The iPhone has a built-in scanner you don't need to read

Your iPhone can scan documents without any extra apps or equipment. The Notes app — the one already on your phone — has a document scanner built in. You point your camera at a page, tap to capture it, and the phone automatically crops, straightens, and sharpens the image. The result saves as a PDF you can email, print, or store in iCloud.

This works on any iPhone running iOS 13 or newer. If your phone is older than an iPhone XS, you have iOS 12 or earlier and will need to use a different method — but most iPhones in use today have the scanner.

The scanner is faster than taking a photo because it handles the cropping and angle correction for you. A page that looks tilted or shadowed on your screen comes out straight and evenly lit in the PDF.

Key Takeaways

  • Open Notes, start a new note, tap the camera icon, and select "Scan Documents" to begin 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 the phone capture automatically.
  • After scanning, you can add more pages, rotate or delete individual pages, and adjust the filter before saving.
  • The finished PDF saves in the note itself and can be shared by email, Messages, or AirDrop, or moved to Files for storage.
  • If your iPhone is older than an iPhone XS, use the Camera app to take a photo instead, then convert it using a free online tool or the Files app.

Open Notes and start a new scan

Tap the Notes app on your home screen. If you don't see it, swipe left to search and type "Notes" to find it. Once Notes opens, tap the pencil-and-paper icon in the bottom right corner to create a new note.

In the blank note, look for the camera icon near the bottom of the screen — it looks like a small square with a camera lens. Tap it. A menu will appear with two options: "Take Photo or Video" and "Scan Documents". Tap "Scan Documents".

Your camera will open in scanning mode. You'll see a rectangle outline on the screen showing where the scanner expects the document to be. This is your frame.

Position the phone and capture the page

Hold your iPhone 6 to 8 inches above the document you want to scan. Keep the phone steady and try to center the page inside the yellow rectangle on your screen. The rectangle will turn yellow when the phone detects a document edge and has a clear view.

When the frame is yellow, you can either tap the white shutter button at the bottom of the screen, or wait — the phone will capture automatically after a moment. If you tap manually, you have more control over the exact moment. If you let it auto-capture, the phone will take the shot when it thinks the angle and lighting are best.

After the capture, the image appears on your screen with a preview. You'll see buttons to retake the scan, add another page, or save. If the crop or angle looks wrong, tap "Retake" and try again from a different angle or distance.

Add more pages to the same PDF

If you're scanning a multi-page document, tap "Add Scan" after the first page is captured. The camera will open again in the same scanning mode. Position the next page inside the yellow frame and capture it the same way.

Repeat this for each page. The phone keeps all the pages in one PDF in the order you scanned them. You can add as many pages as you need — there's no limit.

After you've scanned all pages, tap "Save" in the bottom right. The PDF will appear in your note as a thumbnail. You can tap it to open and view the full document.

Adjust the filter and fix individual pages

Before you save, you can change how the document looks. Tap the filter icon (it looks like three horizontal lines with a funnel shape) to see filter options: "Original", "Grayscale", "Black and White", and "Photo". "Black and White" makes text sharper and removes background colors. "Grayscale" keeps some shading. "Photo" keeps the document looking like a photograph. Choose whichever makes your document easiest to read.

If you need to remove a page after scanning, tap and hold on that page's thumbnail, then tap "Delete". If a page is upside down or sideways, tap the page and then tap the rotate icon (curved arrow) to turn it 90 degrees. You can rotate as many times as needed.

After you've made changes, tap "Save" to finish. The PDF now lives in that note.

Share or move the PDF to your computer

Once the PDF is saved in Notes, you can share it several ways. Tap and hold on the PDF thumbnail, then tap "Share". You can send it by email, Messages, AirDrop, or copy it to another app.

To email it, tap "Mail". A new email will open with the PDF attached. Type the recipient's address and send. The person receives the PDF file as an attachment.

To move it to your computer using iCloud, open the Files app on your iPhone. Tap "Browse" at the bottom, then tap "iCloud Drive". Navigate to the folder where you want to store it, or create a new folder. Go back to Notes, tap and hold the PDF, tap "Share", then tap "Save to Files". Choose the iCloud Drive location and tap "Save". The file will sync to your iCloud account and appear on your computer in iCloud Drive.

If you use a Windows computer without iCloud, email the PDF to yourself instead. Open your email on the computer and read the attachment.

What to do if your iPhone is older

If your iPhone is an iPhone 7, iPhone 6S, or older, the Notes app does not have a document scanner. Instead, open the Camera app and take a regular photo of the document. Make sure the lighting is even and the page fills most of the frame.

After taking the photo, open the Files app and navigate to "On My iPhone" or "iCloud Drive". You can store the photo there, or email it to yourself. Some free online tools like Smallpdf or ILovePDF can convert a photo to a PDF, though this requires uploading the image to their website.

The simplest route is to take the photo, email it to yourself, and open it on your computer. Your computer's built-in tools can usually convert or crop it if needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I scan directly into an email instead of saving to Notes first?

No — the scanner only works inside the Notes app. You must scan and save the PDF in Notes first, then share it from there. This takes about 30 seconds extra but ensures the PDF is properly formatted before it leaves your phone.

What if the scanned document looks blurry or has shadows?

Retake the scan. Move to a brighter area if possible, and hold the phone more steadily. Make sure the document is flat on a table or wall, not crumpled or folded. If the page is very small or has fine print, move the phone closer — 4 to 6 inches instead of 8 inches — so the text fills more of the frame.

Can I edit the text in a scanned PDF?

The PDF is an image, not editable text. If you need to change words, you'll have to retype the document or use optical character recognition (OCR) software, which converts image text to editable text. Some free online tools offer this, but it works best on clean, straight scans with clear print.

Does the scan save automatically or do I have to tap Save?

You must tap "Save" after you finish scanning all pages. Until you tap Save, the scan exists only in the camera preview. If you close the camera without saving, the scan is lost.

Can I scan documents larger than a single page, like a poster or newspaper?

The scanner is designed for standard letter or legal-size pages. For larger documents, take a regular photo with the Camera app instead. You may need to take multiple photos to cover the whole document, then stitch them together using a free tool or your computer.