Articles/Saving

How to scan paper to PDF on iPhone

Updated 13 October 2026. 2 minute read.

You do not need a scanner app with a subscription to turn a letter or a receipt into a PDF. The scanner is part of iOS. It finds the edges of the page, straightens it, and joins several pages into one file.

Scan with Notes

1. Open Notes and create a note.
2. Tap the attachment button above the keyboard.
3. Choose Scan Documents.
4. Hold the phone over the page. In automatic mode it takes the picture by itself once it has found the edges.
5. Keep going for more pages, then tap Save.

The scan lives inside that note. To get it out as a PDF, open it and use the Share button.

Scan with Files

1. Open Files and go to the folder you want.
2. Tap the More button, the circle with three dots.
3. Choose Scan Documents.

This saves the PDF directly into the folder, which is the better route if you file documents by hand.

Scan with Stashy

1. Tap the plus button.
2. Choose Scan.
3. Capture the pages and save.

The result is a clean, multi-page PDF in your library. Stashy then reads it on your device, so the scan gets a summary and can be found by what it says. A tax letter turns up when you search for "tax", even though you never typed a title.

Getting a clean scan

• Use a dark, plain surface. The scanner looks for the contrast between page and table.
• Light from the side, not from above. Your phone's own shadow is the usual cause of grey patches.
• Flatten folds first. Creases confuse edge detection.
• Fix the corners if needed. If the outline is off, switch to manual, take the picture and drag the corners into place.
• Retake blurred pages before saving. Text recognition is only as good as the picture.

Where to keep scans

A scan is only useful if you can find it when someone asks for it. Two approaches work:

• Folders in Files, named by year and subject, if you are disciplined about filing.
• One searchable library, if you are not. Saving every scan to the same place and relying on search is less tidy and far more reliable. More on that in where to keep PDFs on iPhone.

Either way, keep the paper original of anything official until you know the copy is accepted.