The document scanner: paper in, one sealed PDF out

The short answer

The vault’s scanner turns paper into a PDF that is sealed the moment it is saved. You don’t get a photo of each page in your camera roll and a PDF in Files to clean up later. The scanning guide walks through doing a whole pile of mail; this page is about what you end up with.

Whose scanner it is

Sealed scans with Apple’s own document scanner, which finds the edges of the page, straightens it and captures several pages in a row, and Sealed turns the pages into one PDF in your vault.

That matters because it is the same tool many people already know from Notes. When you scan a document in Notes, it is saved as a PDF in the note. Edge finding, straightening and the shutter that fires by itself all behave the way you expect.

Where to start a scan

The plus button at the top of the vault opens a menu with Photos, Files & Documents, Private Camera, Scan Document, Voice Memo, From Computer (Wi-Fi), From Contacts, New Note and New Record.

Pick Scan Document, hold the phone over the page, and add as many pages as the document has. Tap Save when the last page is in.

What the file looks like

A scan is named Scan followed by the date and time it was made.

Each scanned page goes into the PDF as a compressed JPEG at US Letter width, so a 10-page scan is megabytes, not hundreds of megabytes.

A PDF or other file that is not a photo, video or audio file becomes a document in the vault, with a thumbnail that is sealed too, and you find it under Documents.

Rename the scan after saving, so you can find “Lease 2026” later instead of a date. The name is sealed along with the pages. Names, notes and the fields of a record are sealed with your vault key too, not just the photos.

Nothing left behind

A scan is written to a temporary PDF that Sealed imports into the vault and then deletes.

Compare that with scanning in Files, where the scan is saved to the folder you pick, unlocked. In the Files app you can scan a document with the camera, choose where to keep it and tap Save.

Paper that has numbers you need often

A passport or a bank card is something you look up, not just keep. For those, a record is often handier than a scan, because the number is right there to copy. An ID / Passport record has fields for a full name, a document number and an expiry date, and you can add fields of your own. The records page shows the kinds.

Many people keep both: the scan as proof, the record for daily use.

After you scan

• Shred the paper you don’t need. A sealed scan is easier to keep safe than a drawer of letters.
• Keep originals you must keep. Some documents only count as the paper itself.
• Back up. Backup carries your photos, videos and documents, your stacks, your notes and your records.

Where Sealed helps, and where it doesn’t

It helps you turn paper into a sealed PDF in one step, with no copy left in Photos or Files. A scan is written to a temporary PDF that Sealed imports into the vault and then deletes.

It doesn’t do these things:

• Read the words on the page. A scan is pictures of pages in a PDF. Each scanned page goes into the PDF as a compressed JPEG at US Letter width, so a 10-page scan is megabytes, not hundreds of megabytes.
• Scan on the free plan. On the free plan you can add photos. Videos, documents, notes and records need Sealed Pro.
• Run on every device. Scan Document is offered only on a device whose camera can run Apple’s document scanner. The document storage guide lists other ways in.