How to take photos and scan documents using your iPhone on your Mac

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to use the Continuity Camera feature to add photos and scans to a note or document on your Mac using the camera of your iPhone or iPad.

Apple's Craig Federighi introducing the Continuity Camera feature

The Continuity Camera feature lets you take a picture or scan a document using your iPhone or iPad camera, and make it appear instantly on your Mac. This happens without the need to sync or manually transfer anything between devices.

Note that the ability to use your iPhone as your Mac’s webcam or Apple TV’s camera is also a part of the Continuity Camera feature. But we’ve already explained those in dedicated tutorials, so in this one, we’ll stick to taking photos and scanning documents.

Prerequisites

You need to meet these requirements before you can use your iPhone or iPad to take photos and scan documents for your Mac:

  • Mac running macOS Mojave or later
  • iPhone or iPad with iOS 12 or later
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth must be enabled on both devices (but keep in mind that the devices don’t need to be necessarily connected to a Wi-Fi network in order for Continuity Camera to work)
  • You must be signed in to the same Apple ID/iCloud account on both devices
  • Your Mac and iPhone/iPad must be near each other
  • Go to iOS Settings > General > AirPlay & Handoff and make sure the switch for Continuity Camera is on

Insert photos or scans in Mac documents using your iPhone or iPad

1) Open a note or document on your Mac. You can use the Apple Notes app or the Pages app.

2) Position the cursor on the desired spot in the document where you’d like to insert an image.

3) Right-click inside the document and select Take Photo or Scan Documents under your iPhone or iPad’s name.

Use iPhone to take photo to scan document on Mac

If you’ve multiple iOS devices, you’ll see the Take Photo and Scan Documents options listed separately underneath each device heading.

Alternatively, you can also use the top menu bar, but the process slightly differs based on the app you are using. For instance:

  • In Pages, click Insert > Insert from iPhone > Take Photo or Scan Documents.
  • In Notes, click File > Insert from iPhone > Take Photo or Scan Documents.
Insert from iPhone option in menu bar of Mac app

4) The Camera or scanner will open automatically on your iOS device. After that:

  • Take Photo: Tap the shutter button to take an image with your iOS device’s camera and tap Use Photo to insert it into the document open on your Mac.
Taking photo on iPhone for Mac document
  • Scan Documents: Position the document in the iPhone or iPad scanner viewfinder, and it will scan automatically. If not, hit the shutter button. If you’re happy with the results, tap Save or Keep Scan to add it to the document on your Mac. The basics are similar to scanning in iOS Notes or Files apps.
Using iPhone to scan for Mac document

Extra info: In addition to taking photos and scans, you can also use your iPhone or iPad’s touchscreen to add drawings to your Mac’s document. This is part of the separately named Continuity Sketch feature. The steps are similar to what we have explained above. Just choose Add Sketch after right-clicking on the document. Now, draw using your finger or Apple Pencil, and it will appear on your Mac once you finish.

On a related note: How to mark up documents on your Mac with iPhone or iPad using your Apple Pencil or finger