How to Scan on Android? – Getting Started
Gone are the days when many people owned scanners. Nowadays, you need a phone with a camera.
Our tiny pocket computers have evolved into all-in-one life organizers and productivity devices, capable of anything from money transfers to audio recording and even airplane boarding.
Our phones can do so much that I’d estimate that few people use all of their mobile-productivity capabilities. One of those capabilities is scanning. You may be wondering how to scan on Android.
A quick and easy on-the-go document scanner is one often-overlooked method your phone may save you time and frustration.
Google provides many excellent tools for scanning and organizing physical papers—and both may be pretty useful when you need to preserve or share any document, card, or receipt.
How to Scan on Android?
Our initial Android scanning method is part of an app you most likely already have on your phone: Google Drive.
The drive features an out-of-sight scanning option for scanning documents with your smartphone’s camera and saving them as PDF files in your cloud storage.
You may add a straight Scan shortcut to your home screen by tapping and holding any space, selecting Widgets, and then searching for “Drive Scan.”
If you’re using a phone running Android 7.1 or higher and a custom launcher such as Action Launcher or Nova Launcher, you may access the same straight shortcut within the main Drive icon by tapping and holding it.
When you open Drive’s Scan command, you’ll see what appears to be a standard camera interface.
Google Drive
To scan documents with Android, you must have Google Drive installed. The software is usually pre-installed on Android smartphones; you may get it from the Google Play store if it isn’t.
1. Open Google Drive and press the + button.

How to Scan on Android – New file
2. Select Scan from the Create New tab.

How to Scan on Android – Scan
3. When you’re ready to capture the image, place the phone camera over the document and press the Shutter button.

How to Scan on Android – Capture the images
4. To keep the scan, tap the checkmark, and to retake it, tap the back arrow.
5. Tap the + symbol to add more photographs to your Scan, save to finish, and submit your document to Google Drive.
6. There are other options to crop, scan, rotate, or change the color of the Scan.
7. When scanning your documents, enter a file name for your new PDF and choose a folder to save it in. Then, select Save.
When you’re finished, click the checkmark button, and there you have it: Your Scan is finished. Hit the checkmark button again to save the document to your Drive storage on the next page.
Then tap the confirmation notification if you wish to distribute the PDF by email, messaging, or any other method.
Google Keep
Google’s cross-platform note-taking app, Google Keep, can extract text from any scanned document and save it as regular text on your phone.
- Take a photo of the paper, open it and tap the image you saved.
- Tap “Grab image text” in the three-dot menu on the top-right corner, and every word will be extracted and shown as text within your note.
The “Now on Tap” Feature in Android 6.0
Android phones running Android 6.0 Marshmallow have a “Now on Tap” function that immediately reads QR codes. To utilize “Now on Tap” to read QR Codes, follow these steps:
- Install and launch the Google App.
- Enable now by opting in.
- Select “Screen search” from the “Settings” menu.
- Enable the top toggle.
- Hold the Home button on your Android smartphone to launch “Now on Tap” and scan QR codes with your camera.
If you don’t want to utilize “Now on Tap,” you can download a third-party QR Code scanning program.
Google Lens
This super-easy way to scan QR Codes without an app allows you to watch a QR Code in the below manner:
- Hold the “Home” button and open the Assistant.
- Depending on the Assistant version, the Lens button may or may not automatically show up. If it does not, tap on the row dots at the bottom, and then the Lens button will appear on the left-hand side.
If you haven’t used Lens before, you’ll need to enable it to use your camera. Once that’s finished or if you’ve already set this up, direct your camera to the QR Code, and it will scan it.
Adobe Scan
Tiny Scanner, Microsoft Office Lens, Genius Scan, TurboScan, CamScanner, and more scanner software are available, but Adobe Scan covers all the essentials in its free edition.
It’s simple to navigate and use, with a bit of a learning curve. If you haven’t already created a free Adobe ID, you must create one using its app.

How to Scan on Android – Adobe scan
Adobe Scan offers a paid in-app subscription to access extra features and settings. On the other hand, the free version contains enough features to meet the demands of most users.
Here’s how to use Adobe Scan:
- Log in to the app with a Google, Facebook, or Adobe ID.
- Tap the screen or the shutter button when you’re ready to scan the document. The app detects the borders and snaps a photo for you.
- Drag the handles to alter the edges, then hit Continue.
- Hit the More icon to see the new file’s choices to save it to Google Drive.
- Copy it to your device.
- Print it.
- Delete it, and more.
Scan the QR code on your Android phone or tablet

Scan the QR code on your Android phone or tablet
- You can read QR codes with the default camera or Google Lens app on an Android device.
- Your Android device should scan any QR code as long as it has a camera.
- After watching a QR code with your Android device, you can open or share the URL.
Check If Android Camera Automatically Scans QR Codes
To check if the Android camera is capable of this, perform the following tests:

Check If Android Camera Automatically Scans QR Codes
- Open the Camera app and steadily scan the QR Code for 2-3 seconds.
- Scanning-enabled notifications will show.ng is enabled.
- Open Settings and enable QR Code scanning if nothing happens.
- Unfortunately, if QR Codes aren’t an option in your settings, your device won’t be able to scan QR Codes natively. But don’t panic. You’ll only need to download a third-party QR Code reader app.
Conclusion:
That will be all, folks. We tried our best to furnish every possible information in this article to help you understand how to scan on Android.
See Also
Can You Use Airpods With Android?
How to Record a Phone Call on Android?
How to Save YouTube Videos to Camera Roll?