Photos from the past, meet scanner from the future.
PhotoScan by Google Photos turns printed memories into clear, glare-free digital scans with a simple, guided capture flow. It leverages automatic edge detection, perspective correction, and smart rotation, then backs scans up with Google Photos for safe, searchable storage.
Pros & Cons
Glare-free scans produced by automatic edge detection and cropping
Perspective correction for straight, rectangular results
Smart rotation keeps images right-side-up across captures
Seamless backup and search in Google Photos for safety and sharing
No built-in OCR or document/text extraction features (limited compared to some rivals)
Lacks advanced document-management features found in specialized scanning apps
About PhotoScan by Google Photos
PhotoScan by Google Photos is a photography app developed by Google LLC.
How many times has PhotoScan by Google Photos been downloaded?
PhotoScan by Google Photos has been downloaded 69 million times. In the last 30 days, the app was downloaded 140 thousand times.
What is the rating of PhotoScan by Google Photos?
PhotoScan by Google Photos is rated 4.06 out of 5 stars, based on 200 thousand ratings.
Is PhotoScan by Google Photos free?
PhotoScan by Google Photos is free to download. The APK download size is 32.30 MB. The latest version available is 1.7.1.539739820. The last update was on July 24, 2023.
What are the requirements for PhotoScan by Google Photos?
PhotoScan by Google Photos requires Android 5.0+ or higher. The app has a content rating of Everyone. The app has been available on Google Play November 2016.
Description
PhotoScan is a scanner app from Google Photos that lets you scan and save your favorite printed photos using your phone’s camera.
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Comments on PhotoScan by Google Photos for Android
★★★★★Douglas Sick· Jan 13, 2026
This tool offers much more than standard "photo scanning": Eliminating Glare in Art Museums: Capture images of artwork on display (especially under glass) while removing gallery light reflections. On-the-Go Document Scanning: Use it as a document scanner for receipts. A flat surface like a glass shower door can serve as a "scanner bed" to help flatten the images, which is also effective for books.
★★★★★Sam P· Feb 18, 2026
Wow, it's actually very impressive how good this app is. If you have a decent camera on your phone and follow the very simple instructions (aim the camera at each of the 4 circles) then the result is 100% perfect. Auto cropped, all glare removed and comes out literally perfect like you'd expect a real scanner to work. Like others have mentioned, if you "share" the photo to then save it, it gets a Google watermark. But you can just screenshot the photo instead and end up with no watermark. 10/10
★★★★★Game Loader· Feb 22, 2026
Good App. But need to add photo scan with High quality and best quality. Best Pixels. At least mobile camera's original pixels. Then it will be best. Give an update.
★★★★★Alexander Rivera· Feb 1, 2026
I love this app. It's extremely useful for both business and personal use. I just wish that the Google Play Store team would make it available for newer release smartphone devices. The app seems to only work with the older phone models. Google Play Store Team, please update this very valuable app to work with newer Android and iPhone devices.
★☆☆☆☆Michael Amygdalidis· Mar 13, 2026
The addition of mandatory framing watermarks ruins a previously good application.
★★☆☆☆MK Kadavath· May 29, 2026
Outdated app for the AI era. Manually clicking 4 corners to scan a single photo is frustrating and time-consuming. Google should either update it with automatic AI scanning or remove it from the Play Store.
★★☆☆☆Jessica D. Lovett· Jan 20, 2026
This app works, but it puts a giant "Photos can by Google" stamp at the bottom of each document! It refuses to let you remove it, but you can simply take a screenshot and crop that. It's also sneaky because they hide the fact that it says that in the photo preview. Very unprofessional looking.
★☆☆☆☆William “Bill” Tinklepaugh· Mar 13, 2026
UPDATE: 03-13-26 I think, it depends on the Name Brand+Model of the phone used. Never got this app to work! It starts by telling you to move the Circle, but doesn't + will not follow your finger as you try to slide the "Circle" to 1 of 4 solid dots in the corners of your phone screen, using the order shown in "Here's How To Scan" but doesn't move, with your finger. End result of each attempt causes white pop-up window to display "Scan NOT Completed" < with NO INDICATION OF WHY.
★☆☆☆☆Glenn Johnson· Mar 2, 2026
Absolutely lame that there is NO WAY to upload to Google Photos from the app
★☆☆☆☆Dazz Mather· Feb 8, 2026
Scan process is slow, very poor quality, poor design and so much glare on photo. So disappointing. Uninstalled.
Google Play Rankings for PhotoScan by Google Photos
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Trust & Safety: Permissions include CAMERA, READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, WAKE_LOCK, VIBRATE, RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED, and READ_GSERVICES. The app uses standard platform permissions for capturing, storing, and backing up scans; data can be stored locally and optionally backed up to Google Photos for safety and accessibility.
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the same time period. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time before the renewal.
