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Microsoft Lens is retired: what to use instead

If you need a Microsoft Lens alternative, it is because Microsoft retired the app: it left the App Store and Google Play on February 9, 2026, and stopped creating new scans after March 9, 2026. Microsoft's own replacement is the scanner inside the OneDrive app, which saves to the cloud only. If you want a free scanner with no install and no account, RealScaner works in the phone or computer browser and keeps the files on your device.

Lens was the app people opened without thinking about it: snap a receipt, crop it, send a PDF. Below is what happened, where your old scans are, what Microsoft recommends, and how the replacements compare.

What happened to the Microsoft Lens app?

Microsoft announced the retirement in its Microsoft 365 Message Center (notice MC1131064) in August 2025 and posted a support article titled "Retirement of Microsoft Lens." The first schedule named November and December 2025. Microsoft later moved the dates, as Thurrott and BleepingComputer both reported in January 2026. The final timeline on Microsoft's support page is:

Microsoft did not give a detailed reason on the support page. It simply points users to OneDrive for scanning.

Is Microsoft Lens still available in 2026?

Not in a useful way. You cannot download it from the stores, and an installed copy can no longer make new scans. What still works, per Microsoft: if the app remains installed, you can open your previous scans in the app's My Scans list. You must be signed in to the last account you used in Lens. The Message Center notice adds that this access "will not be supported by Microsoft," so treat it as a window to get your files out, not a place to keep them.

If Lens shows errors or a black screen today, that is expected. The app is past its end date, and there is no fix to wait for.

Where does Microsoft Lens store files?

It depends on where you sent each scan. Microsoft's "Microsoft Lens for iOS" help page lists these destinations:

On Android, check the phone's gallery and your OneDrive Documents folder first. Anything that only lives in My Scans is the at-risk part. Open Lens while it still launches, share or save each scan you care about to your device or cloud, and only then uninstall it. Deleting the app removes your path to those in-app scans.

Microsoft's official replacement: OneDrive scan

Microsoft recommends the OneDrive app. Open it, tap the plus button, choose Scan photo, and save the file to a folder in your OneDrive. Microsoft's OneDrive help page says the scanner offers Whiteboard, Document, Business Card, and Photo modes, lets you crop, rotate, add text, and highlight, and saves files as PDFs. A multi-page scan holds up to 30 pages.

The limits are worth knowing before you switch:

If you mainly used Lens to turn printed text into an editable Word file, look at the Microsoft 365 Copilot app (formerly the Microsoft 365 app), which Thurrott also named as an option. Microsoft's Android help page for that app describes a Scan text option that sends text into Word, a Scan table option for Excel, and gallery import of up to 30 pictures for Scan text.

Free Microsoft Lens alternatives

These are the scanners most Lens users will land on. Features come from each vendor's own help page or store listing. Prices change, so none are quoted here.

RealScaner (any browser, no install, no account)

RealScaner runs in the browser on a phone or computer. There is no account to create, and the pages are processed on your device instead of being uploaded. You can take a photo with the phone camera, choose several images or a PDF at once, or paste an image from the clipboard. Then drag the four corners onto the paper, or switch on automatic edge detection and refine the corners it finds. Rotate a page, pick a finish (Original, Scanned, Color, B&W, or Ink+ for faded pages), and fine-tune brightness and contrast. Add more pages, reorder them, then download one PDF or every page as PNG, JPEG, WebP, or SVG. You can also draw on a page or place an e-signature. The no-account workflow is explained in how to use an online document scanner for free.

iPhone and iPad: Notes and Files

Apple's support article "How to scan documents on your iPhone or iPad" covers both. In Notes, tap the attachment button and choose Scan Documents. In Files, tap the More button and choose Scan Documents, then pick a save location. Both capture automatically in Auto mode, let you drag the corners, and let you add more pages before you tap Done. Safari-based scanning is covered in how to use a document scanner on iPhone.

Android: Google Drive and Files by Google

In the Google Drive app, tap the camera button. Google's help page says you can crop and rotate, apply a color or grayscale filter, clean marks, add pages, then save as PDF or JPG to a Drive folder. Google describes the result as a searchable PDF. Files by Google has its own Scan button. Google's help page says it saves searchable PDFs into a Scanned folder inside Downloads, which suits people who do not want a cloud copy. More Android options are in how to scan a document on Android.

Adobe Scan

Adobe Scan is free to download with a paid tier. Adobe's help pages say you need to sign in to use subscription features and the free features that rely on online services, and signing in saves files to Adobe cloud storage. On Android, Adobe lists free OCR at 5 pages and 5 GB of cloud storage. Combining files, exporting PDF to other formats, compressing, and password protection are subscription features. The annual plan has a 7-day free trial that renews automatically unless you cancel. If that sounds familiar, see how to cancel a PDF scanner subscription.

Genius Scan

Genius Scan, from The Grizzly Labs, says in its App Store listing that it is "free to use for as long as you want" and that documents are processed on the device. Document detection, cleanup filters, batch scanning, and multi-page PDFs are in the free tier. Text extraction, searchable PDFs, business card scanning, and password protection are marked as premium. Genius Cloud backup and sync is a separate subscription. If you are comparing scanner apps on privacy, is CamScanner safe to use covers what to check.

Import from gallery and create a PDF without Lens

Many people used Lens for one job: pick photos already in the gallery and turn them into one PDF. In RealScaner that takes a minute.

  1. Open realscaner.com and choose Upload file, then select every photo you want. You can pick several at once.
  2. Check each page in the thumbnail strip. Drag the corners onto the paper edges, or turn on automatic edge detection.
  3. Pick a finish. Scanned whitens the paper, B&W sharpens text, Ink+ helps faded pages.
  4. Move pages earlier or later until the order is right. Remove any you do not need.
  5. Leave the format on PDF and download. Every page goes into one file in the current order.

If you only need photos stitched into a PDF with no cropping, how to turn a photo into a PDF is the shorter version. To shuffle pages after the fact, use Organize PDF. If the file is too big for an email or portal, run it through Compress PDF.

Microsoft Lens for PC: what to use on Windows

There has been no working Lens for PC for years. Office Watch reported in October 2020 that Office Lens for Windows would lose its OneDrive, Word, PowerPoint, and PDF save options on December 31, 2020, and leave the Microsoft Store on January 1, 2021. Microsoft pointed Windows users to the phone apps, and those are now gone too.

On a Windows PC or a Mac, open RealScaner in the browser and import photos of the pages. A quick route is to shoot the pages on your phone, send the photos to the computer, and finish the PDF there. Desk scanner options are compared in which PDF scanner is best for Windows.

How RealScaner covers your Lens jobs

RealScaner covers the scan, crop, clean up, and PDF part of Lens, free and on your device:

For how on-device processing differs from upload-based tools, see browser document tools and privacy.

Sources

Key takeaways

Common questions

What happened to the Microsoft Lens app?

Microsoft retired Lens on iOS and Android. Retirement started January 9, 2026, the app left the App Store and Google Play on February 9, 2026, and it stopped creating new scans after March 9, 2026.

Is Microsoft Lens still available in 2026?

Not for new users. It was removed from the app stores on February 9, 2026. If it is still installed, you can open past scans while signed in to your last active account, but you cannot make new ones, and Microsoft no longer supports it.

What is the Microsoft Lens retirement date?

Microsoft lists three dates: retirement began January 9, 2026, support and app store listings ended February 9, 2026, and scanning ended March 9, 2026. The original August 2025 schedule was later pushed back.

Where does Microsoft Lens store files on iPhone?

Per Microsoft’s Lens for iOS help page, images could go to the iPhone Photo Library, PDFs could be saved on the phone, and Word, PowerPoint, and PDF files sent to the cloud landed in the Documents folder on OneDrive. Scans kept only in the app’s My Scans list stay there while the app is installed.

What is the best free Microsoft Lens alternative?

If you want Microsoft’s own path, use the scanner in the OneDrive app, which saves PDFs to OneDrive only. If you want no account and no install, RealScaner scans in the browser and keeps files on your device. iPhone Notes and Files, and Google Drive or Files by Google on Android, also have free built-in scanners.

Is there a Microsoft Lens for PC?

Not anymore. Office Lens for Windows lost its cloud save options on December 31, 2020, and left the Microsoft Store on January 1, 2021. On a PC, a browser scanner such as RealScaner can turn photos of pages into a PDF.

Published October 21, 2026. Updated October 21, 2026.

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