Share and export

The Share button on a document opens the Share sheet. From there you send a copy in the format you need, through any app on your iPhone, or make a share link (Pro).

What it is

Open a document and tap Share in the toolbar at the bottom. The Share sheet has three parts.

Send a copy, a row of format chips:

Chip	What you get	Made
PDF	A PDF of every page	On your iPhone
JPG	One JPEG image per page	On your iPhone
Searchable PDF (Pro)	A PDF whose text can be selected and searched	On your iPhone
Password PDF (Pro)	A PDF that needs a password to open	On your iPhone
Word	A `.docx` file	On our server, after asking you
Excel	A `.xlsx` spreadsheet	On our server, after asking you
PowerPoint	A `.pptx` file, one slide per page	On our server, after asking you
Text	A plain `.txt` file with the text of every page	On your iPhone

Options for the chip you picked (described below).

Or share a link: Share link (Pro), a link that opens in any browser, no app needed. It expires in 7 days at most. See Create a share link.

At the bottom, a big button names what you’re about to send, such as Share PDF or Share Word.

When to use it

Email a bill to your accountant as a PDF.
Send a page as a photo in a chat app (JPG).
Hand over a document someone needs to edit (Word or Excel).
Paste the words of a letter somewhere else (Text).

Step by step

Send a PDF

Open the document and tap Share.
Tap PDF (it’s picked for you when the sheet opens).
Choose the options you want:
- Page size: Fit to scan, A4 or Letter.
- Quality: High, Balanced or Small. Each shows an estimated file size. Small shrinks the page images most, for the lightest file.
- Searchable (Pro): text can be selected and searched.
- Page numbers: at the foot of every page. Choose a Style (1 or “1 of 5”) and a Position (Centre or Right).
- Password (Pro), under Protect: needed to open the PDF.
- Watermark: text stamped on every page.
Tap Share PDF.
The iOS share sheet opens. Pick Mail, Messages, Files, AirDrop or any other app.

The defaults for page size and quality come from Account → Scanning → PDF page size and PDF quality (High, Balanced or Small file).

Send JPG images

Tap Share, then JPG.
Tap Share Images. You get one JPEG per page; for several pages, the iOS share sheet opens once for each page.

Signatures and annotations are drawn into the images.

Send the text

Tap Share, then Text.
Tap Share Text. You get a plain text file with the text of every page, in order.

If the document has no text yet, you see “This document has no text yet.” Wait for Paperwise to read the pages, or check the Text view.

Send Word, Excel or PowerPoint

Tap Share, then Word, Excel or PowerPoint.
For Word and Excel, choose whether to turn on Keep the layout (Pro).
Tap Share Word (or Share Excel, Share PowerPoint).
Paperwise asks before anything leaves your iPhone, the first time you convert this document in each session. Tap Continue to go ahead, or Cancel. Turn on Don’t ask again for this document to skip the question next time.

Word and Excel files are built from the page text, so they leave out signatures and annotations. PowerPoint slides include them. These files are made on our server. Details, limits and exactly what is sent: Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Notes, cards and files have a simpler Share menu: Send a copy (through the iOS share sheet), Share link (Pro) and Links to this item.

Free and Pro

	Free	Pro
PDF, JPG, Text	Yes	Yes
Page size, quality, page numbers, watermark	Yes	Yes
Word, Excel, PowerPoint	Yes	Yes
Searchable PDF	No	Yes
Password PDF	No	Yes
Keep the layout (Word, Excel)	No	Yes
Share link	No	Yes

With Pro, Searchable is on by default, so the chip that’s picked when the sheet opens is Searchable PDF. Tap PDF for a plain one. On Free, tapping a Pro chip shows what Pro includes.

Privacy

PDF, JPG, Searchable PDF, Password PDF and Text are made on your iPhone. Nothing is sent to our server.
Word, Excel and PowerPoint are made on our server. The pages are sent there, processed in memory and deleted right after; they aren’t end-to-end encrypted while that happens. Paperwise asks first, once per document in each session unless you chose Don’t ask again for this document.
Keep the layout also sends the pages and text to our AI provider, and asks a second time.
Sharing or exporting an ID, a medical paper, a bank statement or a tax paper asks for Face ID first, whether or not the app lock is on. See Protected documents, Never send to AI and Hidden.
The temporary file made for sharing is deleted when the share sheet closes, and again at the next launch.
Once you send a copy, it’s out of Paperwise: the person or app that receives it can keep it.

Tips

Small quality is usually enough for email and keeps files light. Use High for documents you might print.
A watermark such as “Copy” makes it clear a PDF isn’t the original. See Sign, annotate, erase and watermark.
For someone who doesn’t need a file to keep, a share link that expires is often better than an attachment.

What if…

The pages are still being cleaned up. Wait a few seconds and try again. If a page shows “Not cleaned up yet” for a long time, tap Retry next to it.

What if Word, Excel or PowerPoint says it works on up to 50 pages?

Conversions on our server take up to 50 pages at a time. Split the document first. See Split and merge.

What if the plans screen opens when I convert to Word or Excel?

On Free, a conversion can include at most 5 pages without recognised text (our server reads those for you). With more, the file isn’t made. Let Paperwise finish reading the pages, or convert fewer pages. See Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

What if I see “Couldn’t reach our server to build this file”?

Word, Excel and PowerPoint need a connection. Try again when you’re online. PDF, JPG and Text work offline.

What if I forget the password of a PDF I sent?

Paperwise doesn’t keep it, so the PDF can’t be opened without it. Make a new one from the document in your vault. See Searchable and password PDFs.