When did Microsoft Lens stop working?
Microsoft announced the end of Lens on its own support page[1]. The dates are:
- January 9, 2026
- Retirement from iOS and Android starts[1]
- February 9, 2026
- Support ends and Lens is removed from the App Store and Google Play[1]
- March 9, 2026
- Last day to make new scans in the app[1]
- After that
- Past scans stay visible if the app is still installed and you are signed in to your last active account[1]
Office Lens is the same app under its older name. Microsoft's help page describes it as Microsoft Lens, formerly Office Lens[3].
What did Microsoft Lens do?
Lens captured documents, whiteboards, business cards, receipts and handwritten memos with the phone camera, and cleaned up shadows and odd angles[3]. It had five modes: Whiteboard, Document, Actions, Business Card and Photo[3].
- Save as PDF, or to OneNote, OneDrive, Word or PowerPoint[3].
- Choose Word to run OCR, and Lens built a Word file in OneDrive with the legible text[3].
- Actions mode had Text, to copy the text from an image, and Read, to hear it in Immersive Reader[3].
- Text extraction covered 30 languages, with handwritten notes limited to English[3].
So people used Lens for two different jobs. One is scanning paper into a clean PDF. The other is turning a picture of a page into text they can edit. The replacements split the same way.
What replaces each Lens feature?
| Lens feature | Microsoft's replacement | Another option |
|---|---|---|
| Scan a document to PDF | OneDrive app, Scan, saved as a PDF[2] | The Notes or Files scanner on iPhone, the Drive scanner on Android |
| Whiteboard and business card modes | OneDrive Scan has Whiteboard, Document, Business Card and Photo[2] | None needed |
| Text from an image | Not offered in the OneDrive scanner page[2] | Live Text on iPhone, Google Lens on Android, or the free image to text tool |
| Image to Word with OCR | Not offered in the OneDrive scanner page[2] | LoreAI, a photo or PDF in and an editable .docx out |
| Handwritten notes to text | Not offered in the OneDrive scanner page[2] | LoreAI reads cursive and printed handwriting |
OneDrive scanning and LoreAI side by side
| What you need | OneDrive Scan | LoreAI |
|---|---|---|
| File types in | The phone camera[2] | PDF, JPG, PNG and HEIC |
| File size | None named on the help page | Free 3 MB, Basic 10 MB, Pro 25 MB |
| Length | Up to 10 pages in a multi-page scan[2] | Free 3, Basic 30, Pro 100 pages in one file |
| Scanned pages | Captured and cropped as images[2] | Read with OCR into text |
| Photos you already took | Not named on the help page | Uploaded like any other file |
| What you download | A PDF in OneDrive[2] | An editable Word file (.docx), translated if you choose |
| On a phone | The OneDrive app[1] | Any phone browser |
| Price | None named on the help page | First document free, then Basic at $12.99 a month |
OneDrive keeps scans in the cloud and does not save them on the device[1]. That is fine for a PDF you want to file away. If the goal is text you can edit, the PDF still needs OCR afterwards.
How to get a scan into Word without Lens
- Photograph the page with the phone camera, or scan it with OneDrive, Notes, Files or Drive.
- Open LoreAI in the phone browser and upload the photo or PDF.
- Choose OCR Only to keep the language, or OCR + Translate to get it in one of 105 languages.
- Download the Word file. Headings, lists and tables come back in the order of the page, and names, dates and numbers are written as on the original.
For one page with no account, the photo to Word converter does the same in a few seconds. For printed or handwritten pages scanned on paper, see scan a document to Word.
Which Microsoft Lens alternative should you use?
- Use the OneDrive scanner if you used Lens to file receipts, whiteboards and signed forms as PDFs.
- Use Live Text or Google Lens if you copied a line or two of text from a photo.
- Use LoreAI if you used Lens to get Word files: letters, handwritten notes, class handouts or forms you edit and send on.
- Use LoreAI's translation if the page is in another language, so you skip a second tool.
For handwriting in particular, compare the options on handwriting to text and Adobe Scan and handwriting.
Questions people ask
Is Microsoft Lens still available?
No. Microsoft removed Lens from the App Store and Google Play on February 9, 2026, and the app stopped making new scans on March 9, 2026[1].
Can I still open my old Lens scans?
Yes, if the app is still installed and you are signed in to your last active Lens account[1].
What replaced Office Lens?
How do I scan to Word now that Lens is gone?
Take a photo or a PDF scan of the page and upload it to LoreAI. You download an editable Word file with the text, tables and handwriting in place.
Sources
- Microsoft Support: Retirement of Microsoft Lens, accessed November 6, 2026
- Microsoft Support: Scan a whiteboard, document, business card, or photo in OneDrive for Android, accessed November 6, 2026
- Microsoft Support: Microsoft Lens for Android, accessed November 6, 2026
By Matt Mountain ·