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3 min read 6 stepsJuly 11, 2026Verified July 2026

How to Scan Documents Using Your Phone's Camera

Turn your iPhone or Android phone into a document scanner to email forms, save receipts, or send paperwork without a scanner or printer.

At a Glance

iPhone: open the Notes app

~15s

Open the Notes app and either start a new note or open an existing one. Tap the camera icon in the toolbar above the keyboard, then choose "Scan Documents."

iPhone: line up the document and let it auto-capture

~20s

Hold your phone over the document with good lighting. A yellow outline will appear around the detected edges, and the phone usually captures the photo automatically once it's steady — or tap the white shutter button to capture manually.

Quick Tip

If the auto-detected edges are wrong, drag the corner handles after capturing to adjust them before saving.

iPhone: save and share

~15s

After scanning all the pages you need (tap the shutter again for each additional page), tap "Save." The scan is saved right in your note as a PDF, which you can then tap Share to email, message, or save to Files.

Android: open Google Drive

~15s

Open the Google Drive app, tap the "+" button, and choose "Scan." If you don't see this option, make sure the Google Drive app is updated to its current version from the Play Store.

Android: capture and adjust

~15s

Take the photo of your document. Google Drive will show a preview with automatically detected edges — tap the crop icon to manually adjust the corners, or the filter icon to switch between color, black-and-white, or grayscale scanning.

Android: save and export

~15s

Tap the checkmark to save the scan as a PDF directly in your Google Drive, where it can be opened on any device, shared as a link, or downloaded and attached to an email.

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Both iPhones and Android phones have a built-in document scanner that turns a regular photo of a piece of paper into a clean, straightened, scanned-looking PDF or image — useful for emailing a signed form back to a doctor's office, saving a receipt for taxes, or sending paperwork to a family member, all without owning a separate scanner or going to a print shop.

The built-in scanner automatically detects the edges of the paper, crops out the background (like the table it's sitting on), and adjusts the lighting and contrast so the text is easy to read, similar to what a real scanner produces. It works noticeably better than just taking a regular photo of a document, which often looks slanted, includes background clutter, or has glare.

This feature has been part of both the iPhone's Notes app and Android's Google Drive app for several years. So it works on virtually any phone still receiving updates. Source: support.apple.com and support.google.com.

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Official Resources

Apple Support — iPhone Google Help — Android Samsung Support

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