3 Ways to Send Scanned Documents From iPhone Notes

iPhones offer a native feature to scan documents using the Apple Notes app. Once you scan a document, you may wonder, “Where do scanned documents go from Notes, and how to send them?” All your questions will be answered in this post. Let’s check different ways to send scanned documents from iPhone Notes.

You can send the scanned document directly in any app, save it in the Files app as a PDF, or download and send it as images. Let’s check the steps in detail for each method.

1. Send in Apps Directly

The Notes app automatically creates a PDF file when you scan documents. For the unaware, the PDF file will have all the pages you scanned in an individual document. Thus, PDF is helpful as you have to send only one file instead of multiple images.

Step 1: Create a new note in the Notes app and tap on the Camera icon followed by Scan document. Capture the document pages that you want to scan. Finally, tap Save.

Step 2: Then, tap on the scanned document in your note to open it in full-screen view.

Step 3: Press the Share button at the top and select the app, such as Mail, to share scanned documents from your iPhone Notes.

If your PDF is too big for email, here’s how to reduce PDF size on iPhone.

Tip: Check out other ways to share PDF files from iPhone.

2. Download as PDF

If you don’t want to send the scanned document directly or your preferred app doesn’t show up in the Share sheet for some reason, don’t worry. You can easily download scanned documents from notes as PDFs and then send them by opening the app of your choice.

Here’s how:

Step 1: Scan and save the document in the Notes app.

Step 2: Tap on the document in the note and press the Share icon. Select Save to Files from the menu.

Step 3: Choose the folder where you want to save the PDF. You can save it in the iCloud folder or on your iPhone. Let’s say the Downloads folder of your iPhone.

Step 4: Press the Save button.

Step 5: Now, open the app where you want to send the scanned document and attach the PDF from the Files app.

Alternatively, open the Files app and go to the folder (in our example, the Downloads folder). Tap on the document to open it. Use the Markup icon at the bottom of your document if needed. Then, press the Share icon and select the app where you want to send it.

Also, know how to save photos or videos from the Files app in the Photos app.

Pro Tip: You can scan documents on your iPhone directly in the Files app as well. Open the Files app and go to any folder. Tap on the three-dot icon at the top and select Scan Documents. The scanned document will be saved as PDF in the Files app in the same folder from where you scanned the document.

3. By Sharing as an Image

If you want to share the scanned document as an image file, you can take a screenshot of the scanned document page in the Notes app. However, if the quality isn’t fine, download the document pages as individual pictures.

For that, you will need to use the iCloud website. We have divided the steps into two sections.

Save Document in iCloud

Step 1: First, scan and save the document in the iCloud folder of the Notes app.

To check, open the Notes app and tap on Folders at the top. Select any folder under iCloud. Then, scan the document.

Step 2: Now, ensure that iCloud sync is enabled for notes. Open iPhone Settings.

Step 3: Tap on your name at the top, followed by iCloud.

Step 4: Then, tap on Show All. Now, select Notes.

Step 5: Finally, enable the toggle next to Sync this iPhone. Wait for a minute or two to let iPhone sync the notes.

Tip: Learn how to add or delete pages in a PDF file on iPhone.

Download Scanned Documents as Picture

Step 1: Open iCloud in a browser and log in to your Apple ID.

Open iCloud

Step 2: Click on the notes section.

Step 3: Open the note where your scanned document is saved. Then, double-click on the document to open it.

Step 4: Click on the Download icon at the top to download all the pictures.

Step 5: Once the scanned document is downloaded as pictures on your device, share pictures in any app.

Tip: Know how to convert PDF to PNG on iPhone

Bonus: Save Scanned Documents Automatically in the Photos App

Apple offers a feature where you can automatically save your scanned documents from the Notes app as images in the Photos app. However, remember that the Photos app will save each scanned page as an individual image.

To enable this feature, go to iPhone Settings, followed by Notes. Enable the toggle next to Save to Photos.

FAQs on Sending Scanned Documents From iPhone Notes

Go PDF, Go

Once you have created a PDF file from scanned documents in the Notes app, learn how to edit a PDF file before sending it. Also, know how to password-protect PDFs on iPhone.