Quick answer: The iPad has no built-in fax feature, so you fax with a third-party app or online service. Install one like Municorn Fax from the App Store, sign up, and pick a fax number. Then scan a page with the camera or attach a file, enter the recipient’s fax number, and send — the iPad’s big screen and Apple Pencil make reviewing and signing before you send genuinely easy. Prefer no app? You can fax from Safari or by email-to-fax instead.
The iPad is a natural for paperwork — a big screen to actually read what you’re signing, and an Apple Pencil to sign it — so it’s a shame Apple never built faxing in. The good news is you don’t need it to. With a fax app or an online service, your iPad sends and receives faxes over wifi in a couple of minutes, no machine or phone line anywhere in sight. Here’s how.
Does the iPad Have a Built-In Fax Feature?
No. iPadOS has no native fax, and Apple doesn’t make a fax app for the iPad any more than it does for the iPhone or Mac. That’s not something you can switch on in Settings — a fax has to travel over the fax network, which no tablet is built to do on its own. What handles it is a fax service: you send your document over the internet, and the service delivers it to the recipient’s fax machine for you. Once it’s set up, faxing from an iPad is quick — and the same app works on your iPhone too.
How to Fax From an iPad, Step by Step
The simplest route is a dedicated fax app. We’ll use Municorn Fax, the top-rated fax app on the App Store, though the steps are much the same in any good one.
- 1
Install the app
Install Municorn Fax from the App Store and open it — the same app runs on both iPhone and iPad.
- 2
Sign up and pick a number
Sign up, then choose your own fax number from any US or Canadian area code.
- 3
Start a new fax
Tap New Fax and enter the recipient’s fax number, adding the country code if it’s going abroad.
- 4
Add your document
Scan a paper page with the iPad’s camera, or attach a file from Files, iCloud Drive, Google Drive or Dropbox.
- 5
Review and sign on the big screen
This is where the iPad shines — review the pages at full size and, if the document needs signing, sign it right there with your finger or an Apple Pencil before you send.
- 6
Send and keep the receipt
Add a cover sheet if you need one, tap Send, and check the delivery receipt to confirm it arrived.
If you scan a lot of paper, our scan-and-fax guide has tips for getting a clean result.
Why the iPad Is Great for Faxing
Signing is the reason most people reach for an iPad over a phone — but it isn’t the only thing the bigger device brings to faxing.
A big screen to read and sign
Review a contract or form at full size and sign it in place, instead of pinching and zooming on a handset.
Apple Pencil signatures
Sign right on the page with the Pencil before you send — no printing, scanning or extra apps.
One app across your Apple devices
The same Municorn Fax runs on iPhone and iPad, so your fax number, sent history and receipts are in both places.
Faxes over wifi
A wifi-only iPad faxes without any trouble — online faxing needs an internet connection, not a cellular signal or a phone line.
Faxing From an iPad Without an App
You don’t have to install anything. In Safari (or any browser), log in to a fax service’s website, upload your document, enter the number and send. Or use email-to-fax: attach your document to an email, address it to the recipient’s fax number followed by your provider’s gateway domain, and send it from the Mail app — our guides to faxing from email and faxing from Gmail walk through it.
One note if you have a wifi-only iPad: with no cellular, you’ll need a wifi connection to fax — but that’s all online faxing uses anyway, so wherever you can get online, you can send.
