From scan to email: steps to email your scanned documents

To scan documents to email, use your phone's Notes app (iPhone), Google Drive (Android), or a scanner app like Adobe Scan to capture and save as a PDF, then attach to any email. On desktop, scan via your printer or Windows Scan and attach manually. Gmail and Outlook mobile apps also have a built-in camera function that scans and attaches documents in one step.

Emailing scanned documents was one of the earliest ways of going paperless (much before eSignatures became mainstream). When you scan and send the document directly from the copier, it’s called the scan to email process.

Are you aware that many office printers, such as Xerox or HP, have a convenient scan to email feature? It lets you effortlessly send scanned documents straight to your email without any hassle.

Today, apart from the scan to send method, there are many other ways to scan and share documents via email. In this article, we will deep-dive into the following topics:

Methods to scan documents and email them

Here's a quick overview of every way to scan and email a document, organized by device:

1. iPhone/iPad (Notes app): Scan in Notes, save as PDF, share via Mail or any email app.

2. Android (Google Drive): Tap + > Scan, save to Drive, attach to email.

3. Mobile email apps: In Gmail or Outlook mobile, use the built-in camera/attachment function to scan directly into a new email.

4. Scanner apps (Adobe Scan, CamScanner): Capture, crop, and convert to PDF, then attach to email.

5. Printer/Scanner: Use scan-to-email directly from the printer interface, or scan to your computer and attach manually.

For most documents, save as PDF — it preserves formatting and is universally accessible.

Key tips for scanning documents to email

- Use PDF format: PDF preserves layout and is readable on any device. JPEG works for simple images but can lose quality.

- Crop before sending: All major scanner apps let you adjust the scan boundary — cropping to the document edge improves readability and reduces file size.

- Check file size: Email providers typically cap attachments at 25MB. Compress large PDFs before sending.

- Security caution: Avoid scanning highly sensitive documents (e.g., passports, financial records) through consumer cloud scanning apps unless the app offers enterprise-grade encryption.

How to mail documents and should you use the scan to email feature of your printer?

If you’re sending an important document directly to an email, it’s not advisable to use the scan to email feature of your printer. This is mainly down to the lack of tracking capabilities you have from your printer, so you won’t know if your recipient has received the scan. You also don’t receive an error message if the email address was incorrectly entered, if the recipient’s inbox is full, or if the email address has changed.

So, use the scan to email method only when you have a way of manually confirming with the recipient, via call, text message, or email, that they have received the scanned document.

Other issues with the scan to email method are:

• The recipient cannot respond directly to the scan to email message as it is sent from a “no-reply” email address.
• It is difficult to customize and type out long email messages.

When you scan to email, where does it go? The email is sent from a no-reply email address and goes directly to the email address you’ve typed into the printer.

How to use your printer’s scan to email function?

Every stand-alone scanner or multifunction printer has a slightly different bunch of steps to execute the scan to email process. But, overall, here are the broad steps that need to be followed, across devices, to scan and send documents:

Time Required 10 minutes

1. Place your physical document on the scanner glass or into the Automatic Document Feeder. Select Scan to Email from the digital menu.
2. Hit the Scan button.
3. Choose the options under Select Photo Size to resize the scanned image before sending it.
4. Enter the recipient’s email address.
5. Click the Send or Start button to send the file.
6. Once the file is scanned and sent, you will receive a confirmation message.

True that the scan to email method is not the most reliable one. 

Luckily, there are many other ways to digitize and send documents to recipients situated anywhere in the world. 

Here are the steps to scan, sign and send a document to a third party. 

How to send scanned documents by email ( + sign and send it)

General steps

1. Scan 
2. Turn on the scanner and place the document into the scanner feeder or flatbed.
3. Use the Preview app (for Mac) or Scan (for Windows) application to scan the document.
4. Sign
5. Open Signeasy on the web browser.
6. Click on Sign Document in the top left corner.
7. Choose the scanned file.
8. Hit the Signature button.
9. Click on the portion of the scanned document where you want the signature to appear.
10. Click Finish.
11. Send
12. Hit the email button.
13. Enter the email address, subject, and message in the dialogue box.
14. Hit Send.

Using Gmail

1. Scan 
2. Turn on the scanner and place the document into the scanner feeder or flatbed.
3. Use the Preview app (for Mac) or Scan (for Windows) application to scan the document.
4. Sign
5. Open Signeasy on the web browser.
6. Click on Sign Document in the top left corner.
7. Choose the scanned file.
8. Hit the Signature button.
9. Click on the portion of the scanned document where you want the signature to appear.
10. Click Finish.
11. Send
12. Open your Gmail account in your web browser or email application.
13. Click the Compose button to create a new email.
14. Click the Attach button and select the scanned and signed document or drag and drop the file into the body of the email (desktop only).
15. Enter the recipient’s email address from your address book and any other necessary information.
16. Click Send to send the email with the attached scanned document.You can also sign scanned documents in Gmail using Signeasy's native integration, without leaving your inbox.

Using Outlook

1. Scan 
2. Turn on the scanner and place the document into the scanner feeder or flatbed.
3. Use the Preview app (for Mac) or Scan (for Windows) application to scan the document.
4. Sign
5. Open Signeasy on the web browser.
6. Click on Sign Document in the top left corner.
7. Choose the scanned file.
8. Hit the Signature button.
9. Click on the portion of the scanned document where you want the signature to appear.
10. Click Finish.
11. Send
12. Open your Outlook email account.
13. Click the New Email button to create a new email.
14. Click the Attach button and select the scanned and signed document from your computer, or drag and drop the file into the email.
15. Enter the recipient’s email address and any other necessary information.
16. Click Send to send the email with the attached document. With Signeasy's Outlook add-in, you can also sign and send documents directly from Outlookwithout switching between apps.`

Using Apple Mail

1. Scan 
2. Turn on the scanner and place the document into the scanner feeder or flatbed.
3. Use the Preview app (for Mac) or Scan (for Windows) application to scan the document.
4. Sign
5. Open Signeasy on the web browser.
6. Click on Sign Document in the top left corner.
7. Choose the scanned file.
8. Hit the Signature button.
9. Click on the portion of the scanned document where you want the signature to appear.
10. Click Finish.
11. Send
12. Scan your document using a scanning device.
13. Save the scanned document to your computer.
14. Open your Apple Mail account.
15. Click the New Message” button to create a new email.
16. Drag and drop the scanned and signed document from your computer into the email. Alternatively, you can click the Attach button and select the scanned document from your computer.
17. Enter the recipient’s email address.
18. Hit Send to send the email with the attached document.

How to scan and send with your iPhone/Android (+ sign and email it)

1. Scan
2. Place the image on a flat and well-lit surface.
3. Use the Google Drive (for Android) or Notes (for iOS) app to scan the documents.
4. Save the scanned document in a familiar folder.
5. Sign
6. Open the Signeasy app.
7. Click on the + icon in the bottom right corner of the app.
8. Select the file to be signed and emailed.
9. Click Sign > Sign Yourself.
10. Tap to add annotations (signature, initials, date, time, text, etc).
11. Click on the ✓ icon in the top right corner.
12. Send
13. Click on the share icon in the top right corner.
14. Choose the email or drive that you would want to share the file. 
15. Enter the email addresses of the recipients.
16. Hit the send button.

How to sign a scanned document using Signeasy

Your best bet to remotely sign and share documents is via an eSignature solution such as Signeasy.

It is possible to sign a scanned document in just 4 easy steps.

1. Open the Signeasy app on mobile devices, desktops, or laptops.
2. Click on Sign Document > Signature.
3. Click on any document part where you want to add the annotation.
4. Click Finish.

Just want to scan? Here are all the ways you can:

No matter where you are, it’s possible to keep your important document with you in the form of scans. 

Everything from healthcare and insurance files, contracts, and joining forms to ID cards can be scanned using the following methods. Once scanned, you can use our free pdf combiner to merge multiple files into a single PDF for easy sharing:

How to scan on Android

1. Tap the + icon on the bottom right corner of the Google Drive app.
2. Hit the Scan button.
3. Place the document face-up on a flat, well-lit surface.
4. Focus your phone camera on the document, and capture the image.
5. Review the resultant image, and resize or adjust it as required. If the image isn’t clear, tap Retake to click another picture.
6. Click the + sign on the bottom left corner and repeat steps 4 and 5 until all the pages of the document are signed.

How to scan on iOS (follow the below steps to scan and email from iPhone)

1. Open the Notes app on your iOS-powered device.
2. Open a new note into which you will add the scanned image.
3. Click on the camera icon found at the bottom of your screen.
4. Place the document face-up on a flat surface with good lighting.
5. Click on Scan Documents.
6. Point your camera at the document, for the device to automatically scan it.
7. Save the resultant scanned document.

How to scan to email using Gmail or Outlook's mobile app

Both Gmail and Outlook mobile apps have a built-in document capture feature that lets you scan and attach in a single flow:

Gmail (Android/iOS):

1. Open Gmail and tap Compose.

2. Tap the attachment icon > Scan document (or use the camera).

3. Capture the document and crop to fit.

4. The scanned file auto-attaches to your draft email.

5. Add recipient and send.

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Outlook (Android/iOS):

1. Open Outlook and tap the New Mail icon.

2. Tap the attachment icon > Scan Document.

3. Capture and crop the document.

4. The file attaches automatically.

5. Complete the email and send.

How to scan on a Mac

1. Plug in and turn on your scanner and ready your documents.
2. Click on File > Import From Scanner and choose a scanner on the Preview app.
3. View the scan preview in the Import dialog box.
4. Choose scanning options such as color, document type, size, orientation, etc.
5. Click Scan.
6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 for all the pages you need to scan.

How to scan on Windows

1. In the search bar, type in Windows Scan and open the application.
2. Check if your scanner is on and properly plugged in.
3. Place the document you wish to scan on the scanner’s flatbed or into the document feeder.
4. Choose your scanner, the source location you prefer to scan from, file type, and where you would like to save the image. 
5. Click Scan, at the bottom of the screen.
6. Hit View to see the scanned file before saving it. At this point in time, you can even make edits to the scanned document.
7. Click Close to save the scanned document.

Using scanner apps: Adobe Scan, CamScanner, and others

Dedicated scanner apps offer the most control over scan quality and cropping before you email. The most widely used options are:

1. Adobe Scan (iOS/Android): Scans directly to PDF, integrates with Adobe Acrobat, and auto-detects document edges.

2. CamScanner (iOS/Android): Offers multi-page scanning, OCR text recognition, and direct email sharing.

3. Microsoft Lens (iOS/Android): Optimized for Office documents and whiteboard captures; saves to OneDrive or email directly.

After scanning, tap Share > Mail or your email app to attach and send.

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Note: This article was originally published on October 11, 2021. It has been refreshed for recency.