# Scan Documents — Scan documents to PDF on Mac with your iPhone

Scan paper with your iPhone or iPad camera, or combine photos of documents, into one searchable PDF. Part of OneMacTools, 151 private tools in one native Mac app (macOS 26 or later); category: PDF. Runs on your Mac; nothing is uploaded.

Click Scan with iPhone, and your iPhone or iPad opens its document scanner through Continuity Camera. Each page is straightened and cropped, then sent to your Mac. Scan more pages, add photos or PDFs you already have, drag them into order, and save one PDF with an invisible text layer so you can search, select and copy the text.

Page: https://www.onemactools.com/tools/scan-documents · Download: https://www.onemactools.com/download · Pricing: https://www.onemactools.com/pricing

## How to use it
1. **Start a scan.** Click Scan with iPhone… and choose your iPhone or iPad. Its camera opens; choose Scan Documents and capture each page.
2. **Add more if you need.** Scan again for more pages, or drop in photos and PDFs you already have. Everything is combined into one PDF.
3. **Put the pages in order.** Drag the items in the list into the order you want the pages to appear.
4. **Name it and choose OCR.** In the right-hand panel, type a file name and leave Make searchable (OCR) on to add a hidden text layer.
5. **Save.** Click Save PDF. The PDF is saved in a dated folder in Downloads › OneMacTools; open it with the Preview (eye) button or Show in Finder.

## Options
- **Make searchable (OCR):** On by default. Reads the text on each page with on-device text recognition and adds an invisible text layer, so you can search, select and copy it. Pages that already contain text are left as they are.
- **File name:** The name of the PDF. Leave it empty and it's called “Scan” followed by the date and time.

## Tips
- Lay the paper on a dark, plain surface in good light. The scanner finds the page edges more reliably and the text recognition is more accurate.
- Scan both sides of a two-sided form in one go, then drag the pages into order before saving.
- Give the file a useful name, like “Tenancy agreement signed”, so it's easy to find later in Spotlight.
- Photos you add are placed as pages sized like a 200 dpi scan, so a phone photo doesn't turn into a poster-sized page.
- If the scan is crooked, run it through Straighten & Repair PDF afterwards.

## Questions
**How do I scan a document to my Mac with my iPhone?**
Click Scan with iPhone…, pick your iPhone, choose Scan Documents and photograph each page. The pages arrive in OneMacTools straight away, ready to save as one PDF.

**Why doesn't my iPhone show up in the Scan with iPhone menu?**
Continuity Camera needs both devices signed in to the same Apple Account, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on and the phone nearby and unlocked.

**Can I scan without a scanner?**
Yes. Your iPhone or iPad acts as the scanner: it finds the page edges and straightens the page before sending it to your Mac.

**Can I search the text in my scanned PDF?**
Yes, with Make searchable (OCR) on. The text is recognised on your Mac and added as an invisible layer, so Spotlight and Preview can find words in it.

**Can I combine scans with photos or PDFs I already have?**
Yes. Drop in images or PDFs alongside your scans; every page of each PDF is included, in the order shown in the list.

**Can I scan a multi-page document into one PDF?**
Yes. Scan all the pages in one session or in several, and they're saved together as a single PDF.