Issues Passing Through TWAIN Document Scanner to Windows VM in Parallels

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop on a Mac with Apple silicon' started by Jose36, Mar 23, 2026.

  1. Jose36

    Jose36

    Messages:
    1
    Hi everyone,

    I'm looking for some help getting a document scanner working in Parallels Desktop on a Mac with an M4 chip.

    My setup:
    • Mac (Apple Silicon - M4)
    • Parallels Desktop running a Windows VM (ARM version of Windows)
    • Canon DR-C225 document scanner (TWAIN compliant)

    My goal is to use the scanner inside the Windows VM with applications that require TWAIN support.

    What I've tried so far:
    • Installed Canon drivers inside the Windows VM
    • Connected the scanner via USB through Parallels
    • Tried connecting the scanner and sharing it via Mac
    • Confirmed the scanner works correctly on macOS
    The issue:

    The scanner is not detected at all by Windows
    Or it connects and fails to load the scanner driver.

    From what I understand, this could be related to driver compatibility (x86 vs ARM), USB passthrough limitations in Parallels, or TWAIN not behaving well in a virtualized environment.

    What I'm trying to figure out:

    Has anyone successfully used a TWAIN scanner (specifically Canon DR-C225 or similar) in Parallels on Apple Silicon?
    Are there specific Parallels settings for USB/device sharing that make this more reliable?
    Is TWAIN even fully supported in this setup, or is there a known limitation?
    What workaround would you recomend?

    I'm trying to determine whether this is something I can fix with the right configuration or if it's a limitation of running Windows ARM in Parallels.

    Any insight or working setups would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
     

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