How to scan documents on an Android phone
Any Android phone running Android 8.0 or later can scan documents as well as a desk scanner, as long as the app does the fiddly part: finding the page, squaring it up and cleaning it. Here's how to scan on Android with ScanMojo, which is free to scan and export with and keeps your scans on the phone.
- 1
Install ScanMojo from Google Play
It's free, with no account to create. Open it and allow camera access when asked.
- 2
Tap Scan and hold the phone over the page
The camera opens in Document mode and outlines the page. With Auto-Capture on, it takes the shot by itself once the camera is steady.
- 3
Keep going for more pages
Turn to the next page and hold steady again; every page goes into the same document. Tap Done when you've finished.
- 4
Check the pages and save
Crop or rotate a page, or switch between Original, Auto, Gray and B&W. Tap Save; ScanMojo names the document from the text on its first page.
- 5
Share it as a PDF
Open the document and tap Share › PDF, then pick any app on your phone's share sheet: email, messages, or your cloud storage.
Samsung Galaxy, Pixel and other Android phones
ScanMojo works the same on any phone with Android 8.0 or later, whoever made it. The scanning, clean-up and text recognition run on the phone itself, so an older or cheaper phone gets the same clean pages, only a little slower.
If your phone's own camera or a cloud storage app already has a document mode, that's fine for a quick one-off. A scanner app adds automatic clean-up, search across every scan you've made, folders, and more ways to export, such as images or plain text.
Fingers, staples, shadows and curled pages
Holding a page flat with your thumb usually leaves the thumb in the scan. Remove fingers & staples erases fingertips, staples and punch holes from the page edges for you, and Straighten lines flattens text that curves near a fold or a book's spine.
Shadows are evened out too, so a page scanned under a single lamp still comes out white. It helps to scan near a window or under even ceiling light.
Keeping scans private
Scans are processed and stored on your phone and never leave it unless you share them or turn on sync to Google Drive; there's no account. IDs and passports go in folders that open only with your fingerprint, face or screen lock, and scans are kept out of device backups.
Questions
Is ScanMojo free on Android?
Yes. Scanning, clean-up, text recognition and PDF, image and text export are free, with no watermark, no scan limit and no ads. ScanMojo Pro is an optional subscription for signing, merging and Word or Excel export.
Which Android version do I need?
Android 8.0 or later, on any make of phone.
Can I scan without an internet connection?
Yes. Scanning, clean-up, text recognition and search all run on the phone, so they work offline.
Can I turn photos I already took into a PDF?
Yes. Use Import Photo or Import File to bring in images or PDFs, clean them up the same way, and share them as one PDF.
