# How do I save a note as a PDF on my phone? — DocFind Last reviewed: October 29, 2026. HTML version: https://docfindapp.com/answers/save-a-note-as-a-pdf-on-a-phone It depends on which notes app holds the note, because each one puts the PDF option somewhere different. The table is the short version; the sections below quote each vendor. | Notes app | Where the PDF option is | What its help page warns about | |---|---|---| | Apple Notes (iPhone) | Share, then Markup, then Done | Only the first page of an attached PDF or scan comes along | | Samsung Notes (Galaxy) | More options, then Save as file, then PDF file | The exported PDF cannot be edited, only written or drawn on | | Google Keep | No PDF option documented | Copy to Google Docs is the documented route on Android | ## Apple Notes on iPhone

Apple calls the PDF route Markup, which is easy to miss because the menu does not say PDF. The steps from Apple's guide: open the note, "Tap the Share button, then tap Markup", and if Markup is not in the list, "first tap the View More button". Then "Mark up the pages in the exported PDF as needed, then tap the Done button to save the PDF" ([*Export or print notes on iPhone*, iPhone User Guide](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/iphdf551cfa2/ios), read 29 October 2026). "As needed" means the marking up is optional.

Two warnings sit on the same page. The PDF uses "the note’s current view settings for its attachments", and "In a note with a multipage PDF or scanned document, the exported PDF contains only the first page of the original PDF or scanned document." So a note holding a five-page scan exports one page of it. If the scan is what you are after, it is already a document in its own right; [scanning documents on a phone](https://docfindapp.com/answers/scan-documents-on-my-phone) covers saving a scan straight to Files instead of into a note.

The page does not say where the saved PDF ends up after you tap Done. The same menu offers two alternatives Apple documents alongside it: "Export as Markdown", and Open in Pages, where "Content such as scanned documents and PDFs appear as thumbnail images" and a locked note "you must unlock" first (same page).

## Samsung Notes on a Galaxy phone

Samsung's route is labelled plainly. Open the note, "Tap More options (the three vertical dots), and then tap Save as file", then "Tap PDF file, then browse to the folder where you'll be saving the file", tap Done, and "Rename the file if desired, and then tap Save." Samsung adds a shortcut: "You can also tap the Share icon to convert your note to a PDF and send it elsewhere, such as to an email address." Its caution is about what you can do with the result: "PDF files that have been imported into or exported from Samsung Notes cannot be edited. Only text and drawings can be added to the PDF." ([*Import and export PDFs with Samsung Notes*, Samsung US](https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS10002404/), read 29 October 2026.)

## Google Keep

Keep's help does not describe saving a note as a PDF. On Android, its sharing page offers "To copy the note as a Google Doc, tap Copy to Google Docs", or "Send via other apps" to paste the contents into another app ([*Send a Keep note to another app*, Google Keep Help, Android](https://support.google.com/keep/answer/6320648?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid), read 29 October 2026). The iPhone edition of the same page lists no Copy to Google Docs step; it says only "Pick an app or action from the lists displayed" ([*Send a Keep note to another app*, Google Keep Help, iPhone & iPad](https://support.google.com/keep/answer/6320648?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS), read 29 October 2026).

Once the note is a Google Doc, the Docs app can produce the PDF: Google's Android page says "You can export DOCX, EPUB, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT, and as a web page" ([*How to use Google Docs*, Google Docs Editors Help, Android](https://support.google.com/docs/answer/49008?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid), read 29 October 2026). That page lists the formats without giving the menu steps, so look for the export or download option in the open document's More menu.

## Is the PDF searchable afterwards?

None of the three vendor pages above says whether the exported PDF keeps your typed words as text or turns the page into a picture, and it matters if you will ever want to find that note again by a word in it. A ten-second test settles it: open the PDF and try to select a word. [Telling whether a PDF has real text](https://docfindapp.com/answers/does-my-pdf-have-a-text-layer) explains what the result means.

Once your notes are PDFs on the phone, [DocFind](https://docfindapp.com/) can search inside many of them at once, on iPhone, iPad and Android; results show the file, the page and the surrounding text, and tapping one opens that PDF at that exact page with your keywords highlighted. If an export turned out to be a picture of the page, DocFind reads it on your device first, for printed text. Its limits apply here: it reads PDFs only, so the note itself, a Markdown export or a Google Doc stays outside it, and handwritten notes stay unsearchable because it reads printed text, not handwriting.

Related: [How do I download PDF notes and find them again?](https://docfindapp.com/answers/download-pdf-notes) · [Can Apple Notes find handwritten words when you search?](https://docfindapp.com/answers/search-handwriting-in-apple-notes) · [How do I scan documents with my phone?](https://docfindapp.com/answers/scan-documents-on-my-phone) · [Where are my PDF files stored?](https://docfindapp.com/answers/where-are-my-pdf-files-stored)