How to Scan on Android: Find the Right App and Scan Like a Pro

Remember those clunky scanners and fax machines? Seems they’re steadily becoming a thing of the past. The need to scan, sign, and share documents isn’t going anywhere, though—in fact, it’s becoming more popular by the day. That’s why learning to scan with your phone is a must. The good news is scanning itself is super easy! The bad news is figuring out which tool in the sea of tools is the best for you might be tricky. In this post, we’ll walk you through how to scan on Android and help you decide if you need a special app for scanning.

How to Scan on Android

So let’s get straight to it: for those whose scanning needs are very basic, Google Drive has a solid scanning feature. It’s pretty accurate with detecting document boundaries and the scan quality is decent, plus everything you scan will automatically go into your Google Drive. What’s also great is most Android devices come with Google Drive preinstalled, so there’s no need to install anything extra.

How to Scan on Android Using Google Drive

Open Google Drive: Tap the app icon on your device to get started.
Start a new scan: Press the “+” button in the bottom-right corner, then select “Scan” from the menu that appears.
Capture your document: Position your device’s camera over the document. Make sure it’s well-lit and occupies most of the camera frame. Snap a picture using the shutter button.
Adjust your scan: Use the options to crop, rotate, or change the color setting of the scan to your liking.
Save your scan: Confirm your adjustments by tapping the checkmark, and then your document will save as a PDF in Google Drive.
Organize for storage: Rename, move to a folder, or share your scan directly from the app.

How to Manage Documents on Android Like a Pro

As great as it is to scan with Google Drive, if you’re a die-hard Android user, your Google Drive is likely brimming with personal items. If you scan for work, you’ll be mixing them with your work-related documents which might not be the best idea.

Here’s why it’s smart to keep your personal and work files separate:

Better focus: try not to get distracted from a sales report by your child’s art, we dare you.
Organization: when you keep them separately, they’re much easier to find.
Better work-life balance: you don’t want to see sales reports next to family messages—it will spoil the mood, whether you’re gearing up for work or winding down to relax and reminisce. Maintaining clear boundaries helps keep both areas of your life harmonious.

A separate app for work-related documents or major events like selling a house will prevent you from being tempted to finish off a report during a family get-together or flip through your little one’s drawings while you’re supposed to be working.

And if you’re a frequent scanner dealing with lots of paperwork, investing in a robust scanning app might benefit you big time!

Why Using a Scanning App Might Be Superior

Specialized scanning apps allow you to choose resolution and scan 300 dpi which is often required for applications and professional file repositories.
A solid scanning app will offer a wider range of editing and e-signing options.
Top scanning apps will have awesome AI tricks to improve the quality of your scans so that they look like you have a high-end scanner machine.

How to Choose the Best Scanning App to Scan on Android

Choosing a scanning app might be tough—we’ve long crossed into the choice overload territory.

We say go for one that has the most to offer for your goals and follow the minimal possible investment principle. If you’re bothering to use a separate app, you might as well get the best deal.

For a Die-Hard Scanner and Document Manager

If you scan a lot for work and beyond, get a kick from keeping paperwork organized, and often deal with sensitive documents, iScanner Pro might be your go-to.

It allows you to choose a scanning resolution, including 300 dpi.
Pradeo Security named it the safest scanning app on Android.
You’ll have access to a whole bunch of incredible AI-powered features like content search, document summarizer, finger remover, and so much more.
It has top-notch safety features like the Safe, remote logout, and a decoy folder.

The subscription will pay for itself many times over in time saved and frustrations avoided. Plus, a whole-year access costs about as much as a large pizza so it’s not like you need to shell out.

How to Scan on Android with iScanner

Install the iScanner app.
Open iScanner and tap the plus icon in the center.
Point your camera at the document. The shutter will automatically go off once the AI detects the best shot.
You can go ahead and tap Save if you’re happy or you could play around with the AI Refiner if you want to give your scan a professional makeover.

If you don’t scan much but still want to keep it separate from your Google Drive

For the best PDF editor in the free version

If you only scan occasionally and don’t foresee any important applications ahead, you could stick with the iScanner’s free version which is still the heavy-weight champion in terms of what it has to offer: 300 dpi res, the most generous PDF editor in the free version (allowing you to add page numbers automatically, add and edit images, create watermarks, reorder and extract pages), cross-platform cloud sync, and more.

For the best OCR in the free version

If what you’re looking for in a mobile scanner is OCR, you might enjoy the vFlat app—it has an excellent OCR feature with a very generous daily limit. It doesn’t allow you to do much in terms of editing but the scanning quality is great!

For photos

If you mostly scan photos, you might like the PhotoScan app. It’s been designed to scan pictures and knows how to deal with glare and reflections on glossy photo paper. Plus, it’s very good at preserving the natural colors and doesn’t create a color cast.

If you’d like more guidance on how to choose the best scanning app, we’ve got a separate post on that. One good thing about choice overload is that there’s something for everyone whether you want to digitize a shoebox of old photos or edit a table in your monthly report on the go—you’ll find your perfect tool!

Want to try iScanner Pro for free without having to sign up for a free trial? Find out how here.