How to scan documents with iPhone camera, iPhone Notes & email app

by Alyssa Schmitt
 

 

Since factors like lighting, other objects nearby, and getting the right angle make it hard to take a usable photo of a document, you may have thought about looking for a free scanner app for your iPhone. What many people don’t realize that since iOS 11, their iPhone includes a built-in document scanner.

And for those of you who use the mail.com Mail App for iOS – which of course we highly recommend! – you can use it to scan documents and immediately send them as email attachments, store them in your mail.com Cloud, or save them to your device’s hard drive.

How to scan a document with an iPhone:

1. Scan with the mail.com Mail Cloud
2. Scan an attachment for your mail.com email
3. Scan with Notes app
4. Scan with File app

Scan a document on an iPhone in your mail.com Cloud

With the mail.com Mail App on your iPhone, you have the tool you need to scan documents in a few taps and save them right in your mail.com Cloud – where they won’t take up space on your phone and are automatically available on any device where you access your mail.com account.

Follow these easy steps to create a scan in the mail.com Mail App:

1. Open the mail.com app and tap the Cloud tab
2. Tap the + symbol in the upper right corner
3. Select Scan documents
4. Your phone’s camera will open
5. Position the document you want to scan in the viewfinder
6. The app will automatically detect the document and define the area to scan
7. Press the button in the bottom center of the screen to take the scan, or wait a moment for the scan will start automatically
8. If you would like to scan another page, repeat steps 5 - 7
9. Once you have scanned all your pages, tap Save
10. Enter a name for your document and press OK
11. Your scanned document is now saved as a PDF your mail.com Cloud

To view your scan, simply tap the saved document in the Cloud. Once you have tapped the document to open it, you will also see options to send it as an email attachment, delete it, move it to a folder, or create a link to share it with a trusted contact.
 

 

Scan a document to send as an email attachment

If you’d like to scan a document to send as an email attachment, in our Mail App you can create a scan directly from your email:

1. Open the mail.com app and tap the Mail tab
2. Compose an email message as usual
3. Tap the paperclip attachment symbol to the right of the Subject line
4.  Select Scan documents
5. The camera on your phone will open
6. Position the document in the viewfinder
7. The app will automatically detect the document and scan it
8. If you would like to scan another page, repeat steps 6 - 7
9. When you are done scanning, tap Save
10. Your scan will automatically appear as a PDF attachment to your email.

 

 

How to scan using iPhone with Notes app

If you want to scan a document with your iPhone, there is no need to look for a separate free scanner app. Although the iPhone scanner function is hidden in Apple’s Notes app, it has been a standard feature for several years now.

Here’s how it works:

1. Open the Notes app on your iPhone
2. Create a new note by tapping the note icon in the lower right corner
3. A menu will appear above a screen keyboard. Tap the camera icon on this menu
4. Select Scan Documents
5. The iPhone Camera app will open
6. Position the document you want to scan in the phone’s viewfinder
7. The app should detect the document and capture the scan automatically. However, if it is in manual mode, you may have to press the button to activate the scan. You can toggle between Auto and Manual mode in the upper right corner of the screen.
8. You can drag the corners of the page to adjust the scan if necessary
9. If you are not happy with the scan, tap Retake. If you would like to scan additional pages, repeat steps 6 and 7.
10. When you have scanned all your pages and are satisfied with your scan, tap Save
11. Tap Done and your scan will be saved in the Note app, where you will be able to locate it later
12. Tap the share icon to send the scan to someone else, print it, or save it to your File app

How to scan documents using the iPhone Files app

With iOS 13, an option to scan documents was also added to the iPhone Files app. This can be useful if you intend to store the scanned document in a file here.

The scan process is similar to the once used in the Notes app:

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone
2. Tap the three-dot menu button in the upper right of the screen
3. Select Scan Documents from the menu
4. Your iPhone Camera app will open
5. Position the document in the camera’s viewfinder
6. The camera will automatically detect the document and scan it
7. If you are scanning a multi-page document, repeat steps 5 and 6 until all pages are scanned
8. Tap Save
9. Tap the folder where you would like to save the scan (or, to create a new folder, tap the three-dot menu and select New Folder)
10. Tap Save. Your scan will be saved as a PDF in the folder you selected.
11. If you would like to print the scanned document or send it to someone, tap the document icon and then the share icon in the lower left of the screen.

 
Now you have four methods at your fingertips to scan documents with your iPhone at any time. Before you get started, please give us some feedback below!

And if you still don’t have a mail.com account, sign up for free today!

This article first appeared on Sept. 26, 2022, and was updated on November 15, 2024.

Images: 1&1/GettyImages