Microsoft Lens to Leave: Legacy and Limits
Microsoft’s reliable and user-friendly document scanning app, Microsoft Lens, is set to be discontinued by the end of this year. The company announced that support for the app on iOS and Android platforms will cease on September 15, 2025, and the app will be removed from the App Store and Google Play on November 15. The news was reported by TechCrunch.
Users will still be able to access existing scans until December 15, but no new scans can be created after that date. The old scans will remain accessible within the app until it is deleted from the user’s device.
Launched in 2015 as “Office Lens,” the app allowed users to easily convert documents, receipts, business cards, or whiteboard notes into PDF, Word, PowerPoint, or image formats. One of Lens’s standout features was that it was free to use with no subscription required, a rarity in today’s app ecosystem.
Following the app’s discontinuation, users will be directed to Microsoft 365 Copilot, although it lacks several key features of Lens. For instance, Copilot does not support saving scans directly to OneNote, Word, or PowerPoint, nor does it offer business card scanning, read-aloud capabilities, or immersive reader functions.
According to app analytics firm Appfigures, Microsoft Lens was downloaded 322,000 times from the App Store and Google Play in the past 30 days. Since January 2017, the app has amassed over 92.3 million downloads in total.
Microsoft has not yet issued an official comment regarding the decision to discontinue Lens.
