SparkReceipt Help

How do I rescan a document, and does a rescan use credits?

Open the document and choose Rescan document. A rescan of a document that was already scanned is free and uses no monthly quota or credits, but it overwrites the data you corrected by hand.

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Written by SparkReceipt TeamUpdated Oct 12, 2026

To rescan a document, open it and choose Rescan document. SparkReceipt reads the file again from scratch and replaces the extracted data with the new result. Rescanning a document that has already been scanned once is free: it does not use your monthly document quota and it does not use credits, however many times you do it.

A rescan is the way to reprocess a document after a bad read, after you have imported new categories from your accounting software, or when you want SparkReceipt to try the extraction again.

How to rescan a document

In the web app

  1. Open the document.
  2. Click Rescan document in the actions at the top of the document. On a narrow screen it may be under the Actions menu.
  3. If the document has more than one file, pick the file to read under Select which file to use as the base for rescanning:.
  4. Confirm in the Rescan document? dialog with Confirm.

In the mobile app

  1. Open the document.
  2. Tap the ⋯ menu and choose Rescan document.
  3. Tap Confirm.

The scan runs in the background. You get the usual notification when the document has been processed, and the new values appear on the document.

If a scan failed, the document shows a Scan failed notice with a Retry scan button. That button does the same thing as Rescan document.

A rescan overwrites your corrections

A rescan starts from scratch. If you corrected the document by hand, the web app warns you with Rescan and lose your edits? before it starts, and the mobile app asks the same question.

A rescan replaces:

  • the Merchant (or Payer) name and the Details text
  • the date and due date, when the new scan finds them
  • the currency and the reference number
  • the totals, taxes and line items, including the Category on each line
  • the payment method, when the scan detects one

A rescan keeps:

  • the document type you chose (Expense, Income, Statement or Other document)
  • the paid status and the review status
  • your Tags (a rescan can add Tags through your automations, but it never removes any)
  • AI Fields values you typed in yourself. AI Fields values that SparkReceipt filled in are extracted again.

Your auto-assign automations and Category rules run again on the new result.

Does a rescan use credits or monthly quota?

No, as long as the document was scanned successfully before. SparkReceipt counts your monthly quota by the documents you add, and a rescan adds no new document. There is no limit on free rescans.

The one exception is a document that has never had a successful scan, for example a file whose first scan failed. A rescan of that document is its first real scan, so it counts like a new upload: it uses your monthly quota first and then credits. If both are used up, the rescan is refused with a message that your document quota is depleted. See How does the monthly credit system work? for how quota and credits work.

When you can't rescan

  • The document has no file. A manual entry with nothing attached has nothing to read, so Rescan document does not appear. Add a file to the document first.
  • The document is in the Trash bin. Restore it first.
  • The document is in a closed accounting period. Rescanning is blocked until the period is reopened. See Closing accounting periods to lock past documents.
  • You are a contributor and someone else submitted the document. Contributors can rescan only their own documents.

Rescanning many documents, or a whole month

You can rescan one document at a time. There is no bulk rescan in the Documents view or the mobile app, so you can't rescan a whole month in one go. If a large batch of documents was read wrong, contact support and describe what went wrong.

If a month is full of duplicates, a rescan will not remove them. Use the Duplicate filter and the resolve flow in How to find and resolve duplicate documents instead.

I rescanned but nothing changed

A rescan reads the same file with the same rules, so a clear document often comes back with the same values. Some things to check:

  • Wait for the scan to finish. The values change only after the processing notification arrives.
  • The file may be the problem. If the photo is blurry or a part of the receipt is cut off, the result will not improve. Add a clearer photo to the document and rescan, choosing that file in the web app.
  • If the new scan can't read any text, SparkReceipt keeps the previous result rather than emptying the document.
  • Line items are extracted on a rescan under the same conditions as on the first scan. If your plan does not include line item extraction, a rescan will not add them. You can always add and edit line items by hand, see Can SparkReceipt categorize individual line items from my receipts?.

Rescanning a bank statement

Rescanning a statement re-reads only its header details. It does not extract the transactions again. To re-extract the transactions, use Restart extraction on the statement, as described in Bank statement extraction: the complete guide.