Scan to PDF on Windows 11 and Mac — Free, No Software to Install

You need a document in PDF format, you're sitting at your computer, and you don't want to install scanning software. Good news: both Windows 11 and macOS have built-in scanning capabilities. And if you don't have a physical scanner, a browser-based tool handles the conversion with no download.

Windows 11: Three Scanning Methods

Method 1: Windows Scan App (With Physical Scanner)

If you have a flatbed scanner or all-in-one printer connected to your PC:

1. Open Windows Scan from the Start menu. If it's not installed, get it free from the Microsoft Store.
2. Select your scanner from the dropdown.
3. Set the File type to PDF.
4. Click Scan. The scan saves to your Pictures > Scans folder.

For multi-page documents, scan each page and they save as individual PDFs. Then combine them using the PDF Merger in your browser.

Method 2: Windows Fax and Scan (Legacy, Still Works)

The old Windows Fax and Scan app still ships with Windows 11. Search for "Windows Fax and Scan" in the Start menu. It's less polished than Windows Scan but offers more advanced settings like DPI control and color depth options. Useful if you need scans at specific resolutions for archival or print purposes.

Method 3: Browser-Based (No Scanner Hardware)

No physical scanner? No problem:

1. Photograph your document pages with your phone camera.
2. Transfer the photos to your PC (USB cable, email to yourself, OneDrive, Google Drive, or AirDrop to a Mac then share to PC).
3. Open the Multi-Page Scanner in Edge, Chrome, or Firefox.
4. Upload the photos. Correct perspective on each page. Generate PDF.

The larger screen on a desktop or laptop makes the perspective correction step much easier than doing it on a phone. You can precisely drag the corner handles to the exact edges of the document.

Mac: Three Scanning Methods

Method 1: Preview (With Physical Scanner)

Preview is not just a PDF viewer. It's also a scanning app:

1. Open Preview.
2. Go to File > Import from Scanner.
3. Select your scanner. Set format to PDF.
4. Click Scan.

Method 2: Image Capture (With Physical Scanner)

Image Capture offers more control than Preview:

1. Open Image Capture (in Applications or search with Spotlight).
2. Select your scanner in the sidebar.
3. Set Format to PDF and choose your scan settings (DPI, color/grayscale).
4. Click Scan.

Method 3: Combine Photos Into PDF With Preview

If you have document photos (from your phone or camera) and want to combine them into a PDF on Mac without any third-party tool:

1. Open all your document images in Preview.
2. In the sidebar, select all pages (Cmd+A).
3. Go to File > Print.
4. In the print dialog, click the PDF dropdown (bottom left) and select Save as PDF.

This creates a multi-page PDF from your images. It's built into macOS and requires nothing extra. The limitation: no perspective correction. If your photos are angled, the pages will be angled in the PDF. Use the browser-based scanner for perspective correction.

Comparison: Desktop Scanning Options

Method	Needs Hardware	Multi-Page	Perspective Fix	Platform
Windows Scan	✗ Yes (scanner)	~Manual merge after	✗ No	Windows only
Mac Preview Import	✗ Yes (scanner)	~Manual merge after	✗ No	Mac only
Mac Preview Combine	✓ No (photos only)	✓ Yes	✗ No	Mac only
Browser Scanner	✓ No (photos only)	✓ Yes, with reorder	✓ 4-corner drag	Any OS
NAPS2 (free software)	✗ Yes (scanner)	✓ Yes	✗ No	Windows/Mac/Linux

The Phone-to-Desktop Bridge

Most "scan to PDF on desktop" workflows start on your phone (because that's where the camera is) and finish on your computer (because that's where you need the file). Here's the fastest transfer path for each setup:

Phone	Computer	Fastest Transfer Method
iPhone	Mac	AirDrop (instant, wireless)
iPhone	Windows	iCloud Photos, email, or USB cable
Android	Windows	USB cable, Google Photos, or email
Android	Mac	Google Photos, email, or USB cable
Any phone	Any computer	Email the photos to yourself (works everywhere)

Once the photos are on your computer, open the browser-based scanner and process them. The desktop screen makes it easier to precisely position the perspective correction handles, especially for multi-page documents.

After Scanning on Desktop

Same tools work in the desktop browser:

• Compress the PDF for email
• Extract text via OCR from scanned pages
• Merge with other PDFs
• Add page numbers for multi-page submissions
• Split out specific pages

For phone-specific guides, see our iPhone scanning guide and Android scanning guide.