Scan Documents and QR Codes on iPhone and iPad

1. Scan a multi-page document in Notes

1. Open Notes on your iPhone or iPad and create or open a note.
2. Tap Attachment > Scan Documents.
3. Place the page within the camera frame. Auto mode captures it when the page is detected. For manual capture, use the shutter button, adjust the corners and keep the scan.
4. Capture the remaining pages before tapping Done.

The scan stays inside the note as a PDF attachment. Review every page for missing edges, blur and incorrect orientation. Apple’s iPhone scanning guide and iPad PDF guide describe scans and attachments.

If Notes does not show the expected attachment tools, try a note in iCloud or On My iPhone/On My iPad. Apple notes that some features are unavailable in other account types in its iPhone and iPad account guides.

To save or send the complete scan, open the PDF attachment itself and use its sharing controls. Choose Save to Files to export a separate file. Exporting the whole note as a PDF can include only the first page of an attached multi-page scan. Apple’s iPhone and iPad note-export guides document that limitation. Reopen the saved file and confirm its page count.

2. Scan directly into Files

Start in Files when you want a PDF in a folder without creating a note.

1. Open Files and browse to the location you want to use.
2. Tap More > Scan Documents.
3. Capture each page automatically or use the shutter for manual capture. Adjust the page corners when needed.
4. Tap Done, choose the destination and tap Save.

Give the file a useful name and open it once to confirm that all pages were saved. If a location does not offer the expected controls, try a folder in iCloud Drive or On My iPhone/On My iPad. Apple provides combined Notes and Files scanning instructions for both devices.

3. Scan and edit pages in Preview

Preview is available on iPhone with iOS 26 or later and iPad with iPadOS 26 or later. Apple introduced it in its iOS 26 feature list and iPadOS 26 announcement.

1. Open Preview > Scan Documents.
2. Capture the first page, then continue with the remaining pages. Switch from Auto to Manual if you want to control capture.
3. Tap the scan thumbnails to crop, rotate or adjust the coloring.
4. Tap Done when the pages are ready.

See Apple’s iPhone Preview scan instructions and iPad equivalent. On iPad, an existing PDF’s sidebar also lets you hold and drag page thumbnails to reorder them; its page menu provides insertion and deletion. Check the order before sharing. See Apple’s iPad PDF page-editing guide.

4. Choose local storage or iCloud Drive

In Files > Browse, On My iPhone or On My iPad holds files on that device. iCloud Drive keeps files available across devices signed into the same Apple Account when syncing is enabled. Apple’s file-location guide explains these locations.

1. Create a folder using More > New Folder on iPhone or the New Folder toolbar button on iPad. Choose a subject such as School or Home.
2. Use a filename that includes a date and subject, for example 2026-11-03-school-permission-form.pdf.
3. Touch and hold a file to Rename or Move it. Search its filename in Files when you need it again.

Apple documents folder controls and location restrictions in its iPhone and iPad organization guides. For iCloud Drive, check Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Drive and enable syncing for the device. See the iPhone and iPad setup guides.

For a cloud document you need offline, use Keep Downloaded in Files where available. Apple’s offline-file guide explains this option. iCloud Drive is a syncing service: changes and deletions can propagate to your other devices. Keep a separate archival copy when you need one; see Apple’s iCloud Drive behavior.

5. Send a copy or share an iCloud link

In Files, touch and hold the PDF and tap Share. Where a sharing-mode menu appears below its name, choose the result you want:

• Send a Copy: send a separate document through Mail, Messages or AirDrop. Later edits to your original do not update that copy.
• Share a Link: share an iCloud Drive item. Review who can access it and whether they can edit or only view and download.

Current guides use People you choose and Anyone with the link; older versions can label link sharing Collaborate. For a document intended for a particular person, select that person and the access they need. You can review or stop sharing through the shared item’s management controls. See Apple’s iPhone and iPad copy-and-link guides.

For AirDrop, keep both devices nearby with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, disconnect Personal Hotspot if either device has it on, and select the intended recipient. Receiving settings, acceptance and an AirDrop code can affect the transfer. Apple’s AirDrop instructions cover those requirements. Confirm receipt and the page count before discarding any working copy.

6. Extract editable text with Live Text

Optical character recognition, or OCR, recognizes words in an image. On supported devices, Live Text lets you copy those words.

1. Open a clear photo of the text in Photos.
2. Touch and hold a word, then adjust the selection handles.
3. Tap Copy and paste into an editable note.

If necessary, enable Settings > General > Language & Region > Live Text. Apple requires iPhone XS, iPhone XR or later with iOS 15 or later, or a supported iPad with iPadOS 15.1 or later. iPad hardware support varies: check the model list in Apple’s Live Text requirements and instructions. Language and regional availability also vary. These Photos requirements do not establish the minimum version for every camera-text feature.

On current supported software, Notes also offers Attachment > Scan Text: frame the words, select the needed text and tap Insert. This places recognized text in the note. Scan Documents preserves pages as a PDF. Apple’s Notes guide explains the two controls. Check recognized names, dates and numbers against the original.

7. Parse recognized text into useful fields

For a small document, you can organize copied text into labeled fields. The following is a manual workflow:

1. Keep the original PDF or photo for reference.
2. In an editable note, create labels such as Document title, Date, Reference number and Action needed.
3. Copy the relevant recognized text beneath each label.
4. Compare each entry with the original, including punctuation, leading zeros and line breaks.

For example, a school form could become a short record containing the activity name, return date and teacher’s reference. This organization is an AppShifted suggestion. Copying recognized text does not establish that a table, column layout or set of fields was interpreted correctly. Review the resulting record before using or sharing it.

8. Open, search and copy from a PDF

On iOS or iPadOS 26 or later, open Preview, choose Browse or Recents, and open your PDF. Pinch to zoom and move through its pages. Tap Search and enter a word or phrase to find matching text. See Apple’s iPhone viewing guide and iPad viewing guide.

Where text is selectable, touch and hold a word, adjust the selection handles and choose Copy. Apple documents this for iPhone and iPad. A PDF made of page images may not expose selectable or searchable text. If search finds nothing, inspect the page visually and try the text-extraction workflow on a clear image of the relevant passage.

9. Have recognized text read aloud

1. Open Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak. Older software may call this group Spoken Content.
2. Enable Speak Selection. Select text in an app that supports selection, then tap Speak.
3. For screen reading, enable Speak Screen, then swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen.

Apple documents these controls for iPhone and iPad. If an image-only scan is not read correctly, copy recognized text into Notes first, check it and use Speak Selection there.

On iOS/iPadOS 26 or later, Accessibility Reader offers another reading view with playback and appearance controls. Enable it under Read & Speak and add its Control Center control. Text detection can fail; it does not guarantee that every scan can be read. See Apple’s iPhone Reader guide and iPad Reader guide.

10. Scan and read a QR code

1. Open Camera on your iPhone or iPad and select Photo mode.
2. Hold the device so the whole QR code is visible in the camera frame.
3. When the link appears, review it and tap it if you want to open it.

You can also open Control Center > Scan Code. If that control is missing, open Control Center’s editing controls, choose Add a Control and add Scan Code. Apple’s combined QR instructions and current iPhone and iPad guides describe these methods.

If the code is already displayed on the device you want to scan with, show it on another screen or a printout and use Camera. Keep the code flat, fully visible and free of glare. A QR code’s destination still needs the same care as any other link; confirm the intended website before entering personal information.