How to save receipts on your phone

Receipts arrive in two forms and both are easy to lose. Paper ones fade in a wallet or a coat pocket, and thermal paper can go blank within months. Email ones land among newsletters and order updates. The moment you need one, for an expense claim, a return, a warranty or a tax return, it’s rarely where you expect.

This guide covers the usual ways people keep receipts on a phone, where those methods come unstuck, and how to save paper and email receipts into Fabric so they’re in one place and searchable by what’s printed on them.

How people usually keep receipts on a phone

Taking a photo with the camera is the most common method. It’s quick and costs nothing. The photo then sits in the camera roll with thousands of others, and finding the receipt for a particular purchase means scrolling back to roughly the right date.

Scanner apps and expense tools such as Expensify or a company’s own expense app are the next step for work purchases. They read the total and the merchant and file the claim, which suits business travel well. Personal receipts, warranties and things bought for the house usually don’t go in there, so they end up somewhere else.

Email receipts often stay in the inbox, sometimes with a label. Search by shop name usually turns them up, though receipts for the same purchase can be split between an order confirmation, a shipping email and a separate invoice. How to keep receipts for tax time covers what’s worth keeping and for how long.

Step 1: Photograph paper receipts into Fabric

Install the Fabric app for iOS or Android from the mobile download page. Photograph the receipt with your phone’s camera, then open the photo, tap Share and choose Fabric. Add a comment or tag as you save, such as “client lunch” or “warranty: fridge”.

Lay the receipt flat on a table in good light, and get the whole thing in the frame, including the date and the total. Long supermarket receipts may need two photos.

If you’d rather not share each one, the app can back up your camera roll automatically. Choose to sync all photos or only specific folders, so you could keep a Receipts album and have just that one sync. How to back up your camera roll automatically explains the setup.

Step 2: Send email receipts to the same place

Forward receipt emails, or their PDF attachments, to your Fabric email address. Email to Fabric only accepts mail from your verified account address, and on a team you can approve extra senders, such as a partner who shares the household accounts.

Receipts for bigger purchases are worth keeping with the paperwork that came with them. Forward the order confirmation, photograph the warranty card, and put both in the same folder as the receipt, so a claim two years later needs one search instead of three.

For receipts sent as a link to a web page or a PDF in another app, use the share sheet and choose Fabric. It handles links, files and text.

Step 3: Let Fabric read and group them

Fabric reads text inside photos, including photographed text, so the shop name, items and totals on a receipt become searchable. Each receipt is also processed on arrival: Fabric creates embeddings for search by meaning, writes a summary, extracts attributes such as content type, and suggests tags.

Set up a smart collection for receipts and it fills itself as new ones arrive, from the camera, email or share sheet. If you need more structure, add folders such as Work expenses, Household and Tax, or one folder per year. These are optional; search works without them.

Step 4: Find a receipt when you need it

Tap Search in the app, or press Cmd+F (Mac) / Ctrl+F (Windows) on a computer, and describe the receipt. Search matches by meaning and keyword, so “receipt for the coffee machine from last spring” can find it. Put an order number or amount in quotes for an exact match, and filter by tag or kind of item to narrow things down.

For expenses or tax, open the receipts folder and ask the AI assistant. “List the receipts for client lunches in March with the totals” returns an answer citing each receipt, so you can check the figures. Save the answer as a note to attach to an expense claim. How to find a receipt when you need it for expenses goes into that routine.

Step 5: Hand receipts to someone else

When an accountant or bookkeeper needs a year’s receipts, you can publish the folder as a link. A folder publishes as a web page, and you can choose whether visitors can download the files. For collaboration, share the folder instead and give them viewer or commenter access. How to get your receipts ready for your accountant covers the handover in more detail.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the best way to save receipts on my phone?

Photograph paper receipts and share them to Fabric, and forward email receipts to your Fabric email address. Both end up in one library where the text on each receipt is searchable.

Can I search the text on a photographed receipt?

Yes. Fabric reads text inside photos, so you can search by shop name, item or amount.

How do I save email receipts with my paper ones?

Forward the email or its attachment to your Fabric email address. It joins the photographed receipts in the same library.

Can receipts save to Fabric automatically?

Yes. Keep receipt photos in a dedicated album and set the Fabric app to back up only that folder from your camera roll.

Can I add a note to a receipt?

Yes. Add a comment or tags when you save it, such as the client or project it relates to.

How long should I keep receipts?

It depends on what they’re for and where you live. Tax authorities set their own rules, so check with your accountant or your local tax office.

Can I share my receipts with my accountant?

Yes. Publish the folder as a link and allow downloads, or share it with them as a viewer or commenter.

Will receipt photos fill up my phone?

Once a receipt is in Fabric and you’ve checked it, you can delete the photo from your camera roll. It stays available in Fabric on every device.

Can I save receipts to Fabric on the free plan?

Yes. Uploading photos and files is part of the free plan, which has storage caps and limited AI use. See pricing for paid plans.