How to Scan Barcodes Displayed on a Mobile Device

Elo-integrated Zebra barcode scanners support scanning barcodes shown on phones and tablets. This feature is called Mobile Scanning. It is disabled by default, so it must be enabled before the scanner will reliably read barcodes from mobile screens.

What You Need

• An Elo system with a supported Zebra barcode scanner

  • This procedure uses an Elo/Zebra SE4720 scanner, but the same steps apply to all Elo/Zebra barcode scanners.

• A Windows PC

• Zebra 123Scan utility from Zebra Technologies, download page here

Enable Mobile Scanning Using Zebra 123Scan

1. Open Zebra 123Scan
   Launch the Zebra 123Scan utility on your PC.

2. Create a new configuration
   Select Create new configuration file.

3. Choose scanner connection type
   Select whether the scanner is connected or disconnected.

4. Select the appropriate plugin
   Choose the plugin that matches your scanner model.

5. Optional: Add configuration details
   Enter a title or description if you want to identify this configuration later.

6. Search for the Mobile Scanning setting
   At the bottom of the utility, click in the Search for a parameter field and type Mobile.

7. Enable Mobile Scanning
   From the results list, change the Mobile scanning option from Disabled to Enabled.

8. Adjust other settings if needed
   Make any additional scanner configuration changes as required.

9. Load or save the configuration

• If the scanner is connected, choose Load to scanner.

• If the scanner is not connected, choose Save to PC or Print barcode.

10. Apply the configuration

• If prompted, choose Load to all scanners or select the specific scanner from the list.

• If the scanner is not connected, follow the prompts to save or print the configuration barcode.

11. Finish and save

• Once the configuration is applied, click Close.

• If you want to keep the configuration file, choose Save to store it on your PC.

Test mobile scanning
Display a barcode on a mobile phone or tablet and confirm the scanner reads it successfully.

Important Notes

• Mobile device screens reflect light differently than printed labels. With Mobile Scanning disabled, scanners often fail to read on-screen barcodes.

• Enabling Mobile Scanning does not negatively affect scanning of printed barcodes.

• For best results, ensure the mobile device brightness is set high during testing.

Summary

If your Elo/Zebra scanner cannot read barcodes displayed on a phone or tablet, Mobile Scanning is almost always the reason. This feature is disabled by default and must be enabled using Zebra 123Scan before mobile barcodes can be scanned reliably.