To understand what a live scan appointment will show after you get it completed, we first need to explain what a live scan appointment even is.

Live Scan:  The digital fingerprint process that captures a persons fingerprints and sends them electronically to a requesting agency or department. Typically law enforcement. Also known as "digital fingerprinting".

What does it check for?

Live scan checks for criminal history records that are held within two places. State fingerprint databases and the FBI database.

Those databases are updated when a person gets arrested.

So it's safe to say that, if you have been arrested and fingerprinted as a result of that, a live scan appointment will pick it up.

However!

If you have been arrested and you were found to be not guilty, and your case was dismissed, there is a process that will have your prints not show up on a live scan fingerprinting check.

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To ensure this, you will need to make sure your case has been sealed, expunged, or stricken from whatever local criminal court record that may store it.

How far back does a live scan check go?

Typically your whole life up until the appointment is conducted. Unless the agency requesting you to get it done states otherwise or requests only a certain time frame check.

What specifically shows up on a live scan appointment?

Any arrest history such as misdemeanors and felonies. It may also show things such as dispositions or dismissals.

What's the difference between live scan and a background check?

Background checks only include things like your name, date of birth and other personal identifying information. Live scan fingerprinting based checks capture your fingerprints and will reveal your entire criminal history. Even if that criminal history is no longer accessible in local court systems or even if you had a name change or lived in a different state when it happened.