Adobe Scan
An app that turns paper into searchable PDFs with your phone camera.
What Adobe Scan does
Adobe Scan is a free scanner app from Adobe for iPhone, iPad and Android. Point your camera at a page, receipt or whiteboard and it finds the edges, cleans up the image and saves a PDF with text you can search. A paid plan adds Office export, combining files and more text recognition.
Adobe Scan does the basics very well. It spots the page, straightens it, and tidies up shadows, stains and creases before saving a PDF or JPEG. Text recognition (OCR) runs on your scans so you can search them later or copy words out, and it can pull contact details from a business card.
The free version covers everyday scanning. The catch is text recognition: the App Store listing says free OCR is limited to 5 pages, and a subscription raises that to 100. Combining scans into one file, compressing, password protection and exporting to Word, Excel or PowerPoint are part of the paid plans.
Scans save to Adobe's cloud automatically, which is handy if you already use Acrobat but less so if you want files to stay on your phone. If you mostly scan a few pages at a time and share them as PDFs, the free version is plenty. If you scan long documents and need the text, compare it with a scanner that includes OCR in a one-time purchase.
Alternatives to Adobe Scan
Who it's for
Skip it if: People who need OCR on long documents without paying. Anyone who wants scans to stay only on their phone.
Pricing
Free planScanning is free. The App Store lists Adobe Scan Plus from $4.99 a month and Premium at $9.99 a month, with yearly options too. Premium adds Office export, combining, compressing and more text recognition.
Prices can vary by country. Checked 17 Oct 2026.
What people like
- Free to download and scan
- Clean, accurate edge detection
- Works on iPhone, iPad and Android
- Fits with Acrobat for signing and filling forms
Watch out for
- Free OCR is limited to 5 pages, per the App Store listing
- Combining files and Office export need a subscription
- Scans save to Adobe's cloud automatically
Want a scanner that files things your way? Build your own.
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Try this idea: “a simple scanner where I snap receipts and papers, it saves them as PDFs, and I sort them into folders like taxes and school”
Questions people ask
Is Adobe Scan free?
Yes. You can scan and save PDFs for free. Paid plans add extras like combining files and exporting to Office formats.
Does Adobe Scan have OCR?
Yes. It recognizes text so you can search and copy it. The App Store listing says the free version covers 5 pages of text recognition, and a subscription raises that to 100.
Can Adobe Scan export to Word?
Yes, with a paid plan. Export to Word, Excel and PowerPoint is a Premium feature.
Is Adobe Scan on Android?
Yes. It's on Google Play as well as the App Store for iPhone and iPad.