iPhone has a document scanner built into the Notes app
You do not need to download a separate app or buy a scanner. Your iPhone comes with a document scanner inside the Notes app that captures paper documents, straightens them automatically, and saves them as PDFs. The scanner works on any iPhone running iOS 13 or newer, which includes every model from the iPhone XS back through the iPhone 11 and all newer phones.
The scanner uses your phone's camera to photograph a document, then applies filters to make the text sharp and dark against a white background — the same result you would get from a flatbed scanner. You can scan multiple pages into a single PDF, crop out the edges, and adjust the color if the first scan came out too dark or too light.
Key Takeaways
- Open Notes, create a new note, tap the camera icon, and select "Scan Documents" to start scanning with your iPhone.
- Hold your phone 6 to 8 inches above the document and tap the shutter button when the frame turns yellow, or let your phone capture automatically.
- After scanning, you can rotate pages, delete pages you do not need, adjust the color filter, and crop the edges before saving.
- The finished scan saves as a PDF inside the note, and you can share it by email, text, or cloud storage from there.
Open Notes and start a new document scan
Tap the Notes app on your home screen. If you cannot find it, swipe down from the top of your screen and search for "Notes" in the search box. Once Notes opens, tap the compose button — it looks like a blank page with lines — in the bottom right corner to create a new note.
In the blank note, look for the camera icon at the bottom of the keyboard. It is the small square with a camera lens inside it. Tap that icon, and a menu will pop up with two choices: "Take Photo or Video" and "Scan Documents". Tap "Scan Documents".
Position your phone and capture the document
Your phone's camera will open and show a live view of what it sees. Place the document on a flat surface — a table or desk works best — and hold your phone 6 to 8 inches directly above it. The camera will automatically detect the edges of the document and draw a yellow rectangle around it on your screen.
When the rectangle turns yellow and the document is in focus, tap the large white circle at the bottom of the screen to capture the scan. Your phone will make a camera shutter sound and the image will appear at the bottom of the screen. If you need to scan more pages, keep your phone in the same position and tap the white circle again for the next page. When you are finished, tap "Save" in the bottom right.
If your phone does not automatically detect the document, you can tap the shutter button manually. The automatic detection works best when the document has clear edges and sits on a contrasting background — a white document on a dark table, for example, scans better than a white document on a white countertop.
Adjust the scan before you save it
After you tap the shutter button, your phone shows a preview of the scan. Before you save, you can make changes. Tap the thumbnail at the bottom left to see all the pages you have scanned. Swipe left or right to move between pages.
To delete a page you do not need, tap the trash icon in the bottom right while viewing that page. To rotate a page that came out sideways, tap the rotate icon — it looks like a curved arrow — in the bottom left. To adjust the color, tap the filter icon (it looks like three overlapping circles) and choose from options like "Black and White", "Grayscale", or "Color". Black and White makes text the sharpest and is usually the best choice for documents with printed text.
To crop the edges if your phone captured part of the table or background, tap the crop icon (it looks like two overlapping right angles) and drag the corners inward to frame only the document. When everything looks right, tap "Save" in the bottom right corner.
Find and share your scanned document
The scan saves as a PDF inside the note you created. You can see it in the note as a thumbnail. To share the PDF, tap and hold on the thumbnail until a menu appears, then tap "Share". You can send it by email, text message, AirDrop to another Apple device, or save it to cloud storage like iCloud Drive, Google Drive, or Dropbox.
If you want to move the PDF out of Notes and into a different app, tap "Share" and look for the app you want in the list. Not every app will appear — it depends on what you have installed — but email and cloud storage apps almost always show up.
The PDF stays in the note even after you share it, so you can share the same scan multiple times to different people or places without rescanning.
Troubleshooting common scanning problems
If your scan comes out blurry, the most common cause is moving your phone while the camera is capturing. Hold your phone as still as possible and tap the shutter button firmly but gently. If you are having trouble holding steady, rest your phone on a small stack of books or a phone stand positioned above the document.
If the text is too dark or too light, try adjusting the color filter after scanning. Tap the filter icon and cycle through the options — "Black and White" usually produces the clearest text for printed documents. If the document is still hard to read, try rescanning with better lighting. Position a lamp or window light to shine on the document without creating shadows or glare.
If your phone does not detect the document edges automatically, make sure the document has a clear border and sits on a surface that contrasts with it. A white sheet of paper on a dark table is easier to detect than a white sheet on a light-colored countertop. You can also tap the shutter button manually instead of waiting for automatic detection.
Save scans to your phone's Files app for long-term storage
Scans stored only in Notes are safe, but if you want a backup or want to organize multiple scans in one place, you can save them to the Files app. Open the note containing the scan, tap and hold the PDF thumbnail, and tap "Share". Scroll down and tap "Save to Files". Choose a folder — you can create a new folder called "Scans" if you want — and tap "Save".
Once saved to Files, the PDF stays there even if you delete the note. You can also access it from any other device signed into your iCloud account, or share it with others by tapping and holding the file in Files and selecting "Share".
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I scan a document that is larger than my phone screen?
Yes. Scan one section at a time, making sure each section overlaps slightly with the previous one. Save all the pages as one PDF. The overlap helps you line them up later if you need to print or view them as a complete document.
What if I need to scan a very small document like a receipt?
Hold your phone closer — about 4 to 6 inches above the receipt instead of 6 to 8 inches. The scanner will still detect and straighten it. Make sure the lighting is good so the text stays sharp and readable.
Can I edit the text in a scanned PDF?
Not directly from the Notes app. Scanned documents are images, not editable text. To edit the content, you would need to use a separate app like Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Word, which can convert scanned text using optical character recognition (OCR). Many of these apps charge a fee for that feature.
Does the scan use a lot of storage space on my phone?
A single-page scan typically uses 500 kilobytes to 2 megabytes of storage, depending on the resolution and color filter you choose. A 10-page document usually takes up 5 to 20 megabytes. Most modern iPhones have enough storage that this is not a concern, but if you are running low on space, save scans to iCloud Drive or delete them after sharing.
Can I scan directly to email instead of saving to Notes first?
Not with the built-in scanner. You have to scan through Notes first, then share from there. Some third-party scanning apps like Adobe Scan or Microsoft Lens let you scan and email in one step, but the Notes scanner requires the two-step process.