Scan files as PDFs with your mobile device

Need a PDF of a physical document, but can’t find a scanner?

Just scan it using the Google Drive app and your device’s camera. Your scanned document is stored in Drive as a PDF.

Examples

  • Scan receipts, customer files, and other important documents on the go.
  • Create instant PDFs of your paper documents.
  • Keep online PDFs that you can access from any device.

Scan a document

Important: Google respects your privacy and doesn’t use your Drive content for advertising. Learn more about how Drive protects your privacy.

  1. Open the Google Drive app Google Drive.
  2. At the bottom right, tap Camera .
  3. Point your device’s camera at a document.
    • A blue line outlines the document. This indicates where the picture will be cropped.
  4. Take a photo of the document that you'd like to scan.
    • Optional: You can toggle automatic capture by choosing between Manual and Auto capture.
  5. Adjust your scanned document.
    • Adjust scan area: Tap Crop & Rotate .
    • Adjust the colors, or make image grayscale: Tap Filter .
    • Erase stains, fingers, and more: Tap Clean .
    • Scan another page: Tap Add Plus.
    • Retake the photo: Tap Retake .
    • Delete a page: Tap Delete .
  6. Tap Done.
  7. Create your own file name or select a suggested title.
  8. To save the scanned document in a specific format, select either .pdf or .jpg.
    • Optional: To select the Drive folder where you’ll save the document, tap Location.
  9. To save the finished document, tap Save.

Add a scanning shortcut to your Home screen

To set up a shortcut to scan documents:

  1. Open your Android phone or tablet’s widgets.
  2. Find the "Drive scan" widget.
  3. Touch and hold the widget.
  4. Drag it onto your Home screen. You may be asked to select an account.
  5. Choose the folder you’ll save documents inside. If you want to create a folder, tap New Folder New folder.
  6. Tap Select. You’ll see the folder name in the widget.

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