How to scan a document into a Mac with your iPhone camera

2 min read · 7 steps · Updated 3 October 2026

Short answer

In Finder, Notes, Mail, Pages or another supported app on the Mac, Control-click where the scan should go and choose Import from iPhone, then Scan Documents. The camera opens on the iPhone. Hold it over the page, adjust the corners, tap Keep Scan and Save. The scan appears on the Mac as a PDF.

The feature is called Continuity Camera. It turns the iPhone into a scanner or camera for the Mac, with nothing to install and no cable. The scan or photo lands directly in the document or folder you are working in.

Menu names are from recent versions of macOS, where the settings app is called System Settings.

Step by step

  1. Check the basics

    Both devices need Wi-Fi and Bluetooth switched on and the same Apple Account with two-factor authentication. It works from macOS Mojave and iOS 12 on.

  2. Open a supported app on the Mac

    Finder, Notes, Mail, Messages, TextEdit, Freeform, Pages, Numbers and Keynote support it.

  3. Start the import

    Control-click (right-click) in the document, in a note, or on the desktop or in a Finder window. Choose Import from iPhone or iPad, then Scan Documents. The same commands are in the File menu, or in the Insert menu in some apps.

  4. Scan with the iPhone

    The camera opens on the iPhone. Hold it over the page. The iPhone takes the picture by itself when it recognises the page, or you tap the shutter button.

  5. Adjust and keep

    Drag the corners to fit the page and tap Keep Scan. Scan further pages in the same way.

  6. Tap Save

    The pages arrive on the Mac as one PDF, in the document or folder where you started.

  7. Take a photo instead

    Choose Take Photo in the same menu. Take the picture on the iPhone and tap Use Photo. It is inserted on the Mac as an image.

Good to know

If the menu entry is greyed out or missing, check that Bluetooth is on for both devices and that the iPhone is unlocked and near the Mac.

For a tidy result, lay the page flat on a dark surface with light from the side, and hold the phone parallel to the page.

To do it all on the phone: how to scan a document with an iPhone.

Afterwards on the Mac: how to fill out a PDF form on a Mac and how to make a PDF smaller on a Mac with Preview.

In short: Control-click in a supported app, Import from iPhone, Scan Documents, scan on the phone, Keep Scan, Save. The PDF appears on the Mac.

Sources
  • Apple Support: Continuity Camera: Use your iPhone or iPad to scan documents or take a picture on your Mac

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