How to Scan Documents With Your Phone Camera

Turn your phone into a document scanner — create clean PDF scans of receipts, forms, and paperwork.

In this guide (4 steps):

1.Use your phone's built-in scanner
2.Position for the best scan
3.Adjust and save
4.Share your scan

Use your phone's built-in scanner

~18s

Most modern phones have a document scanner built in. On iPhone: open the Notes app → tap the + icon → "Scan Documents." On Android: open Google Drive → tap the + icon → "Scan." Point your camera at the document — the app will automatically detect the edges and capture a clean image.

Position for the best scan

~19s

Place your document on a flat, dark surface (a dark table works well against white paper). Hold your phone directly above, parallel to the document. Make sure there's good lighting — natural daylight is best. Avoid shadows from your hand or phone falling across the document. The app will auto-capture when it detects the edges clearly.

Adjust and save

~24s

After scanning, you can crop the edges if they're not perfect, rotate the image, or adjust the contrast (try "Black & White" or "Grayscale" for text documents — they look cleaner than color). Tap "Save" to keep the scan. On iPhone it saves to your note; on Google Drive it saves as a PDF automatically.

Quick Tip

For multi-page documents, keep scanning pages one after another. The app will combine them into a single PDF file.

Share your scan

~16s

To email a scanned document: open the scan, tap the share icon (square with arrow on iPhone, or three dots on Android), choose "Mail" or "Gmail," attach it, and send. You can also share to cloud storage (iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox) or send via WhatsApp or text message.

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