Preview is Apple’s built-in app for opening and working with PDFs and images on iPhone and iPad. You can scan paper into a PDF, fill out a form, sign it, rearrange pages, crop an image, and share the finished file without installing a separate editor for everyday tasks.
The iPhone and iPad versions arrived with iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 and remain available in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. Here’s where to find your files and how to use Preview’s main tools.
Open a PDF or image
Open Preview and choose a file from Recents, Shared, or Browse. Browse lets you locate documents in Files and iCloud Drive. You can also tap a PDF attachment in Mail to open it in Preview.
Tap a document to read it. Pinch to zoom, swipe to move through pages, and tap the page count to open PDF thumbnails. Use Search to find a word or phrase, then move between matches. Preview saves changes to the file as you work. Open the Actions menu beside the filename to rename, duplicate, move, or export a copy.
Scan paper documents into a PDF
On the Preview start screen, tap Scan Documents and point your camera at the page. iPhone can capture pages automatically; tap Auto to switch to manual capture if you want to press the shutter yourself. Scan each page, then tap Done to save them together as one PDF.
Before saving, tap a page thumbnail to crop or rotate it and adjust the scan’s color. If you already have a PDF open, you can also insert scanned pages into it from the page thumbnails. For more ways to use your camera as a scanner, see our guide to scanning documents on iPhone and iPad.
Fill out and sign a PDF form
Open the form and tap AutoFill or the form-filling button. Tap a field and type, or choose an AutoFill suggestion above the keyboard. Suggestions can use details saved in your Contacts card, so check the information before sharing the completed form.
To add a signature, tap the Add button, choose Add Signature, sign with your finger, then place the signature in the right spot. On iPad, you can write with Apple Pencil. If the PDF has no fillable fields, add a text box instead. When you finish, save the file or export and share a copy.
Mark up a PDF or image
Preview’s Markup tools let you draw, add text or shapes, and place a signature on a PDF or image. To highlight, underline, or strike through text in a PDF, select the text and choose the annotation you need. On iPad, Apple Pencil is useful for handwritten notes or a quick mark on a document.
You can also select and copy text from a PDF, which is handy when you need to quote a line in an email or another document. If you only need to sign and send a form, follow our detailed guide to creating a signature and signing documents on iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
Add, remove, and rearrange PDF pages
Open the PDF and tap its page count to show thumbnails. Touch and hold a thumbnail to insert a blank page, add a PDF or image from Files, scan pages into the document, or delete the selected page.
To change page order, touch and hold a thumbnail and drag it above or below another page. Use the More menu to rotate a page, and the Crop tool to trim the visible area. You can insert pages from another PDF or image, so you can combine files without recreating the document. These controls are useful when someone sends a scan in the wrong order or you need to remove an unnecessary page before sending the file.
Crop and edit images
Open an image and tap Crop to trim its edges. The More or Actions menu also lets you rotate or flip an image, change its size, or remove its background. Preview is useful for these quick edits; it is not a replacement for a full photo editor when you need detailed color correction or layers.
If you need to edit a PDF on a smaller screen, our guide explains how to edit PDFs on iPhone and iPad.
Lock, compress, export, and share files
To password-protect a PDF, open it, tap the Actions menu beside its filename, and choose Lock. Enter and confirm a password. If you want to keep an unlocked original, duplicate the PDF first; locking applies to the file you open.
To create a smaller or differently formatted copy, open the Actions menu and tap Export. Choose a supported format such as HEIC, JPEG, PDF, PNG, or TIFF. When available, use the file-size slider to adjust the exported copy. You can then share a copy through Mail or Messages, or collaborate on a file using Preview’s sharing options. When collaborating, choose whether invitees can make changes or only view the file. You can also copy the file to the clipboard or print it from the Actions menu.
What’s different from Preview on Mac?
The iPhone and iPad app is built around touch and mobile tasks. Its start screen separates recent files, shared documents, and locations you browse. It includes camera scanning, form filling, signatures, page management, PDF locking, export and compression, and basic image edits. iPad also supports Apple Pencil for handwriting and markup. The Mac app has a desktop layout and its own editing controls, so menus and some workflows differ between platforms. Preview on iPhone is handy for document fixes and quick crops; use a dedicated editor for more involved photo adjustments.
An older version of this guide said mobile Preview could not lock PDFs or compress and export files. Those limitations are out of date: the current iPhone app supports these tasks. If you do not see Preview after updating, search for it on your device before downloading another PDF app.
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