# How to Scan Documents Into a PDF With Your Phone (iPhone and Android) Canonical: https://filevale.com/guides/how-to-scan-documents-into-pdf-with-phone/ Updated: 2026-10-16 > Scan paper documents into one PDF with your phone camera, free in the browser, plus the built-in scanners on iPhone and Android and how to shrink the file. To scan documents into a PDF with your phone, open a scanner that uses your camera, photograph each page, and save all the pages as one PDF. You can do that in your phone's browser with Filevale's Scan to PDF, or with the scanner already built into your phone. This guide covers both, plus what to do when the PDF is too big to send. ## Scan to PDF in your phone's browser [Open Scan to PDF](https://filevale.com/scan-to-pdf/) Scan to PDF lets you scan pages with your phone camera, or use photos you already took. Pages are auto-cropped and cleaned up, then saved as one PDF. 1. Open [Scan to PDF](/scan-to-pdf/) in Safari, Chrome, Edge or Firefox on your phone. 2. Scan your pages with the camera, or choose JPG, PNG, WEBP or HEIC photos from your gallery. Put them in the order you want and remove any with ✕. 3. Tap **Create PDF from N files**. Everything happens on your device. 4. Download the PDF. If something looks off, change the options and run it again on the same files. The camera picture is only shown and captured inside the page; nothing is recorded or uploaded. That makes it a reasonable choice for IDs, contracts, bank letters and medical forms. The tool is free with no watermarks; downloading the PDF needs a free account (Google or email). ## Get a clean crop The auto-crop looks for the bright paper against a darker background, then crops to it and straightens the page when the edges are clear. A few habits make that work every time: - Put the page on a dark, plain surface, such as a dark table or a folder. - Use good, even light and avoid the shadow of your phone falling across the page. - Hold the phone flat above the page so all four edges are in view. If the crop is still wrong, you can turn cropping off or adjust the frame by hand. ## The scanner already on your phone You may not need anything extra. On an iPhone, the **Notes** app has a built-in document scanner: start a new note, choose **Scan Documents**, capture the pages, and then share or save the scan as a PDF. On Android, the **Google Drive** app includes a **Scan** option that saves pages straight to Drive as a PDF. These work well if you already use those apps. The browser tool is handy when you want the same steps on any phone or laptop, want to turn photos you took earlier into a PDF, or prefer that the pages stay on your device. ## Make the scanned PDF smaller [Open Reduce File Size](https://filevale.com/reduce-file-size/) Scanned pages are photos, so a long scan can be too large for an email or an upload form. Reduce File Size recompresses the pages of a PDF at the quality you pick. If the file can't get any smaller, you are told so and the original is kept. You can also use [Compress PDF](/compress-pdf/); the guide on [compressing a PDF for email](/guides/compress-pdf-for-email/) explains the trade-offs. Scanned a document in two sessions? Combine the PDFs with [Merge PDF](/merge-pdf/). Before you share a scan of something sensitive, [PDF Privacy Scan](/privacy-scan/) shows the metadata, emails, phone, card and IBAN numbers it finds in the file's text. ## What Scan to PDF can't do Pages are saved as images inside the PDF, so the text can't be selected or searched. Text recognition (OCR) is not included in the web version, and Filevale doesn't offer an OCR tool. If you need to copy text out of a paper document, keep that in mind before you scan. For more PDF tools, see the [PDF tools](/pdf-tools/) page. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can I scan several pages into one PDF? Yes. Scan or choose as many pages as you need, put them in order, and Scan to PDF saves them all as one PDF. The run button shows how many files will go in. ### Can I turn photos I already took into a PDF? Yes. Scan to PDF accepts JPG, PNG, WEBP and HEIC photos, including the HEIC photos an iPhone takes by default. Pages are auto-cropped and cleaned up the same way as camera scans. If you just want photos in a PDF, [HEIC to PDF](/heic-to-pdf/) and the guide on [putting multiple JPGs into one PDF](/guides/how-to-convert-multiple-jpg-to-one-pdf/) are alternatives. ### Is it free, and are my documents uploaded? It is free with no daily limits, watermarks or paid tiers, and downloading results needs a free account (Google or email). Your documents are not uploaded: the scanning and PDF creation run entirely in your browser, so the files never leave your device.