If you need to scan a document, your smartphone is often the most convenient option – after all, most of us have our phone close at hand most of the time. Taking a usable snapshot of a document with your camera can be tricky, so you may think you need to install a special scanning app on your iPhone. But we’ll show you otherwise!
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, the preinstalled Notes app in their iPhone has included a 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.
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. Just follow these easy steps:
In the mail.com Mail App, tap the Cloud tab
Tap the + symbol in the upper right corner
Select Scan documents
Position the document you want to scan in the viewfinder
The app will automatically detect the document and define the area to scan
Press the button in the bottom center of the screen to take the scan, or wait a moment for the scan to start automatically
If you would like to scan another page, repeat steps 4 - 6
Once you have scanned all your pages, tap Save
Enter a name for your document and press OK
Your scanned document is now saved to 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 your document in our Mail App for convenient online storage and sharing
If you don’t have the mail.com Mail App installed on your iPhone yet, follow this link to get started with our iOS email and cloud app.
Pro tip: 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. Once you are composing the email, just tap the paperclip attachment symbol and select the Scan document option. Then follow steps 4 to 8 above. After you tap Save, your scan will automatically appear as a PDF attachment to your email.
Create a scanned attachment directly in your email
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 the Apple Notes app, it has been a standard feature for several years now. Here’s how it works:
Open the preinstalled Notes app on your iPhone
Create a new note by tapping the note icon in the lower right corner
A menu will appear above a screen keyboard. Tap the camera icon on this menu
Select Scan Documents
Position the document you want to scan in the phone’s viewfinder
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.
You can drag the corners of the page to adjust the scan if necessary
If you are not happy with the scan, tap Retake. If you would like to scan additional pages, repeat steps 5-7.
When you have scanned all your pages and are satisfied with your scan, tap Save
Tap Done and your scan will be saved in the Note app, where you will be able to locate it later
Tap the share icon to send the scan to someone else, print it, or save it to your files on your phone
Now you have two methods at your fingertips to scan documents with your iPhone at any time! We recommend using the mail.com Mail App to scan documents, since it offers the added convenience of storing your scans automatically in the secure mail.com Cloud. Here they are always available on any device where you log in to your mail.com account, and it’s a snap to send them by email attachment or share link!
We hope you found this article helpful. Before you get busy scanning, please give us some feedback below!
