Your iPhone has a powerful built-in document scanner that requires no third-party app. You can scan paper documents, contracts, or receipts in seconds and save them as PDF. This guide covers scanning through both the Notes app and the Files app, how automatic edge detection works, and the best ways to save and share your scanned files.
1. Scan Documents Using the Notes App (iOS 11 and Later)
- Open the Notes app on your iPhone and create a new note or open an existing one.
- Tap the camera icon in the toolbar above the keyboard, or tap the + button.
- Select Scan Documents from the menu.
- Hold your iPhone over the document on a flat surface. The camera automatically detects the document edges and highlights them with a yellow overlay.
- When the corners align, the scan triggers automatically. You can also tap the shutter button to scan manually.
- After each page, continue scanning additional pages or tap Save when done.
- The scanned document appears as a thumbnail inside your note.
2. Scan Documents Using the Files App (iOS 13 and Later)
- Open the Files app and navigate to the folder where you want to save the scan.
- Tap the ⋯ (More) button in the top-right corner.
- Select Scan Documents.
- The scanning interface is identical to Notes. When finished, the file saves directly as a PDF in your chosen folder.
- Advantage: The Files app saves directly to PDF without any extra steps and lets you choose any folder — including iCloud Drive or On My iPhone.
3. How Automatic Edge Detection Works
iPhone uses machine learning to identify document boundaries in real time. These tips improve accuracy:
- Place the document on a high-contrast background (e.g., white paper on a dark desk).
- Ensure good lighting — avoid harsh shadows across the document.
- If the automatic detection is inaccurate, drag the corner handles manually after the shutter fires.
- Switch scan modes in the camera view: Color, Grayscale, Black & White, or Photo. Use Black & White or Grayscale for text documents to reduce file size while improving text clarity.
4. Export a Notes Scan as PDF
- In Notes, long-press the scanned document thumbnail, or open it and tap the Share button.
- Tap Markup from the share sheet to annotate before sharing, or choose a sharing method directly.
- To save the scan as a PDF to the Files app: scroll down in the share sheet and tap Save to Files, choose a folder, and tap Save.
- Scans made in Notes are already in PDF format when saved this way.
5. Ways to Share Your Scanned Document
- AirDrop: Fastest way to transfer to a nearby Apple device without using mobile data.
- Mail: The PDF attaches automatically when shared via the Mail app.
- Messages: Send via iMessage or SMS (for large PDFs, AirDrop or email is more reliable).
- iCloud Drive: Saves across all your Apple devices automatically.
- Third-party cloud: Share directly to Google Drive or Dropbox if those apps are installed.
6. Scanning Multiple Pages into One PDF
- In scan mode, continue scanning each page sequentially without tapping Save in between.
- When all pages are captured, tap Save. All pages are combined into one multi-page PDF.
- To remove a page after scanning: in Notes, tap the document and tap an individual page to delete it. For reordering, rescan in the desired sequence or use a PDF editing app.
7. Troubleshooting
- Scan comes out crooked: Manually adjust the four corner handles, or switch off Auto mode and trigger the shutter yourself for more control.
- Text is hard to read: Try Black & White mode — it increases contrast for printed text and produces smaller PDF files.
- Can’t find the scanned file: Notes scans appear in the note where you scanned; Files app scans go to the folder you selected.
iPhone’s built-in scanning is more than capable for everyday document needs. For further PDF processing — compressing, merging, or signing — use the free online tool below.
Do it in your browser — the file never leaves your device: PDF Tools
