- Microsoft Lens allows you to scan documents, whiteboards, and cards to convert them into PDF, WordPowerPoint or Excel with advanced OCR and saving to the cloud or mobile device.
- The app will be gradually removed from the App Store and Google Play, and Microsoft will shut down its scanning services, so it will stop creating new documents.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot It takes over as the official scanning alternative, although it loses features such as business card mode, direct saving to OneNote, and Immersive Reader.
- There are free alternatives such as PDFgear Scan and the scanners integrated into Apple Notes, Google Drive, OneDrive, or others. appswhich allow continued digitization without depending on Lens.
If you are looking for a quick and convenient way to digitize documents, whiteboards, receipts, or handwritten notes From your mobile device, you've probably heard of Microsoft Lens. For years it has been one of the most beloved apps for converting any physical document into an editable PDF, Word document, or PowerPoint presentation in seconds, ready to share or save to the cloud.
However, in recent months the situation has changed considerably: Microsoft has announced the phased retirement of Microsoft Lens. Microsoft is redirecting all scanning functions to Microsoft 365 Copilot and other services within its ecosystem. This article will provide a detailed look at what Microsoft Lens offers (or offered) for document digitization, how to use it step-by-step, the retirement dates to keep in mind, how to migrate your scans, and the viable alternatives available if you want to continue scanning for free with high-quality scans.
What is Microsoft Lens and what is it used for when digitizing documents?
Microsoft Lens (formerly known as Office Lens) is a free mobile app for Android e iOS designed to scan and digitize physical contentConvert photos of documents, whiteboards, business cards, receipts, menus, posters, or handwritten notes into digital files that you can easily save, edit, and share.
The beauty of Lens is that it's not limited to simply taking a photo. The app It automatically crops edges, corrects perspective, and improves contrast. and eliminates annoying shadows or reflections, so the result looks very much like a scan from a traditional scanner.
Once the image is captured, Microsoft Lens allows Convert it to PDF, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, or Excel spreadsheets. Also, you can save to OneNoteOneDrive or on the device itself storage local mobile, and even send the result directly by email.
Another strong point is the use of optical character recognition (OCR)which allows you to identify the printed (and, in some cases, handwritten) text so that you can select, copy, edit, or search it within the resulting document.
That's why Lens has long been a very useful tool both for work, study, and personal managementfrom saving invoices and tickets to collecting class notes or capturing meeting notes.
Main uses of Microsoft Lens at work and in study
In professional environments, Microsoft Lens has become a kind of Pocket scanner for all types of documentsIt is especially useful for avoiding accumulating paper and keeping everything well organized and backed up in the cloud.
Among the most common uses at work are tasks such as Scan contracts, budgets, invoices, expense receipts and administrative documentationAll of this can be uploaded immediately to OneDrive or sent to a colleague in PDF format without needing to use a physical scanner.
Another very common use is that of absorb whiteboards at the end of a meetingInstead of copying agreements by hand or taking a shoddy photo with a regular camera, Lens adjusts the image, corrects the angle, and improves the contrast of the letters, so that the whiteboard is perfectly legible and ready to share with the team.
It also helps manage professional contactsWith business card mode, the app detects the card data (name, position, phone, email…) and saves them as a contact on your phone and in OneNote, avoiding having to enter them one by one.
In the educational field, Microsoft Lens is a kind of silent ally for students and teachers. It allows digitize notes, photocopies and class materials to have everything centralized in OneNote or in the cloud and access it from any device.
Students can scan handwritten notes, exercise sheets, summaries, or outlines to review them later, annotate them in Word, or combine them with other digital materials. In addition, the option to take photos of the whiteboard or projector screen is fantastic for not missing any important explanations.
For teachers, Lens is useful for save digital copies of activities, corrected exams, or printed documents, and even to convert paper worksheets into an editable format that can then be modified or reused in subsequent courses.
Microsoft Lens capture modes and what each one is used for
When you open Microsoft Lens, the app lets you choose between several capture modes adapted to the type of content you want to scanYou switch between them by swiping left or right at the bottom of the screen.
Mode Whiteboard It's designed to capture annotations on whiteboards, murals, or similar surfaces. Lens adjusts the colors so the background doesn't look overexposed. It gives more prominence to the marker strokes.so that the letters remain very clear even if there were reflections or poor lighting.
Mode Document It is the most commonly used format for all types of small printed or handwritten text on paper. It is suitable for Scan contracts, forms, invoices, receipts, menus, brochures, or postersThe app automatically crops the edge of the paper and leaves the image as if it had been scanned with a desktop scanner.
Mode Photos It focuses on capturing more general images, with people or landscapes, without aggressive processing. In this case, Lens acts more like a normal camera, but It retains the cropping and post-editing options. so you can adapt it to your needs.
In addition to these classic modes, there is the mode Actionswhich groups several specific smart functions. Each sub-mode is designed for a specific type of task: extracting text, converting a table, reading content aloud, digitizing contacts, or scanning QR codes.
Finally, the mode Business card It specializes in business cards. It automatically recognizes the card's structure and Extracts name, company, phone number, email, and other relevant dataThen it allows you to save them to your mobile phone's address book and to OneNote, making it easier to manage professional contacts.
Smart features of Actions mode in Microsoft Lens
- The Actions mode is one of the most interesting aspects of the app because it allows go beyond simply scanning and work with the content of what you capture. Within this mode there are several sub-modes that address specific problems.
- The submode Text It's used to extract text directly from an image. You point the camera at the document, take the photo, adjust the borders, and Lens It uses OCR to convert the content into selectable text.Then you can copy and paste it into another app, share it via messaging, or save it wherever you like.
- The submode Panel It is designed for images containing printed spreadsheets, data tables, or structured lists. Lens identifies the rows and columns and convert the information into an editable table which you can copy and take, for example, to Excel or another similar tool.
- With the submode Leather Integration with the Immersive Reader is activated. This mode allows the app Read the text aloud present in the image, showing at the same time the content with different options for font size, typeface, spacing and other accessibility settings very useful for people with visual or reading difficulties.
- The submode Contact It's geared towards business cards: you take a photo of the card and Lens It automatically extracts contact information and presents it ready to save.It's ideal for avoiding accumulating physical cards in your wallet and transferring all that information to digital format.
- Finally, the submode QR Code It allows you to point to a code and have the application read it instantly. Lens displays the content of the code (link, text, data) and provides options to copy or share it with any other application on the device.
How to take a photo, review and edit it before saving
The digitization process with Microsoft Lens is based on three main steps: capture the image, adjust and edit it, and finally save or share it.Although it's fairly intuitive, it's worth reviewing a few details.
To begin, choose the appropriate mode (Document, Whiteboard, Actions, Business Card, or Photo) and point the camera at the item you want to scan. You'll see a frame, usually orange, that It attempts to detect the document's edges.It is important to position the phone correctly so that the frame fits as well as possible.
The flash is automatically set according to the scene's lighting, but you can Activate or deactivate it manually from the flash icon at the top of the screen. Once everything is framed, tap the camera button to take the photo.
If you prefer, instead of taking a photo right then, you can use an image you already have on your phone. To do this, tap the icon of Image or GalleryYou choose the photo you want and Lens will import it to treat it as if you had just scanned it.
After capturing, the application offers a review screen where you can Adjust the borders, crop out unwanted parts, rotate the image, or delete it. If it doesn't turn out well. It also allows you to apply filters to improve readability or change the appearance (for example, black and white scanner style).
In addition to editing the current image, you can add more pages to the same digitizationThis function is very useful for multi-page documents, as you can ultimately generate a single PDF with all the content in order.
If you have scanned several pages, the option to Reorder It lets you change the order simply by dragging the thumbnails. When you're finished arranging, tap Done and return to the main editing screen to continue tweaking anything that needs it.
Options for saving, sharing, and editing scanned PDFs
Once you're happy with your scan results, Microsoft Lens offers several ways to save and share the final fileDepending on the mode used, some options are enabled or others, but in general they are quite flexible.
If you have used Whiteboard, Document, or Photo modes, you can save the result to the device's gallery as an image, export it as a PDF file, or upload it directly to Microsoft services such as OneDrive, OneNote, Word, or PowerPoint.
By choosing the option WordThe app creates a .docx file in your OneDrive account that includes the text extracted using OCR. In this way, You not only have an image, but a fully editable Word document, in which you can modify paragraphs, change the format, or reuse parts of the content.
If you choose Power pointLens attempts to recognize strokes and drawings in order to transform them into editable drawing objectsThis is especially useful when capturing whiteboards with diagrams or outlines, as you can then recolor, move, or adjust each element in the presentation.
When you save as PDFThe application generates a document with searchable text (if the OCR was able to identify it). This way you can search for words within the PDF, highlight paragraphs, or copy fragments from any compatible reader.
For the mode Business cardThe app suggests saving it as a vCard (.vcf) in OneNote and, if you wish, also as an image in your phone's gallery. This way, You have both the structured contact and the scanned card in case you need to check the original design in the future.
Another interesting feature is the possibility of Edit a PDF you previously created with LensFrom the "My Files" menu in the application, locate the PDF, tap the three-dot menu, and select Edit. This allows you to add new pages, modify existing ones, or reorder the document without having to start from scratch.
Supported languages and OCR details in Microsoft Lens
Optical character recognition is one of the keys to Microsoft Lens's usefulness. The application is capable of identify printed text in numerous languages and, in some cases, also handwritten text.
When you save your scans as Word, PDF, OneNote, or Immersive ReaderLens can recognize printed text in languages such as German, Czech, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Korean, Danish, Spanish, Finnish, French, Greek, Hungarian, English, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish or Turkish.
For handwritten text, things are a little more limited. OneNote is the one that gets the most., since it is able to work with handwritten notes in English, allowing them to be converted to editable text as long as the handwriting is reasonably legible.
In the case of mode Business cardThe app is specially optimized for extracting data in English, German, Spanish, and Simplified ChineseAlthough it may work with cards in other languages, the recognition is not as refined.
In practice, this means you can use Microsoft Lens to digitize documents in multiple languages and keep them fully usablewhether to edit the content later or simply to search for and copy specific pieces when you need them.
Accessibility and technical support of the application
Microsoft Lens has also taken into account people who need additional accessibility optionsFor example, on Android devices it is possible to connect an external keyboard via Bluetooth or USB to facilitate navigation and use of the app.
In addition, the application integrates with the accessibility options of the operating system itselfOn Android, you can go to Settings > Accessibility to activate features like TalkBack, which reads aloud what appears on the screen and is very useful for people with low vision.
Reading mode, supported by the Immersive Reader, also focuses on the reading comprehension and visual text personalizationallowing adjustment of font size, spacing, font type and other variables that improve the experience for users with dyslexia or other difficulties.
Regarding support, Microsoft has offered Direct help for Lens usersincluding the ability to email the product team to resolve doubts or report problems with the Android app.
Microsoft Lens retirement: key dates and important changes
Although Lens has been a success with tens of millions of downloads, Microsoft has decided phase out the application and migrate the scanning functions to Microsoft 365 CopilotThis is where it's important to pay attention to the dates, because not all sources agree and there are several milestones to consider.
In general terms, the company stated that Lens will no longer be available in app stores and will cease receiving official support after a certain period. Dates such as mid-September and November have been mentioned for removal from the App Store and Google Play, and December as the final date for ceasing to create new scans.
Some reports indicate that from the September 15 The withdrawal phase begins, the November 15th It is completely removed from stores and, after the December 15You will no longer be able to create new scans, although you can access old ones as long as you keep the app installed.
Other supporting documentation mentions a slightly different schedule: withdrawal from the end of OctoberThe plan includes the elimination of physical stores in December and the possibility of continuing to digitize until the end of January of the following year. Whatever the exact details, the idea is the same: Microsoft is turning off Lens' scanning features within a limited timeframe.
Something very important is that, even if you manage to keep the app installed or reinstall it through alternative means, The scanning engine relies on Microsoft backend servicesWhen these services are disabled, the application may open, but it may not allow new scans to be started or may not process or convert images correctly.
What does remain, as long as you don't uninstall Lens, is access to the documents you have already scanned that you have in the My Scans sectionThat's why Microsoft insists you use that time to migrate your digitizations to other services, especially Microsoft 365 Copilot.
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