Scanning documents on an iPhone takes no extra app. In Notes, open a note, tap the attachment button and choose Scan Documents. Capture the pages, check their edges and finish the scan to keep a PDF in the note.
Use Files when the scan belongs in a folder instead. Choose Scan Text only when you want editable words rather than a copy of the page.
In this guide
Start a document scan in Notes
Open Notes and create a note or open the one that should contain the document. Tap the attachment button, then Scan Documents.
Place the page on a flat surface with enough contrast around its edges. Hold the iPhone so the whole page is inside the preview and keep hands and shadows away from the text.
Status: Apple's Notes and Files scanning instructions checked 22 October 2026. The Notes guide confirms PDF storage. No document or camera was tested.
Apple documents the attachment-button route in its iPhone scanning instructions. Its current Notes instructions also offer More > Scan.
In automatic mode, keep the phone steady as it detects and captures the page. Wait for that capture to finish before moving to another sheet.
For a photograph already in the library, export that image as PDF instead of aiming the camera at it again.
Check the crop before keeping each page
For manual capture, tap the shutter button or press a volume button. Drag the corner handles to match the paper, then choose Keep Scan.
Check the four corners before keeping the scan. Make sure the crop includes signatures, dates and totals, especially near the paper's edges.
Retake a blurred page or one obscured by glare. A filter cannot recover text the camera did not capture clearly.
Scan the remaining pages in the same session, then tap Done. This keeps a multipage document together rather than spreading its pages across separate notes.
Apple states in its Notes camera guide that a scanned document is saved as a PDF inside the note.
Open the PDF to check its page count and order. Zoom in on small print before sharing the document.
Save directly into a folder with Files
In Files, open More, then select Scan Documents. Capture the page automatically, or use the shutter or a volume button and adjust the corners manually.
Keep the scan, add any remaining pages and tap Done. Choose the destination folder and tap Save.
Apple says to choose the save location in Files. Check whether it is on the iPhone or in a cloud service, particularly when another device needs the scan.
Find the document in the chosen folder and open it. Confirming the saved file now avoids leaving with a good capture stored somewhere unexpected.
After checking the finished PDF, remove unwanted scan attempts in Files with the deletion behavior appropriate to their location.
When the recipient requires fax delivery, send the saved document through an iPhone fax service and retain its transmission record.
When Word needs a reusable handwriting image, prepare and insert a signature picture. A PDF scan and an image file are different outputs.
Need editable words or a QR code instead?
Scan Text is the Notes option for inserting recognized words. Use it for a short passage or address when editable words matter more than preserving the page.
For text already in an image, use Live Text to copy words on iPhone rather than photographing the screen again.
To open a QR code's link, use Camera or Code Scanner as described in the iPhone QR-scanning guide. A document scan is not the right tool for that task.
If an upload service rejects a readable scan, check its accepted file types and size limit. Another scan will not resolve an account restriction or attachment-limit message.
The Short Version
Notes: attachment control, Scan Documents, capture, inspect the corners and finish. The scan is stored as a PDF in the note.
Files: More > Scan Documents, capture the pages, tap Done, choose a folder and Save. Use Scan Text only when recognized words are the intended output.
Where to Next
Open the finished document and inspect every page before sharing it. If the camera cannot produce readable text even in good light, check ordinary photo quality and contact Apple if that fails too.
