The fastest way: use the Notes app's built-in scanner

Your iPhone has a document scanner built into the Notes app that works without downloading anything extra. Open Notes, start a new note, tap the camera icon at the bottom, then tap "Scan Documents." Point your phone at the document, and iOS will automatically detect the edges and snap a photo when it's ready. You can scan multiple pages into one note by holding the phone steady over each page in turn.

After you scan, the app shows you each page as a thumbnail. Tap any page to adjust the crop, rotate it, or change the filter (useful if the original is faded or has a dark background). When you're done, tap "Save" and the scanned pages stay in that note as a PDF. You can then share the PDF by tapping the three dots, selecting "Share Note," and choosing Mail, Messages, or another app.

This method works best for documents that are roughly flat — a page on a table or held against a wall. If you're scanning something three-dimensional or curled, the scanner may struggle to detect the edges.

Key Takeaways

  • The Notes app's scanner is free and built into every iPhone; open Notes, tap the camera icon, then "Scan Documents."
  • iOS automatically detects document edges and straightens the image, so you don't have to frame it perfectly.
  • You can adjust the crop, rotation, and filter after scanning, and combine multiple pages into one PDF.
  • For documents that need to be searchable or edited later, the Files app and third-party scanners offer more options than Notes.
  • Always check that sensitive documents are legible and that no pages are cut off before you share or store the scan.

Adjusting the scan after you take it

Once you've scanned a page, the Notes app shows you a preview before you save. Tap the thumbnail to open the editing screen. You can drag the corner handles to crop out the edges of the table or background, rotate the page if it came out sideways, and choose a filter — "Original" keeps the colors as they are, "Grayscale" turns it black and white, and "Black and White" increases contrast, which helps if the document is faded or printed lightly.

If a page came out blurry or the edges weren't detected correctly, you can retake it by tapping the camera icon again and scanning that page a second time. The app will add the new scan to the same note, and you can delete the blurry version by swiping left on its thumbnail and tapping "Delete."

Scanning multiple pages into one document

To add more pages to the same scan, keep your phone pointed at the next page after the first one is captured. The app will prompt you to scan another page, and you can keep going until all pages are done. Each page appears as a separate thumbnail in the note, but when you save, they all become one PDF file with multiple pages.

If you accidentally close the scanner before finishing, you can reopen the same note and tap the camera icon again to add more pages to it. The new pages will be added to the end of the existing scan.

Saving and sharing your scanned document

When you're finished scanning and adjusting, tap "Save" at the bottom right. The PDF stays in that note. To share it, open the note again, tap the three dots in the top right, and select "Share Note." You can then choose Mail to send it as an attachment, Messages to text it, or other apps like Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive if you have them installed.

If you want to save the PDF to the Files app instead of keeping it only in Notes, tap the three dots, select "Share Note," then tap "Save PDF to Files." Choose the folder where you want it stored, and the PDF will be saved there as well as staying in your note.

When to use other scanning methods

The Notes app scanner works well for most everyday documents — receipts, contracts, forms, letters. But if you need the text inside the scan to be searchable or editable, you'll need a different tool. The Notes app saves the scan as an image inside a PDF, so you can't search the text or copy words out of it.

For searchable text, try the free version of Adobe Scan or Microsoft Lens, both available in the App Store. These apps use optical character recognition (OCR) to read the text in your document and make it searchable. They're also better at handling documents that are bent, folded, or photographed at an angle. If you scan frequently for work, these apps may be worth the extra step, but for occasional personal documents, Notes is usually enough.

Troubleshooting common scanning problems

If the Notes app won't detect your document's edges, make sure the lighting is even — shadows across the page confuse the edge detection. Try moving to a brighter spot or adjusting the angle of your phone. If the document is very small or very large, the app may also struggle; for very small items, hold the phone closer, and for very large items like posters, scan them in sections and combine them later.

If the scan comes out blurry, your phone may have moved while capturing. Hold the phone as still as possible, or rest it on something stable. If you're using an older iPhone model, the camera may not focus as quickly; give it a moment to focus before the app snaps the photo automatically.

If you can't find the camera icon in Notes, make sure you're running the latest version of iOS. Older versions of iOS don't have the document scanner built in. Check Settings > General > Software Update to see if an update is available.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I scan a document that's not flat, like a book page?

The Notes app works best with flat documents. For curved or three-dimensional items, the edge detection may fail or the image may look distorted. Adobe Scan or Microsoft Lens handle angled shots better because they're designed to correct perspective distortion.

Does the Notes app scanner work offline?

Yes. The scanner works entirely on your phone without needing internet. You can scan documents, adjust them, and save them to Notes without any connection. You only need internet if you want to share the scan or sync it to iCloud.

Can I edit the text in a scanned document?

Not with the Notes app scanner — it saves the scan as an image, so you can't edit the words. If you need to edit text, use Adobe Scan or Microsoft Lens, which can convert the text to editable format. You can also use a separate app like Google Docs to photograph the document and convert it to editable text.

What file format does the Notes app save scans in?

The Notes app saves scans as PDF files. PDFs preserve the layout and appearance of the original document and work on any device. When you share a scan from Notes, you're sharing a PDF.

Can I delete a page from a multi-page scan?

Yes. Open the note, tap the thumbnail of the page you want to remove, and swipe left, then tap "Delete." The remaining pages stay in the same note as one PDF.