diff --git a/man/iio_attr.1.in b/man/iio_attr.1.in
index a76feae06..aa4975139 100644
--- a/man/iio_attr.1.in
+++ b/man/iio_attr.1.in
@@ -83,8 +83,11 @@ Read and Write IIO Context attributes
 .B \-D \-\-debug-attr
 Read and Write IIO Debug attributes
 .TP
-.B \-S, \-\-Scan
-Scan for available IIO contexts, optional arg of specific backend(s) 'ip', 'usb' or 'ip:usb'. If no argument is given, it checks all that are availble.
+.B \-S, \-\-scan
+Scan for available IIO contexts, optional arg of specific backend(s) 'ip', 'usb' or 'ip,usb'.
+Specific options for USB include Vendor ID, Product ID to limit scanning to specific devices 'usb=0456:b673'.
+vid,pid are hexadecimal numbers (no prefix needed), "*" (match any for pid only)
+If no argument is given, it checks all that are availble.
 .TP
 .B \-h, \-\-help
 Tells
diff --git a/man/iio_info.1.in b/man/iio_info.1.in
index 1d5a88aed..9fb15aedc 100644
--- a/man/iio_info.1.in
+++ b/man/iio_info.1.in
@@ -79,7 +79,10 @@ with no address part
 .RE
 .TP
 .B \-S, \-\-scan
-Scan for available backends
+Scan for available IIO contexts, optional arg of specific backend(s) 'ip', 'usb' or 'ip,usb'.
+Specific options for USB include Vendor ID, Product ID to limit scanning to specific devices 'usb=0456:b673'.
+vid,pid are hexadecimal numbers (no prefix needed), "*" (match any for pid only)
+If no argument is given, it checks all that are availble.
 .TP
 .B \-a, \-\-auto
 Scan for available contexts and if only one is available use it.
diff --git a/man/iio_readdev.1.in b/man/iio_readdev.1.in
index 862d7f531..6d0f0c267 100644
--- a/man/iio_readdev.1.in
+++ b/man/iio_readdev.1.in
@@ -76,7 +76,12 @@ Buffer timeout in milliseconds. 0 = no timeout. Default is 0.
 .TP
 .B \-a, \-\-auto
 Scan for available contexts and if only one is available use it.
-
+.TP
+.B \-S, \-\-scan
+Scan for available IIO contexts, optional arg of specific backend(s) 'ip', 'usb' or 'ip,usb'.
+Specific options for USB include Vendor ID, Product ID to limit scanning to specific devices 'usb=0456:b673'.
+vid,pid are hexadecimal numbers (no prefix needed), "*" (match any for pid only)
+If no argument is given, it checks all that are availble.
 .SH RETURN VALUE
 If the specified device is not found, a non-zero exit code is returned.
 
diff --git a/man/iio_writedev.1.in b/man/iio_writedev.1.in
index 83d8e85b0..723d5b6e0 100644
--- a/man/iio_writedev.1.in
+++ b/man/iio_writedev.1.in
@@ -60,6 +60,12 @@ normally returned from
 .IP serial:[port]
 .IP local
 with no address part
+.TP
+.B \-S, \-\-scan
+Scan for available IIO contexts, optional arg of specific backend(s) 'ip', 'usb' or 'ip,usb'.
+Specific options for USB include Vendor ID, Product ID to limit scanning to specific devices 'usb=0456:b673'.
+vid,pid are hexadecimal numbers (no prefix needed), "*" (match any for pid only)
+If no argument is given, it checks all that are availble.
 .RE
 .TP
 .B \-t \-\-trigger
diff --git a/tests/iio_adi_xflow_check.c b/tests/iio_adi_xflow_check.c
index 0b05cb9b1..193f77dc8 100644
--- a/tests/iio_adi_xflow_check.c
+++ b/tests/iio_adi_xflow_check.c
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	char unit;
 	int ret;
 	struct option *opts;
+	bool do_scan = false;
 
 	argw = dup_argv(MY_NAME, argc, argv);
 
@@ -188,6 +189,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		case 'T':
 			break;
 		case 'S':
+			do_scan = true;
+			/* FALLTHROUGH */
 		case 'a':
 			if (!optarg && argc > optind && argv[optind] != NULL
 					&& argv[optind][0] != '-')
@@ -215,6 +218,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	}
 	free(opts);
 
+	if (do_scan)
+		return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+
 	if (optind + 1 != argc) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "Incorrect number of arguments.\n\n");
 		usage(MY_NAME, options, options_descriptions);
diff --git a/tests/iio_reg.c b/tests/iio_reg.c
index 04bb27e4a..c7e1e3802 100644
--- a/tests/iio_reg.c
+++ b/tests/iio_reg.c
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	int c;
 	char * name;
 	struct option *opts;
+	bool do_scan = false;
 
 	argw = dup_argv(MY_NAME, argc, argv);
 
@@ -102,6 +103,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		case 'T':
 			break;
 		case 'S':
+			do_scan = true;
+			/* FALLTHRU */
 		case 'a':
 			if (!optarg && argc > optind && argv[optind] != NULL
 					&& argv[optind][0] != '-')
@@ -114,6 +117,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	}
 	free(opts);
 
+	if (do_scan)
+		return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+
 	if ((argc - optind) < 2 || (argc - optind) > 3) {
 		usage(MY_NAME, options, options_descriptions);
 		return EXIT_SUCCESS;