Samsung Galaxy: How to Scan QR Codes, Documents and Photos

Quick summary: You don’t need a scanner. Your Samsung Galaxy phone can scan documents with the camera, scan photos (and stubborn documents) with Samsung Notes, and open QR codes straight from the camera.

Turn on scanning in the camera

1. Open the Camera, tap the settings gear, and open Scanning.
2. Make sure all three scanning options are turned on.

Scan a document with the camera

1. Point the camera at the document. A Scan button (or a “T” icon) appears. Tap it.
2. On newer phones it automatically crops and straightens the page.
3. Tap add another scan to add pages, so it becomes one PDF. You can also rotate the page, apply a filter, or choose what to remove, like your fingers or a folded corner.
4. Tap Save. It saves to your phone and looks just like a real document you can share.

Scan with Samsung Notes (works for photos too)

The camera won’t always recognize a photo as something to scan. When that happens, use Samsung Notes:

1. Open Samsung Notes and create a note (or open one).
2. Tap the plus sign and choose Document scan.
3. Choose Auto to capture automatically, or Manual to take it yourself.
4. Tap Next, add more scans if you want, then adjust, filter or delete pages.
5. Save it as a PDF, or tap the three dots to save it as an image, and share it however you like.

Scan a QR code

1. Open the Camera and make sure it’s on Photo mode. It has to be on Photo.
2. Point the phone at the QR code and tap the screen.
3. Tap the link that pops up at the bottom, and it opens whatever the code points to.

My picks

• Galaxy S26 Ultra from Samsung
• Mint Mobile: $15 unlimited data, talk and text