If you've been using an iPhone for a few years, you probably have tried several document scanner apps in your lifetime. I know I have. I have my favorites. I keep a couple of them in my Productivity folder on my iPhone and iPad.

If you're tired of storing extra apps, just for the purposes of scanning a business card, flier, or document every once in a while, you're about to be free of the multi-app grind.

Apple's document scanner is hidden inside the Notes app, and because it supports in-app sharing, you can store the newly scanned document anywhere you want. Here's how.

How to scan a document on iPhone and iPad

The document scanner is tucked away in the Notes app on iPhone and iPad. With just a couple of taps, you'll have a solidly scanned document ready to mark up, covert to PDF, and share with another app.

Open Notes on your iPhone or iPad. Create a new note or tap on an existing one to add a document to it. Tap the camera button at the bottom of the screen or above the keyboard. Tap Scan Documents. Line up the document you want to scan. Tap the shutter button if the scanner doesn't automatically scan the document. Repeat this step for every document you want to scan. Tap Save after you've scanned all of the necessary pages. The button will have a count of how many pages you scanned.

The scanned pages will populate in a new note in the Notes app.