How to Scan Documents on iPhone: Notes, Files and Preview

Here is how to scan documents on iPhone: open the Notes app, tap the Attachments button (the paperclip) and choose Scan Documents, or open the Files app, tap the More button and choose Scan Documents. The iPhone finds the edges of the paper, straightens the page and saves it as a PDF. No extra app is needed.

This guide covers the three built in scanners in iOS 26, the Google Drive scanner on Android, and how to make the finished PDF small enough for an upload form.

Three scanners already on your iPhone

Apple puts the same document scanner in more than one app. The difference is where the result ends up.

All three use the camera, detect the page and let you add as many pages as you need to one document. The steps below follow Apple's own instructions for iOS 26.

How to scan documents on iPhone with Notes

1. Open Notes and start a new note, or open an existing one.
2. Tap the Attachments button (paperclip), then tap Scan Documents.
3. Hold the iPhone over the page. In iOS 26 you can also turn on the flash or pick an image filter before you scan.
4. In Auto mode the iPhone captures the page by itself once it detects the edges. In manual mode, tap the Shutter button or press a volume button, drag the corners to fit the page, then tap Keep Scan.
5. Scan the next page, or tap Done when you have all of them.

In an open note you can also tap the More button and choose Scan. Apple describes both routes on its scan documents support page.

Get the scan out of Notes as a PDF

Notes saves the pages as a PDF inside the note, which is fine for keeping. To send it, tap the scan's Menu button and choose Share. From there you can pick Save to Files, Mail or a chat app.

Sign a scanned form

Tap the scanned document in the note, then tap the Markup button. Tap the Add button, choose Signature, and pick a saved signature or create one. Drag the signature box into place and tap Done.

Scan straight to a PDF file with the Files app

If the scan is going to a website or an email, Files saves you a step because it creates a PDF file right away.

1. Open Files and go to the folder where the PDF should be saved.
2. Tap the More button (three dots), then tap Scan Documents.
3. Scan each page in Auto mode, or capture them manually and drag the corners as in Notes.
4. Tap Done.
5. Choose a location and tap Save.

Give the file a clear name before you send it, for example your surname and the document type. Touch and hold the file in Files and choose Rename.

The Preview app in iOS 26

iOS 26 added Preview, the PDF and image app many people know from the Mac. Open it and tap Scan Documents in the middle of the screen. Auto capture is on; tap Auto to switch to Manual if you prefer to press the Shutter button yourself.

Tap the thumbnails at the bottom to crop, rotate or change the color of a page, then tap Done. Because the result opens in Preview, you can move pages, delete a blank one or lock the PDF with a password straight away.

How to scan documents on Android with Google Drive

Android has no single scanner shared by every brand, but the Google Drive app works on almost every phone. Google's Drive scanning help page lists these steps:

1. Open the Google Drive app (install it from the Play Store if needed).
2. Tap the Camera icon at the bottom right. In some app versions the scanner sits behind the New (plus) button instead.
3. Point the camera at the page. A blue outline shows the area that will be kept. You can switch between Auto and Manual capture.
4. After each shot, use Crop and Rotate, Filter or Clean (which erases stains and fingers), tap Add to scan another page, or Retake a page.
5. Tap Done, type a file name or pick a suggested title, and choose .pdf or .jpg.
6. Tap Location to pick a Drive folder, then tap Save.

Many phone makers also add a document mode to their own camera or gallery app. The names and menus differ by brand and Android version, so check your phone's settings if you prefer that route.

Tips for a scan that is easy to read

• Contrast. Put white paper on a dark table so the scanner finds the edges at once.
• Light. Daylight from a window beats the flash, which can leave a bright spot on glossy paper.
• Flat pages. Press folded letters flat, and hold the phone parallel to the paper, not at an angle.
• Filters. A grayscale or black and white filter makes text documents easier to read and makes the PDF smaller. Keep color for photos, stamps and colored forms.
• Check every page. Zoom in on the small print before you tap Save. A retake now is quicker than a rejected application later.

If you only took ordinary photos of the papers with the Camera app, you can still turn them into one document with HEIC to PDF, which places each iPhone photo on its own page.

Common scanning problems and fixes

The scanner does not find the page

Auto mode needs clear edges. Move the paper onto a darker surface, add light, or switch to manual capture and drag the four corners yourself before you tap Keep Scan.

A page came out sideways or upside down

In Notes, tap the page thumbnail, tap the More button and choose Rotate Left or Rotate Right. In Preview, open the PDF, tap the More button and pick a rotation. If the PDF has already left your phone, Rotate PDF turns single pages in any browser.

The text looks blurry

Blur usually comes from movement or low light, not from the scanner. Rest your elbows on the table, wait for the camera to focus, and retake the page instead of sending it as it is.

Glare hides part of the page

Turn the flash off and tilt the paper slightly away from the lamp or window. Glossy paper and laminated cards reflect the most light.

Make the scanned PDF small enough to send

Every scanned page is a full image of the paper, so a five page scan can be several megabytes. Job portals, visa forms and some email services refuse files over a set limit.

The Compress PDF tool on FileKiwi shrinks those page images. It works in Safari on iPhone and Chrome on Android:

1. Open the Compress PDF page and tap to choose your scan from Files or Downloads.
2. Pick a level: Strong (images around 72 DPI), Recommended (around 150 DPI) or Light (around 300 DPI).
3. Download the smaller PDF. The result shows the old size, the new size and the percentage saved.

Recommended is the right start for most forms. Use Light if the PDF will be printed, and Strong only for strict limits, because fine print gets softer.

Compression runs on the FileKiwi server with Ghostscript and accepts files up to 100 MB. A copy of each PDF you add is kept in a private folder for 30 days and then deleted; the compressed result is not stored.

Some exam and job portals allow only 100 KB per document. Scan that one page in grayscale, then compress the PDF to 100 KB.

For exact targets such as 200 KB or 1 MB, read how to compress a PDF for online forms. If you scanned pages into separate files, join them first with Merge PDF.

Which scanner to pick

Use Files when the scan is going somewhere today, because it creates a named PDF in the folder you choose. Use Notes when you want to keep receipts with your notes or sign a form. Use Preview on iOS 26 when the PDF needs page edits or a password.

On Android, Google Drive is the scanner that works the same on every brand. Whatever you use, check the pages, name the file clearly and compress it if a form complains about the size.

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