Preview is Apple’s new, built-in PDF and image app for iPhone and iPad in iOS/iPadOS 26. Think of it as the macOS Preview you already know—now on mobile—so you can open, mark up, sign, fill, combine, and share PDFs and images without third-party tools.
What is Preview?
Preview is a first-party Apple app designed for viewing and lightly editing PDFs and images (JPG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF, etc.). It centralizes tasks that used to be scattered across Files, Photos, Markup, and third-party apps. On iPad, it also plays nicely with Apple Pencil for precise annotations.
Why Apple added it
Until now, iPhone and iPad could display PDFs and annotate with Markup, but there wasn’t a single, obvious place to handle all the everyday PDF chores—opening, signing, filling forms, combining pages, exporting, and sharing. Preview unifies those basics under one roof and aligns iOS/iPadOS with the long-standing macOS experience.
What Preview can do
- Open & view PDFs and common image formats
- Annotate with Markup (pen, highlighter, shapes, text notes, arrows)
- Sign documents with a saved signature (finger on iPhone, Pencil on iPad)
- Fill forms (type into fields, check boxes, add text where needed)
- Reorder, rotate, or delete pages in a PDF
- Combine/merge PDFs (bring pages from another file)
- Scan to PDF using the camera and clean up the scan
- Export & share (flatten annotations, share via Messages, Mail, AirDrop, etc.)
- iCloud Drive integration so your edits sync across devices
Tip: Preview is meant for everyday edits. For heavy PDF authoring (advanced OCR, redaction at scale, complex form creation), you’ll still want a pro tool.
Where to find it
- Home Screen / App Library: Look for the Preview icon and open it like any app.
- From Files or Mail: Tap a PDF ➝ Open in Preview (or Share ➝ Open in Preview).
- Spotlight: Swipe down on the Home Screen and search “Preview.”
I just noticed this – of course, I’ve been a bit behind due to health situations (surgeries) but wondered and checked it out today. Can snap a scan. That would be useful but it doesn’t store them in photos so where do they go? If I try to “Share” it, it sometimes does, it sometimes doesn’t send anything? When it did share to Messenger, it did not send the entire scan, just some writing from it? Would love more information on how to use it.
I believe they are stored in the “Files” section/app
How do I completely disable Preview? I don’t need it. I don’t want it? Why can’t I disable or remove it? Why did you make it like this? Why? Why? Why?
I am worried about access to files at home that may be accessed by me or strangers. Wherever my iPhone happens to be.
Was wondering what its use was for. Looked like just another way to access files!?! But I get it now. Thanks for the clarity. Wouldn’t use it very often but have dealt with PDF documents and such so I might come in handy.
More crap 9999.999% of us will never use
Concise info was helpful.