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How to scan text on an iPhone
In This Article
If you want to quickly copy text, then the iPhone’s scanner tool is very useful. Here’s how it works.
Fairly often, you might find yourself having to copy physical text in order to get a digital copy. It can be quite time-consuming and tedious to do, but fortunately your iPhone has a solution; you can use it to copy physical text and paste it into your notes just with the use of its camera. This guide shows you how to scan text in the Notes app.
What you’ll need:
The Short Version
How to scan text on an iPhone: Step-by-step
Step1
Open the Notes app
Start off by opening the Notes app, which you should find on your iPhone’s home screen.
Step2
Start a new note, or open an existing note
Once you’re inside, simply start a new note or open one of your existing note to which you would like to add scanned text.
Step3
Tap on the camera icon at the bottom of the page
At the bottom of each note, you will see a camera icon. Tap on this.
Step4
Select ‘Scan Text’
After you’ve tapped the camera icon, you’ll be presented with a menu of options. Tap on ‘Scan Text’.
Step5
Now you can select the text you want to copy
Now, using your camera, you can aim at the text you’d like to copy in order to insert it into your note.
Troubleshooting
There are plenty of reasons why you might want to scan physical text for digital usage, especially if you’re filling in a online form for example.
The scan text feature came with iOS 15, so your phone must run this operating system – eligible devices are those from the iPhone 6S and upwards.
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Peter is a mobile tech writer, covering the latest smartphones, tablets, and wearables in news stories, reviews, and features. Previously he worked as a business researcher for Which?, analysing the m…
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
