By Alexey Spasskiy · Published August 13, 2026 · Updated August 13, 2026 · 10 min read
Quick answer: The direct, like-for-like replacement for Windows Fax and Scan is mFax for Windows — a native desktop app on the Microsoft Store, free to install, that sends over your internet connection instead of a phone line. It runs on Windows 10 (version 17763.0 or higher) and Windows 11, on both x64 and ARM64, which is exactly where the built-in tool cannot go. If you would rather not install anything, the same service runs in a browser at mFax.to.
If you are reading this, you have already opened Windows Fax and Scan and hit a wall — and it matters which wall, because the right replacement depends on it. The tool has shipped with Windows since Vista in 2007 and barely changed since. Its assumptions, a dial-up modem inside your PC and a copper phone line in the wall, stopped being true for most people more than a decade ago.
The good news: as of 10 August 2026 there is a native Windows fax app in the Microsoft Store, which means "replace Windows Fax and Scan" no longer has to mean "open a browser tab and hope."
Why Windows Fax and Scan Failed for You
There are three distinct failure modes, and they are not interchangeable.
1. It needs a dial-up fax modem and an analog landline
This is the big one. Windows Fax and Scan has no internet faxing capability whatsoever. It does not use your Wi-Fi, your broadband, or your Ethernet cable. It dials out through a hardware fax modem — an internal PCIe card or, more realistically in 2026, an external USB modem — connected to a traditional analog (POTS) phone line.
That rules out most modern setups. PC makers stopped putting modems in machines years ago, and if your phone service runs over cable or fiber it is VoIP, which digitizes the audio in ways that scramble fax tones — see our guide to VoIP fax problems.
2. On Windows 11 it is an optional feature, not a default install
Unlike Windows 10, where the app is pre-installed and simply sits in the Start menu, Windows 11 does not install Windows Fax and Scan by default. You have to add it yourself under Settings → Apps → Optional Features → View features, through Control Panel → Programs → Turn Windows features on or off → Print and Document Services, or with the DISM capability print.Fax.Scan~~~~0.0.1.0. If the search box came up empty, that is why. Our Windows Fax and Scan on Windows 11 guide walks the manual install step by step.
Worse, Microsoft has been quietly narrowing it. On many Windows 11 22H2 and later configurations it does not appear in Optional Features at all, and on Windows 11 Enterprise 24H2 it is widely reported as gone entirely.
3. On ARM-based Windows 11 it does not exist at all
ARM64 PCs: there is nothing to install
On a Surface Pro X, Surface Pro 11, Surface Laptop 7 or any Copilot+ PC with a Snapdragon processor, Windows Fax and Scan is not available and never has been — Microsoft does not ship fax modem drivers for ARM. No update, registry edit or DISM command changes that. This is the one failure mode you cannot fix with hardware, and it is the one that rules out Replacement 3 below as well. Our ARM Windows faxing guide explains the driver reason in full and shows how to confirm your architecture in Settings.
Which wall did you hit?
| What you saw | What it means | Where to go next |
|---|---|---|
| App opens, "no modems detected" | No fax hardware attached | Replacement 1 or 2 |
| App opens, transmission fails every time | Your line is VoIP, not analog | Replacement 1 or 2 |
| Not in Optional Features on Windows 11 | Removed or restricted on your build | Replacement 1 or 2 |
| Nothing under Optional Features, and you are on an ARM PC | Unsupported architecture | Replacement 1 (ARM64 build) |
| Works, but you are tired of the hardware | Your call | Compare the costs below |
What a Real Replacement Has to Cover
Windows Fax and Scan was two applications wearing one coat: a fax client and a scanner front end. Before you swap it, be clear which jobs you actually used it for.
- Sending faxes from documents on your PC
- Receiving faxes into an inbox
- Cover pages, plus the TSID line that identifies you at the top of each page
- Scanning paper to TIFF, JPEG, PNG or BMP
- Scan-to-fax in one motion
Most people searching for an alternative only ever used jobs 1 and 2; if that is you, the swap is simple. If you also leaned on the scanner, the two halves need different replacements — see the scan section below.
Replacement 1: mFax for Windows (the like-for-like desktop app)
mFax for Windows is the closest thing to a direct successor: a real desktop application, published by Octagon Lab and listed on the Microsoft Store as mFax - Send and Receive FAX. It is free to install, about a 46 MB download, and it requires Windows 10 version 17763.0 or higher — so Windows 10 and Windows 11 — with builds for x64 and ARM64. Sending faxes and getting your own fax number require a paid subscription. (For the app on its own terms — store facts, every supported file type, the full limits — see our mFax for Windows guide. Below it is measured only against the thing it is replacing.)
The reason it replaces Windows Fax and Scan rather than merely competing with it: it is a window on your desktop, not a website in disguise. Native Windows 11 design, light and dark themes, a resizable navigation pane, keyboard shortcuts, drag and drop, clipboard paste — in English, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese. It is also the only replacement here that covers the two things people actually used the old app for, sending and receiving, without a phone line.
Install it from the Microsoft Store
Open the Microsoft Store, search for mFax, or go straight to the store listing and click Get. There is no driver to configure and no modem to detect. Sign-in is email-only — no password to create — or you can start as a guest and add your email later.
Drag the document in
Drop the file onto the window, paste an image from the clipboard, or pick it from disk. It accepts PDF, Word (.doc/.docx), Excel (.xls/.xlsx), PowerPoint (.ppt/.pptx), OpenDocument (.odt/.ods/.odp), RTF, TXT, CSV, HTML and images (PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF, WebP), converting each to fax-ready pages automatically — a wider net than the PDF, TIFF, DOCX and images Windows Fax and Scan takes as attachments. Limits: 60 pages per fax, 20 MB per file.
Fix the pages before they go
Reorder, rotate, duplicate, delete or extract pages; draw on them in seven ink colors; add a text caption. You can also sign with your mouse, trackpad or pen and drag the signature into place, with full undo and redo. Windows Fax and Scan has no equivalent — a signature there means print, sign, rescan.
Add a cover page
The app generates one with your name, contact details and a message, and can mark it Urgent, Confidential, For Review, Please Reply or Please Comment.
Type the number and send
There is a country picker with live formatting for international numbers. Sending shows live progress with a time estimate, and every transmission is tracked — the delivery receipt downloads as a shareable PDF. When a fax fails, the app says why in plain language (busy line, no answer, no fax signal, number out of service) rather than handing you an error code to look up.
To receive, get your own fax number inside the app: pick a country, then a state or area, then filter the numbers by the digits you want. Incoming faxes land in the app and open in a proper desktop PDF viewer — zoom, fit-to-width, fit-to-page, rotation, page thumbnails. Windows Fax and Scan, by contrast, can only answer a call while the PC is on and the app is running.
If colleagues need the same inbox, the app can create an organization and invite them by email, so a team shares one workspace, one number and one history — and you can switch between your personal and organization workspace. That is mFax Business, which adds a signed BAA for HIPAA-covered work.
What it does not do — be clear before you switch
mFax for Windows sends over the internet, so it needs a connection and an account. There is no offline mode, no fax-modem or landline mode, no Print-to-fax driver, and no Office or Outlook add-in. It is also a fax app, not a scanner — it does not replace the scan half of Windows Fax and Scan. If you specifically need a dial-up workflow, that is Replacement 3.
Replacement 2: The Same Service in a Browser
If you are on a locked-down work PC where the Microsoft Store is blocked, or you have exactly one fax to send and no interest in installing anything, open mFax.to in Edge, Chrome or Firefox: upload the document, enter the fax number, send. Under two minutes, same delivery receipt.
It is the same account as the desktop app, so history syncs between the browser, the app and your phone. The tradeoff is losing drag-and-drop from File Explorer and the page-editing tools — enough that if you fax more than occasionally, the app is worth the 46 MB.
Replacement 3: Keep the Hardware Route
Windows Fax and Scan is not broken so much as unfashionable. If your build still offers it, you can make it work by buying what it expects.
- A USB fax modem, roughly $25–$50. The USRobotics USR5637 and Conexant-based models are widely compatible. Avoid anything relying on the Agere/Lucent driver
ltmdm64.sys— Microsoft removed it in the October 2025 and January 2026 cumulative updates to patch CVE-2025-24990. - An analog landline, typically $15–$40 a month: $180–$480 a year for the privilege of faxing.
Defensible if you already own both and want no subscription; a poor deal from scratch. Our fax modem explainer covers how the hardware works and where it still makes sense.
Replacement 4: The Fax Button on an Office Printer
If your office already has a multifunction printer with a built-in fax module, you can skip Windows Fax and Scan entirely: install the manufacturer's full driver package, press Ctrl + P and pick the printer's fax entry.
Note what this does and does not solve. It removes the app, not the phone line — the printer's RJ-11 port still needs a live analog jack, so if your Windows Fax and Scan failure was "transmission failed on a VoIP line," this replacement fails identically. The setup details, and which brands ship fax in the driver package, are in how to pick a fax app for Windows.
Windows Fax and Scan vs. mFax for Windows, Feature by Feature
| Feature | Windows Fax and Scan | mFax for Windows |
|---|---|---|
| How you get it | Built in — optional feature on Windows 11 | Free from the Microsoft Store (~46 MB) |
| Fax modem required | Yes | No |
| Analog phone line required | Yes — VoIP does not work | No — sends over the internet |
| Runs on ARM64 Windows 11 | No — not available at all | Yes — native ARM64 build |
| Windows versions | Windows 10, and Windows 11 builds that still offer it | Windows 10 build 17763.0+ and Windows 11 |
| File types you can send | PDF, TIFF, DOCX and common images | PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument, RTF, TXT, CSV, HTML, PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF, WebP |
| Page limits | Bounded by call length | 60 pages per fax, 20 MB per file |
| Edit, annotate and sign before sending | No | Yes — reorder, rotate, delete, extract, draw, caption, sign |
| Cover pages | Yes — built-in templates | Yes — generated, markable Urgent or Confidential |
| Receiving | Modem answers while the PC is on and the app is running | Your own fax number; faxes open in a desktop PDF viewer |
| Delivery proof | In-app send log | Tracked transmissions; receipt downloads as a shareable PDF |
| Failure messages | Error codes | Plain language — busy line, no answer, no fax signal |
| Scanning | Yes — TIFF, JPEG, PNG, BMP | No — fax only |
| Team / shared inbox | No | Yes — organization with shared workspace, number and history |
| Cost | Free software, plus modem and line | Free to install; subscription to send |
The Scan Half Needs Its Own Replacement
This is where a lot of "alternative" lists quietly mislead people. Windows Fax and Scan also drove your scanner, saving to TIFF, JPEG, PNG or BMP — never PDF natively — and could combine pages into one file only via TIFF or an ADF.
No internet fax service replaces that, because scanning happens at the glass. Microsoft's own successor is the free Windows Scan app in the Microsoft Store, which does save to PDF. Scan there, then send the PDF from mFax — and if the result needs compressing or combining first, the free merge PDF and PDF optimizer tools do it in the browser.
Which One Should You Pick?
- No modem, no landline, and you fax now and then — install mFax for Windows. Drag, type, send.
- On an ARM or Copilot+ PC — the mFax app is the only one of these four with a native build for your machine; start with the ARM Windows guide.
- Locked-down work PC — use mFax.to in the browser; nothing to install.
- Already own a modem and an analog line — keep Windows Fax and Scan, and read the complete Windows Fax and Scan guide to get more out of it.
- Office with an MFP — print to its fax function, as long as the phone line is real.
- Still weighing vendors — see our best fax software for Windows roundup, or how to fax from Windows 11.
- Not sure which kind of app you want — how to pick a fax app for Windows works through the requirements before the products.
Replace It in About Five Minutes
Windows Fax and Scan is not going to get an update that adds internet faxing — it has not had a meaningful one since 2007, and Microsoft is subtracting rather than adding.
Install mFax for Windows from the Microsoft Store, sign in with your email, drag your document into the window, type the fax number, and send. Free to install, no modem, no phone line — and it runs on the ARM PCs the built-in tool never reached. Prefer not to install anything? Open mFax in your browser and send the same fax from a tab.
For teams, mFax Business adds a shared fax number, seats for colleagues and a signed BAA for HIPAA-covered work — build your own plan from about $9/mo, billed annually.