Continuity Camera is one of those Apple ecosystem features that sounds like a gimmick until you actually use it. Point your iPhone at a document, tap once, and the scan appears directly in your Mac app. No cables, no third-party app required.
It’s been around since macOS Mojave, but it still flies under the radar for a lot of Mac users. If you’ve never tried it, here’s how to get it working in 2026, and what to do if it’s giving you grief.
What You Need Before You Start
Continuity Camera has a few hard requirements. Check these off before you try anything else.
- macOS Sequoia (15.4.1) or later — including macOS Tahoe — and iOS 18 or later on your iPhone or iPad
- Both devices signed into the same Apple ID, iCloud is what ties everything together
- Both devices on the same Wi-Fi network (disable your VPN if it routes traffic differently)
- Bluetooth enabled on both devices
As of 2026, Continuity Camera works natively in Apple’s own apps, TextEdit, Pages, Notes, Mail, and Finder. Third-party app support varies, but many major apps have added it over the years.
How to Scan a Document with Continuity Camera
These steps use TextEdit as the example, but the process is identical in any supported app.
- Open the app you want to scan into, TextEdit, Mail, Notes, wherever you want the image to land.
- Right-click (or
Control + click) in the document where you want the scan to appear. In the context menu, look for Import from iPhone or iPad, then choose Scan Documents (or Take Photo if you just need a quick image).
- A prompt appears on your Mac confirming it’s waiting for your iPhone.
- On your iPhone, the camera opens automatically in document scanning mode. Point it at whatever you want to scan.
- Hold the phone steady over the document. The camera will auto-detect the edges and capture it automatically, or tap the shutter button if you’d rather do it manually.
- If the scan looks good, tap Keep Scan, then tap Save. The image transfers to your Mac instantly and drops into the document where your cursor was.
- If you’re working in TextEdit and the document is in plain text format, you’ll be prompted to convert it to RTFD format to support embedded images. Go ahead and convert, you can always save a copy as plain text later if you need to.
Troubleshooting: When It Doesn’t Work
Continuity Camera has been a bit finicky for some users. Here’s what to try if the iPhone option doesn’t show up in the menu, or the scan fails mid-way.
The “Import from iPhone” option is missing
- Confirm both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network and that Bluetooth is on
- Check that both are signed into the same Apple ID under System Settings > [Your Name] on Mac and Settings > [Your Name] on iPhone
- Make sure Handoff is enabled: System Settings > General > AirDrop & Handoff, toggle Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices on
The iPhone disconnects mid-scan
This is a known issue on some macOS versions. Some users see their iPhone drop the connection before the scan completes. A few things that help:
- Keep the iPhone screen awake during the scan (tap the screen if it dims)
- Stay within a couple of metres of your Mac
- Restart both devices if it keeps happening, annoying, but it works
Scan completes but nothing appears on Mac
- Force-quit and reopen the app you’re scanning into
- Sign out of iCloud on both devices and sign back in (last resort, but effective)
What You Can Scan
Continuity Camera isn’t just for paper documents. It works well for receipts, invoices, handwritten notes, whiteboards, physical photos, and anything else you want to digitize without setting up a dedicated scanner.
The iPhone’s document detection is genuinely good. It corrects perspective automatically and adjusts for uneven lighting. For most everyday scanning tasks, it’s more than good enough.
If you need batch scanning or OCR built in, you’ll want a dedicated app on top of this. But for getting something off a desk and into a Mac document quickly, Continuity Camera is a solid choice and worth building into your workflow.