Sooner or later you need a paper document in digital form, and there is rarely a scanner nearby when that moment hits. The good news is that the iPhone in your pocket already has a capable document scanner built in, tucked away in a first-party app. It won't replace a dedicated office scanner, but it can save the day when you need to digitize a receipt, a signed form, a legal document, or your nephew's crayon artwork in a hurry.
Here is how we scan documents with an iPhone, step by step, along with how to save them as a PDF and send them wherever they need to go. Got something else that needs scanning? Take a look at our complete guide to scanning just about anything.
Key Takeaways
- Your iPhone has a built-in scanner inside both the Notes and Files apps, so you can digitize paper without any extra hardware.
- The Notes app is the fastest way to capture a quick scan, while the Files app saves your scan straight to a PDF.
- You can crop, edit, and clean up a scan on the device, then share it by AirDrop, Mail, or Messages.
- For frequent or professional scanning, a dedicated scanner like the ScanSnap iX1300 offers speed and image quality that a phone camera tends to struggle with.
When and Why to Scan a Document with iPhone
There are a lot of reasons why you might need to scan documents with an iPhone. Working with or sending digital files is becoming increasingly more commonplace, and not everyone owns a dedicated scanner. Scanning with an iPhone is great for when you only scan every once in a while or when you have to scan something but don’t have access to a scanner.
Sometimes you will need to provide a document as part of an online registration or form. Knowing how to scan a document with iPhone is also useful when sharing receipts for reporting or reimbursement. You may also want to scan a physical document to the cloud if you plan to save it or want to work with it digitally.
Keep reading to learn all you’ll need to know about scanning documents with iPhone.
How to Scan a Document on iPhone
Whatever the reason you need to make a scan, the following steps will help walk you through the process of scanning with an iPhone.
Step 1: Open the Notes app
The good news for those finding themselves in need of a quick scanning solution is that the iPhone has baked-in scanning capabilities. Your first instinct might be to turn to your camera, but instead, open up Apple's first-party Notes app. Create a new note and tap the camera or attachment (paperclip) icon above the keyboard. On newer versions of iOS you can also tap the More button, shown as three dots, and choose Scan.
When you do that, several options pop up: Choose Photo or Video, Take Photo or Video, Scan Documents, and Scan Text. Tap "Scan Documents" to proceed. If your iPhone is in Auto mode, it will capture the page for you as soon as it detects a document.
Did You Know? The RICOH ScanSnap family of scanners offer a one-touch solution that makes it a snap to digitize physical documents and photos. Click here to learn more.
Step 2: Position Your Document and iPhone
Next, position your document or photo within view of your iPhone camera. Ensure that the entire document is in the frame, otherwise you risk important information being cut off. Once your iPhone detects something that needs scanning, it will scan it automatically. Once the scan is complete you can continue scanning other documents or move on to the editing phase.
Step 3: Edit and Save
You may not need to tweak your scan at all, but if you do, you’ve got options. The Notes app allows users to adjust the border of the scanned item, crop the image, apply a filter, rotate the file, or mark it up.
When your file looks the way you need it to, don’t back out of the app (or hit cancel) or you’ll have to do it all over again! Tap "Save" in the lower right corner to ensure that your scans stay put in the Notes app. Once you’ve done that, you should have a new note in your list containing the file with scanned documents.
Step 4: Find and Share Your Scanned Files
Your finished scan lives right inside the note you created, so you can always find it by opening the Notes app and tapping that note. From there it is time to send it wherever it needs to go. If you have a Mac with iCloud and automatic sync between devices turned on, opening the Notes app on your computer will bring you right to the file.
If that's not an option, tap the "Share" icon in the upper right corner for more choices. From there, you can use AirDrop to send it to another Apple device, send it as a text or email, or post it on social media. Just be careful not to publicly share any sensitive information!
How to Save Your Scan as a PDF
The quickest way to get a PDF is to scan straight into the Files app, which saves your scan as a PDF automatically. Open Files, choose the folder where you want the document, tap the More button (the three dots) in the upper right, and select "Scan Documents." Line up the page, keep the scan, and tap Save. Your document lands in that folder as a ready-to-share PDF.
If you have already scanned into Notes, you can still turn that scan into a PDF. Open the note, tap the share icon or the small arrow next to the scanned document, choose "Save to Files," and pick a folder. This gives you a PDF copy you can attach to an email or upload to a form.
Tips for a Cleaner, Higher-Quality Scan
A few small habits tend to make iPhone scans noticeably sharper and easier to read. Here is what we suggest before you tap the shutter:
- Scan in a well-lit spot. More even light helps your iPhone find the edges and keeps text crisp.
- Place the document on a dark, contrasting surface so the camera can detect the page borders cleanly.
- Hold the phone directly above the page, centered and facing straight down, to reduce skew and shadows.
- If Auto mode captures too eagerly, switch to the manual shutter. That tends to help when you are scanning several pages in a row.
The Need for a Dedicated Scanner
Once you know how to scan a document with an iPhone, you might wonder if you even need a dedicated office scanner anymore. For occasional, quick jobs, a phone often does the trick. For anything where quality and volume matter, a dedicated scanner still has the edge, because phones are less consistent when it comes to document shape, optical character recognition, auto-cropping, color depth, file size, image quality, and speed.
If you regularly handle professional documents, equipping yourself with a high-quality scanner is worth considering.
Our Recommendation: ScanSnap iX1300
We know you have no shortage of options when it comes to choosing a home document scanner. We pride ourselves on having spent the last 50+ years designing and developing some of the most beloved electronics in the world, including our line of award-winning, easy-to-use, one-touch ScanSnap scanners.
The ScanSnap iX1300 balances size and performance to deliver a powerful scanning solution in a compact form factor. Speedy scanning, wireless scanning, and continuous scanning are all available at the touch of a button, and that’s just the beginning. The ScanScan iX1300 also boasts incredible scan quality that smartphone scans simply can’t touch. Click here to learn more and shop the full line of ScanSnap scanners.
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