How to Scan a Document on iPhone

The Notes app has a document scanner built in. It finds the edges of a page, flattens it, and saves the result as a PDF you can share.

Open a note and tap the camera icon

Open Notes and create a new note, or open an existing one. Tap the camera icon in the toolbar above the keyboard, then tap Scan Documents.

Hold the phone over the page

Line the document up in the frame with decent lighting. In Auto mode, the camera detects the page and captures it on its own after a moment. If you would rather control the timing, tap the shutter button.

Adjust the corners

Drag the four corner handles so the outline matches the page edges. Tap Keep Scan to accept it, or Retake to try again.

Add more pages and save

Repeat for each additional page; they stack as a single multi-page document. When finished, tap Save. The scan appears inside the note as an attachment.

Share it as a PDF

Tap the scan inside the note, then tap the share button in the top-right corner. Choose Mail, Messages, Save to Files, or any other app. The document is sent as a PDF.

If you would rather scan straight into Files. Open Files, browse to the folder you want, tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, and tap Scan Documents. The steps are the same, and the PDF saves directly to that folder without creating a note.

If the scan looks wrong. Before capturing, the top of the screen has a toggle between Auto and Manual capture, and a filter button that switches between Color, Grayscale, Black & White, and Photo. Black & White gives the cleanest result for text-only pages, and Manual stops the camera from grabbing a page before you have it lined up.