Microsoft Lens says goodbye to iOS and Android and passes the torch to OneDrive

The countdown to say The end of Microsoft Lens on mobile is already underway.Microsoft's document scanning tool, very common in the daily lives of those who digitize invoices, forms, or notes with their phones, It has begun its withdrawal phase on iOS and Android and has a date set to stop functioning normally..

The company has confirmed that the app is taking a back seat within its cloud services strategy and total priority to artificial intelligenceThe practical result for users is clear: Microsoft Lens will no longer receive support. will disappear from app stores and, shortly afterwards, It will no longer allow creating new scansHowever, the saved documents will still be available for consultation for a while.

Key dates in the Microsoft Lens shutdown

The process doesn't happen overnight, but a phased closure with several important datesMicrosoft officially launched Lens' withdrawal on January 9, 2026From that moment the application entered a withdrawal phase, with limited support and a focus on preparing users for the final shutdown.

The second date worth noting is the February 9, 2026That day, Microsoft Lens It will be removed from the Google Play Store and the App StoreThis means it will no longer be possible to reinstall it through official channels, either on new phones or after a factory reset. Furthermore, from that point on, the app will be considered "unsupported": it will no longer receive updates, and if a future version of Android or iOS causes bugs, Microsoft will not release patches to fix them.

The final step is reached March 9, 2026, the date on which Microsoft will shut down the cloud technology that processes scanned images by Lens. This infrastructure is what transforms photos into clean, legible documents, with cropping, straightening, and text recognition. When it's disconnected, the application will no longer be able to create new scans, so it will only serve, at best, as a viewer for what has already been digitized.

Until that day in March, users will be able to continue scan documents normallyFrom then on, the app's main function will be blocked, although Microsoft clarifies that access to previous scans will be maintained as long as the application remains installed on the device and the same account used to perform the captures is used.

In practice, for anyone who regularly uses Lens on their phone, The two critical dates are February 9th and March 9thThe first is to ensure you have the application installed before it disappears from the stores, and the second is as an endpoint for creating new documents.

What will happen to your documents and access limitations?

One of the most frequently asked questions is what happens to everything that has been scanned with Lens so far. Microsoft indicates that Documents already created will remain accessible After March 9, provided that two basic conditions are met: keep the app installed and log in with the same Microsoft account that was used when those scans were done.

The company does warn, however, that Access is not fully guaranteed in all future scenarios. If the application stops starting correctly on a new system version, or if the user attempts to reinstall it after it has been removed from the stores, access may be complicated or simply impossible.

For this reason, Microsoft now recommends treating documents saved in Lens as content that should be kept safeIt's a good time to review which receipts, contracts, or scanned notes are still important. export and store them in a more stable location, either in the cloud (OneDrive or other services) or in a local folder on the computer or the mobile device itself.

For those who use Lens as a quick resource for paperwork—transport tickets, warranty cards, purchase receipts—making change can be inconvenient if left until the last minute. The general recommendation is Don't wait until the week of the closure to organize the content, but do that task calmly while the application is working normally.

An important detail that the company emphasizes is the need to Verify the active account in Microsoft Lens Before exporting, check your scans. If you switched sessions and mixed up different accounts at any point, some scans may be linked to an old account. Reviewing this now can prevent surprises when the service stops working.

A movement linked to the commitment to artificial intelligence

The end of Microsoft Lens isn't due to a technical failure or lack of use, but rather a strategic shift. This is part of their plan to strengthen their product line. Copilot and the suite of artificial intelligence servicesMicrosoft is concentrating similar functions into fewer applications and platforms, instead of maintaining multiple tools with nearly identical features.

In this reorganization, Lens becomes one of the "victims" of this consolidation. The company points out that intelligent scanning and processing capabilities The features offered by the app are already integrated into other key services in the Microsoft ecosystem, so maintaining a standalone application no longer fits into the roadmap.

This strategy doesn't just affect mobile productivity; it's part of a broader movement in which AI takes up a large portion of the resources Technical and economic factors. Fewer distributed products and more interconnected services, with Copilot as the central element, is the idea that Microsoft is promoting in its application ecosystem.

For users, this translates into having to adapt your workflow to other apps in the Microsoft environment, especially OneDrive and the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, which inherit many of the functions that were previously directly associated with Lens.

Those who have been using Lens for years —from its initial stage as Office Lens, launched in 2014, to the name change to Microsoft Lens in 2021— will see how one of the simplest utilities for digitizing documents stops evolving and becomes integrated into other broader solutions.

OneDrive takes over as the main alternative

The natural replacement proposed by Microsoft is the scanning function built into OneDriveAvailable in the service's mobile apps, the company explains that it uses the same underlying technology that made Lens popular, so the visual result of the documents will be very similar in terms of cropping, sharpness, and formatting.

The workflow for using OneDrive is simple: just Open the app on your mobile device, tap the “+” icon and choose the scan option (or "Digitize Photo," depending on the version). From there, the process is very similar to Lens: you take a picture of the document, adjust the cropping if necessary, and save the resulting file.

The big difference is the destination of those files. While with Lens it was common to save the scans directly to the phone's local storage or in the service chosen by the user, with OneDrive documents are automatically saved in the cloud, within the account associated with the application.

This has obvious synchronization advantages—the document appears instantly on the PC, tablet, or any other device with access to OneDrive—but it also implies a change of habits for those who preferred to keep their scans. only in local memoryIn these cases, it will be necessary to manually download the files from OneDrive if you want to keep them outside the cloud.

In any case, the basic steps that Microsoft proposes for adopting OneDrive as a replacement for Lens are clear: open the application, press the add button, choose the scanning option, capture the document, and Save the result to the OneDrive folder that is most convenient at any given time.

Copilot and other document scanning options

In addition to OneDrive, Microsoft notes that the Microsoft 365 Copilot app It also incorporates document scanning and digitization functions. The idea is that the user can not only capture a document, but also directly leverage AI and other capabilities. generative AI applications to summarize it, extract data, or generate content based on that file.

This integration of document capture within Copilot fits with the company's overall strategy: to turn AI into the entry point for many daily tasksFrom email management to handling scanned files, Microsoft 365 offers a range of features. For those already using Microsoft 365 daily, it can be a reasonable alternative to the classic combination of Lens and other Office apps.

Outside of the Microsoft ecosystem, the market for scanning apps remains broad, with various options available in the iOS and Android app stores. However, the company prefers to direct its users toward its own scanning services. OneDrive and Copilotwhere it directly controls both the user experience and the additional features powered by artificial intelligence.

What is clear is that, after Lens is shut down, those who still need to scan documents on their mobile phones will have to Review and adjust your usual toolsFor many users in Spain and the rest of Europe, where mobile phone use for digital transactions has skyrocketed, the impact will be greater the more integrated Lens is into their daily routine.

In this context, it might be a good idea to try several alternatives during these weeks, to see which one best suits each need—whether for cloud integration, simplicity, or extra features like advanced OCR—and Leave the transition completed before March 9th, when Lens will no longer be useful for new scans.

Recommended steps before final shutdown

To avoid problems when Microsoft Lens stops working, there are a number of Practical actions that should be carried out in advanceThe first thing is to make sure the app is installed on all devices where it might be needed by February 9th, as after that date it will no longer be possible to download it officially from Google Play or the App Store.

Next, it is advisable to do a review of the documents already scanned and decide which files remain relevant. The most important ones should be exported and save in locations that the user controls: OneDrive folders, other cloud services, local computer drives or external storage, according to individual preferences.

Another useful step is to conduct a small trial with OneDrive (and, if applicable, with Microsoft 365 Copilot) to familiarize yourself with the new way of scanningTesting how documents are saved, shared, and organized helps detect potential problems before Lens becomes unavailable as a backup plan.

It is also advisable to confirm that it is being used the appropriate Microsoft account across all devices: both in Lens, to retrieve previous documents, and in OneDrive, so that new scans are centralized and accessible from anywhere.

Finally, those who had Lens as a key part of their workflow—for example, for managing freelance invoices, employment documentation, or administrative tasks—should take advantage of this transition period to document your new procedure: what app they will use, where the files will be stored, and how they will be shared or archived from now on.

With this entire timeline on the table, the farewell to Microsoft Lens represents a significant change for many users who had grown accustomed to its simplicity and speed, but it comes accompanied by Enhanced scanning capabilities in OneDrive and CopilotMicrosoft is reorganizing its catalog to invest heavily in artificial intelligence, and those who relied on Lens will have to adapt to this new scenario in which document capture is now fully integrated into the cloud and the company's AI services.

Related article:

OneDrive with artificial intelligence: how to organize, search, and protect your files

Alberto Navarro

I am a technology enthusiast who has turned his "geek" interests into a profession. I have spent more than 10 years of my life using cutting-edge technology and tinkering with all kinds of programs out of pure curiosity. Now I have specialized in computer technology and video games. This is because for more than 5 years I have been writing for various websites on technology and video games, creating articles that seek to give you the information you need in a language that is understandable to everyone.

If you have any questions, my knowledge ranges from everything related to the Windows operating system as well as Android for mobile phones. And my commitment is to you, I am always willing to spend a few minutes and help you resolve any questions you may have in this internet world.