How to scan a document on iPhone

Updated 2026-10-31

Your iPhone can already scan documents. You don't need a printer, a scanner or an app. The scanner is built into four of Apple's own apps: Notes, Files, Preview and Mail. Each one finds the edges of the page, crops and straightens it, and saves the result as a PDF. The difference between them is where the PDF ends up.

These steps are for iOS 26.

If you just need a PDF now: open the Files app, tap the More button at the top (the three dots), tap Scan Documents, hold the iPhone over the page, then tap Done and Save. The rest of this page explains each app and what to do if something goes wrong.

Which app to scan with

• Mail, if you're about to email the scan to someone. The PDF goes straight into the message as an attachment.
• Files, if you want a PDF file you can find later, upload to a website, or attach anywhere.
• Preview, if you want the file and also want to sign it, fill in a form, or make the file smaller.
• Notes, if you want to keep the scan next to your own notes. Getting it back out as a file takes a couple more taps (see how to get a scan out of Notes and email it).

If you're not sure, use Files. You get a plain PDF in a folder you chose.

How the camera takes the picture

All four apps use the same scanner. In its automatic mode, you hold the iPhone over the page and it takes the picture by itself as soon as it can see all four edges. If nothing happens after a few seconds, switch to manual capture: tap the capture-mode button (in Preview it reads Auto and changes to Manual), then tap the shutter button or press a volume button. You can then drag the corners to the edges of the page and tap Keep Scan.

Scan with Files

1. Open the Files app and go to the folder where you want the scan to go. If Files opens on its recent files, tap Browse at the bottom and pick a place such as iCloud Drive or On My iPhone.
2. Tap the More button at the top of the screen (the three dots), then tap Scan Documents.
3. Hold the iPhone over the page until it captures it. Scan the next page the same way, if there is one.
4. Tap Done. Choose a location, then tap Save.

The PDF is now in that folder. To send or upload it, touch and hold the file and tap Share, or pick it from the website's or app's file picker.

Scan with Notes

1. Open Notes and open a note, or start a new one.
2. Tap the Attachments button, then tap Scan Documents.
3. Hold the iPhone over the page. You can turn on the flash or pick a filter before it captures.
4. Scan more pages if you need to, then tap Done. The scan is saved in the note as a PDF.

Scan with Preview

Preview is on iPhone from iOS 26.

1. Open the Preview app and tap Scan Documents in the middle of the screen.
2. Hold the iPhone over each page in turn.
3. Tap a thumbnail at the bottom to crop it, rotate it or change its colour.
4. Tap Done.

To give the file a name, tap the Actions menu button next to the file name and tap Rename. Tapping the Back button saves the file and returns you to Preview's main screen.

Scan straight into an email

This works in Apple's Mail app. If you use Gmail or Outlook, scan with Files instead and attach the PDF from there.

1. In the Mail app, start a new message and tap in the body.
2. In the row of buttons above the keyboard, tap the attachments button (Apple calls it Insert Attachment Actions), then tap Scan Document.
3. Scan each page. If it asks, tap Keep Scan for each one. Tap Save when you've done the last page.

The pages are attached to the email as one PDF.

Getting a clean scan

• Put the page on a dark, plain surface, so its edges stand out. A white sheet on a white desk is harder for the scanner to find.
• Use daylight or a bright room, and keep your hand's shadow off the page.
• If it crops the wrong shape, tap the page's thumbnail after scanning and adjust the corners.
• Open the finished PDF and check each page before you send it.

When the built-in scanner isn't enough

For a page or two that you send once, the built-in scanner is all most people need. These are the situations where it gets harder:

• The website says the file is too big. See how to make a scanned PDF smaller.
• You need both sides of a card on one page. The scanner saves each side as a separate page. See how to scan both sides of an ID onto one page.
• The scan is stuck in a note. See how to get a scan out of Notes and email it.

Sources

The steps above follow Apple's own instructions: How to scan documents on your iPhone or iPad, Scan text and documents in Notes, Scan text and documents in Preview, Send files from the Files app and Add email attachments in Mail.

These guides are written by the people building Paperfind, a document scanner for iPhone. It isn't out yet, so there is nothing to download. Everything in this guide works with apps already on your phone.