Microsoft Is Finally Ending Support for Its Free Scanner App (but There Are Alternatives).
Nothing lasts forever. Device support ends, standards change, and software becomes obsolete. This is the case with Microsoft Lens, whose days are numbered. Keen observers have known this since August , when Microsoft first announced it would end support for Lens in September and remove it from app stores in November. Apparently, this never happened, as the company pushed back the deadline to December 15, which has also passed. Microsoft had been delaying the decision to end support—until now.
Microsoft Lens was Microsoft’s solution for those who didn’t own a scanner in the mid-2010s. Instead of purchasing expensive equipment to digitize documents, Lens allowed you to use your smartphone’s camera to convert paper copies into digital files. It wasn’t the only document scanner available in app stores ( Apple’s Notes app has had this feature built-in since iOS 11 ), but since it was developed by Microsoft, it was a good solution for transferring files into Microsoft apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. It’s also free and compatible with both Android and iOS, making it widely available. We even ranked it first in our roundup of the best document scanning apps of 2021.
According to the app’s support documentation , Microsoft Lens officially ended support on January 9th. However, this doesn’t mean the app is dead: Microsoft will continue to support it until February 9th. After that, the app will no longer receive updates, and Microsoft will remove it from app stores. (If you’re a fan of Microsoft Lens or interested in using it, be sure to install it before then.) In any case, you’ll only have one month to use it. After March 9th, you’ll no longer be able to create new scans in Lens, but you’ll still be able to view your previous scans as long as the app remains on your device.
The best alternatives to Microsoft Lens
By mid-March, Microsoft Lens users will need to choose an alternative scanning app. Fortunately, there are plenty of options available in the app stores. In fact, you might not need to download anything new at all: as mentioned above, iPhone users can use the built-in scanner in the Notes app, and Google Drive users can do the same .
Microsoft, of course, wants you to stay within the ecosystem, so they’d prefer you use OneDrive’s built-in scanner. If you already have this app on your phone, it may be as good an option as any other. However, there are popular specialized apps, such as Genius Scan , Adobe Scan , and Photomyne , that offer additional features not available in built-in scanners.