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'key takeaways
- Preview on iOS 26 lets you view, edit, and manage PDFs and images easily.
- You can fill forms, sign documents, and scan files right from your iPhone.
- Preview adds tools to crop, annotate, and password protect your PDF files.
Apple's Preview app has long been available on the Mac as a way to view and work with PDF files and images without having to open them in their associated apps. Now that same handy tool is accessible on the iPhone via iOS 26.
With Preview on your phone, you can view and even edit PDFs and images, scan documents, fill out online forms, and apply a password to a PDF. Here are five ways I use the app to make life easier on my iPhone.
Before we get started, there are a couple of preliminary items you need to set up.
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First, make sure you're running iOS 26 or higher. On your iPhone, go to Settings, select General, and then choose Software Update. Select the latest update to download and install it.
Second, the Preview app works with the Files app on your iPhone to let you access files from various websites as well as the device itself. If you haven't already set up the Files app with your favorite sources, you'll need to do that before you can use Preview.
This story I wrote for PCMag will help you with this process. Once the Files app is set up, you can access files from OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, Dropbox, iCloud, your local network, and the device itself.
Now that all the pieces are in place, here are five things I like about the Preview app and how I use them.
1. View images and PDFs
To view any image or PDF file, I first choose the location I want to access and then drill down to the specific folder. If the file is greyed out, that means Preview can't display it. Otherwise, I can pick any file that's visible. I tap a file to display it. With an image file, I can zoom in and out. With a multi-page PDF, I can jump from one page to the next and also zoom in and out.
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Show more2. Edit an image
Though the Preview app doesn't qualify as a full-fledged image editor, you can make certain changes to an image. For this, I open an image I want to tweak. By tapping the ellipsis icon at the upper right, I can rotate an image left or right, flip it horizontally or vertically, and adjust the size.
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By tapping the square icon in the lower left, I'm able to crop the image. And by selecting the pen icon in the lower left, I can access a palette of drawing tools to mark up the image. I can also undo my last action at any time. Otherwise, the revised image is automatically saved.
Show more3. Fill out a PDF form
Within the Preview app, you can fill out a PDF formatted as a form. Typically, you might enter your name, address, contact information, and other required details. Using the pen tool, you're able to sign your name in the appropriate field. When finished, you can send the form to the requesting party directly in the app.
To try this, I open a supported PDF form. A message should pop up telling me that AutoFill can assist with this form. If so, I tap the AutoFill Form button. If not, I tap the second icon on the bottom toolbar (the one that looks like a rectangle with three dots and a pen).
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The editable fields in the form show up in blue. I zoom in and tap the first field. If the right name or word appears in the predictive text field, I tap it to insert it in the form. Otherwise, I type the word I need to add. I do this for each editable line highlighted in blue. I can trigger the markup tools and use the pen tool to sign my name. When done, I tap the Share icon. I can then share the form with another person.
Show more4. Scan a document
I often need to scan documents and other physical files through my phone, and one way I do this is through the Preview app. For this, I tap the Scan Document button at the main screen. At the scan screen, I'm able to turn the flash on, off, or to automatic. I can apply different filters, such as color, grayscale, black and white, or photo.
I'm also able to set the shutter to trigger automatically once the document is lined up or manually tap the button myself. I then line up the document and run the scan.
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At the next screen, I can move the corner handles to crop or resize the resulting image. Here, I'm able to retake the shot or keep the one I have. Tapping the thumbnail of the image takes me to an editing screen where I can adjust it, apply a filter, rotate it, or delete it.
By default, the scanned image is saved to my iPhone, but I can move it to another spot or share it with a different location or service.
Show more5. Password protect a PDF file
I store some sensitive PDFs that I want to protect with a password, and I can do that with the Preview app. To set this up, I open the PDF, tap the down arrow at the top next to the filename to display the Actions menu, and then select Lock. I turn on the switch for Require Password, then enter and re-enter the password I want to use.
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When done, I tap the checkmark. The next time I try to open or preview that file, I'll be prompted to enter the password.
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