokes involved to create an electronic document. I am impressed withe this utility program in every regard, especially that the software is free and the resulting documents in PDF can be viewed by any generic  viewing program. I often integrate the resulting PDF filess into QuickBooks records, client files and OneNote pages.

Two features are especially useful is that the program automatically creates and stores one copy of the scan is a fixed location while allowing me to save a copy to a client file or other program. In effect, this winds up being a backup system for my scanned documents.

I used the integrated fax program only once and have no significant comment. I ten to use a email-based faxing utility or RingCentral fax program instead.

Windows integrated utility programs have been criticized in the past for lack of features. I have not found any such limitation to be important in my use of the program.

I conclude, it appears that I have broken a 10+ year relationship with a purchased version of Adobe Acrobat. I would recommend Windows Fax and Scan as an integral utility program for any small business that needs to handle and mange a small volume of conversion of paper to electronic documents.