How to scan a document with your phone
- Lay the page flat on a dark, plain surface, such as a desk or a closed laptop. The contrast helps you frame it and makes the edges easy to crop.
- Tap Take a photo of the page. Hold the phone straight above the paper, not at an angle, and fill the frame with the page.
- Repeat for each page. They are added in order, and you can move any page with the arrows.
- Tap a page to trim its edges, and rotate it if the camera turned it sideways.
- Pick Letter or A4 and download the PDF, or fax it straight away.
Getting a clean scan: light matters more than the camera
Any phone from the last ten years has a good enough camera. What spoils most phone scans is light. Stand with the window or lamp to one side so your own shadow does not fall across the page, and turn the flash off: it leaves a bright spot in the middle and darkens the corners. Auto-enhance then measures how bright the paper is in each part of the photo and lifts it to white, so an uneven shadow does not come out as a grey smear.
Hold steady for a second before you tap. A slightly blurred photo looks fine on a phone screen but turns small print into mush once it is printed or faxed. If you can, scan from a little further away and crop, rather than getting close enough to distort the page.
Which clean-up mode to use
- Auto-enhance suits most paperwork: forms, letters and receipts. It keeps grey tones for stamps and light pencil.
- Fax mode is pure black and white, like the fax at the other end will print it. It gives the sharpest text and the smallest file, and lets you see in advance exactly what the recipient will get.
- Color keeps the photo as taken, for pages you will email or archive rather than fax.
Sending a form to a government office, an insurer or a court? Scan every page, including ones you left blank on purpose, so the page count matches the original, and check that signatures and dates are readable in the preview before you send. If a page comes out too dark, retake it in better light rather than switching to Color.
Fax your scan without a fax machine
Press Fax it now and the PDF is attached on the send page; enter the fax number and it is usually delivered in about a minute. Not sure the number is right? Check it first with our free fax number lookup, and add a fax cover sheet if it is going to a shared office machine.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to install a scanner app?
No. This page works in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer. On a phone, tap Take a photo of the page and your camera opens; on a computer, choose photos you already have.
Are my scans uploaded to a server?
No. The photos are cleaned up and turned into a PDF on your own device. Nothing leaves it unless you press Fax it now, in which case the PDF is attached to the fax you are about to send.
What is fax mode?
Fax mode turns every pixel pure black or pure white, which is what a fax machine prints. Text and signatures come out crisp and the file is small. Use Auto-enhance instead for pages with photos or shading you want to keep as grey.
Should I choose Letter or A4?
Letter (8.5 × 11 inches) for the US, Canada and Mexico; A4 for almost everywhere else. Choose the size of the paper you photographed, so the page is not shrunk or padded more than it needs to be.
How many pages can I scan?
As many as your device's memory allows; dozens of pages are fine on a recent phone. For faxing, keep in mind that every page adds transmission time, so leave out blank backs.
Can I scan an iPhone HEIC photo?
Yes when you take or pick the photo on the iPhone itself, since Safari converts it automatically. Some desktop browsers cannot open HEIC files; export them as JPG first.