How to Scan Documents on iPhone without Third-party Apps

If you’ve been using an iPhone for a couple of years, you’ve probably tried several document scanner apps in your lifetime. In this guide, you are going to learn how to scan documents on iPhone and iPad using the Notes and Files app. In fact, there’s no need to use any third-party scanner apps on your iPhone or iPad.

Each year, Apple improves its Notes app, and the ability to search documents inside the app on iOS is now better than ever. After the break, we’ll take a look at how this handy feature works. We’ll also look at scanning documents directly in the Files app.

Apple has done an excellent job of integrating document scanning into Notes. It performs admirably and is simple to operate. I enjoy getting my scans synchronized through all of my Apple devices, and sharing scans with or without annotations is a breeze.

Since iOS 11, Apple’s stock Notes app has featured an impressive built-in tool for scanning documents and saving them as a note. In iOS 14, Apple has added a similar tool to the Files app that lets you scan documents and save them as PDFs in the location of your choosing.

Method 1. Scan Documents on iPhone/iPad using the Files App

With iOS 13 and iOS 14, the Files app makes scanning documents and storing them on your phone extremely easy. You can scan receipts, or sign and scan documents without dragging it all home. Just make sure you are connected to iCloud and can access your iCloud Drive from both your iPhone and your PC. 

Here’s how to scan documents on iPhone using the Files app:

Step 1. Open the Files app on your iPhone or iPad.

Step 2. On the Browse screen, tap the ellipsis button select Scan Documents from the pop-up menu.

Step 3. By default, the camera will try to detect a document in the viewfinder and automatically capture it. If you don’t want this to happen, tap Auto in the top-right corner of the camera interface to change to the Manual setting.

Step 4. Focus the camera on your document, making sure the yellow box is lined up with the edges of your document. Tap the camera shutter button to snap a photo.

Step 5. The scan is to your liking and you don’t want to scan any more pages, tap Done, then tap Save when you’re returned to the scanning interface. If you want to try the same scan again, choose Retake.

Method 2. Using the Notes App

The iPhone’s built-in Notes app has a special scanning feature that you can access whenever you create a new Notes document.

Here’s how to scan documents on iPhone using the Notes app:

Step 1. Tap and hold the Notes app and then select Scan Document.

Notes App

Step 2. Line up the document you want to scan. Tap the shutter button if the scanner doesn’t automatically scan the document. Repeat this step for every document you want to scan.

Step 3. Tap Save after you’ve scanned all of the necessary pages. The button will have a count of how many pages you scanned.

That’s it. This is how you can scan documents on iPhone and iPad using the Notes and Files app. You can use the image file just like a standard scanned document after saving it. Open it in your Mail app and send it as an attachment to an email or as a text message. Whatever you need it for, you can rest easy knowing you didn’t have to find out how your office’s clumsy scanner works to get it done. The iPhone has a lot of secret features, such as a virtual magnifying glass and a calculator backspace shortcut.

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