Microsoft is retiring the standalone Microsoft Lens mobile app and folding its scanning and capture capabilities into the Microsoft 365 Copilot mobile app in a phased shutdown that begins on September 15, 2025 and culminates with the ability to create new scans being disabled on December 15, 2025 — a consolidation that preserves core OCR and cloud‑save functionality but leaves several convenience and accessibility features behind at launch, forcing a practical migration for millions of users.
Microsoft Lens (originally Office Lens) became a ubiquitous, no‑cost mobile scanner for capturing documents, receipts, whiteboards and business cards, prized for fast OCR, simple image cleanup, and one‑tap exports into OneNote, OneDrive and Office formats. Over the years it accumulated tens of millions of installs and high store ratings, which explains why its retirement matters for both casual users and organizations that baked Lens into everyday workflows.
Microsoft’s stated rationale is product consolidation: reduce the number of standalone utilities, concentrate engineering investment, and make scanning a feature inside the AI‑first Copilot surface where scans can be combined with generative workflows. That strategy may accelerate future innovation, but the immediate impact is a set of functional trade‑offs that administrators and end users must address.
Action now will save time and avoid data loss. Inventory Lens usage, export local scans, test Copilot’s scan flow, implement automations for missing direct exports, evaluate third‑party tools where needed, and update policies and training. The December 15, 2025 cutoff for new scans is the single most important hard deadline; treat it as the moment by which your migration must be complete or safeguarded.
Microsoft’s consolidation makes strategic sense for long‑term product focus and potential AI innovation, but it is not a frictionless swap. The pragmatic approach is to migrate deliberately, protect accessibility and compliance requirements, and use the migration window to evaluate whether Copilot or a third‑party scanning solution best serves your organization’s needs.
Conclusion
Microsoft Lens’s phased retirement and redirection to Microsoft 365 Copilot is confirmed and actionable: begin migration planning now, export any locally stored scans before December 15, 2025, test Copilot’s Create → Scan flow immediately, and implement automation or third‑party tools where Copilot lacks the conveniences your users rely on. Plan communications, update policies, and treat the announced dates as firm anchors to avoid loss of functionality or data during the transition.
Source: Technology For You Microsoft to shut down Lens and push users to Copilot – but you have other options | Technology For You
Microsoft Lens (originally Office Lens) became a ubiquitous, no‑cost mobile scanner for capturing documents, receipts, whiteboards and business cards, prized for fast OCR, simple image cleanup, and one‑tap exports into OneNote, OneDrive and Office formats. Over the years it accumulated tens of millions of installs and high store ratings, which explains why its retirement matters for both casual users and organizations that baked Lens into everyday workflows.Microsoft’s stated rationale is product consolidation: reduce the number of standalone utilities, concentrate engineering investment, and make scanning a feature inside the AI‑first Copilot surface where scans can be combined with generative workflows. That strategy may accelerate future innovation, but the immediate impact is a set of functional trade‑offs that administrators and end users must address.
The timeline you need to plan for
Microsoft published a phased timetable and tenant messaging that provide concrete planning anchors:- September 15, 2025 — retirement process begins and decommissioning work starts.
- Mid‑October 2025 — new installs of Microsoft Lens will be disabled (managed app catalogs should reflect the change).
- November 15, 2025 — Microsoft Lens will be removed from Apple App Store and Google Play.
- December 15, 2025 — creating new scans inside Microsoft Lens will be disabled; previously created scans remain viewable in the app only while the app remains installed.
What moves to Copilot — and what does not (today)
What Copilot preserves
Microsoft 365 Copilot’s Create → Scan flow preserves the essential capture functions most users rely on:- Basic document, receipt and whiteboard capture with OCR.
- Auto‑cropping, deskewing and basic image cleanup.
- Saving scans to OneDrive and surfacing cloud‑saved captures in Copilot’s “My Creations.”
The feature gaps you should know about
Microsoft explicitly lists several notable Lens conveniences that are not available in Copilot at the time of the transition:- No direct save/export to OneNote, Word, or PowerPoint from the Copilot scan UI.
- No business card scan → OneNote contact import flow (the old one‑tap business‑card convenience is absent).
- No integrated Read‑aloud / Immersive Reader support in Copilot’s scanner.
- Local file access caveats — cloud‑saved Lens captures appear in Copilot’s My Creations, but locally stored Lens scans on devices may not surface automatically: Android requires broad file permissions (All Files Access) and iOS sandboxing imposes limits that may prevent automatic migration.
Immediate consequences for users and IT
For individual users
- You can continue to use Microsoft Lens to view existing scans as long as the app remains installed, but you must export any important local scans before December 15, 2025 if you want to guarantee continued creation and portability.
- Copilot’s scanner is available to anyone with the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on iOS or Android — including free users — but expect the two‑step flows (scan to OneDrive, then import to OneNote/Word) for scenarios that previously were single‑tap.
For organizations and administrators
- The Microsoft 365 Message Center indicates no mandatory admin action is required, but Microsoft also recommends communications, inventory and migration planning: identify Lens usage, export locally stored scans, and update training and helpdesk materials. Treat the retirement as a migration project to avoid data loss and user disruption.
- Device management policies will need updates: blocklists, app catalogs, and provisioning flows must reflect Lens’ removal and Copilot’s adoption window. If Copilot must surface local Lens content on Android, be ready to document and evaluate the security implications of All Files Access.
Risks, trade‑offs, and accessibility concerns
Strengths of Microsoft’s approach
- Focused engineering investment: consolidating tools into Copilot reduces maintenance overhead and creates a single surface for future AI-driven features (summarization, classification, multimodal reasoning over scanned content).
- Unified experience for AI workflows: having capture inside Copilot enables workflows where a captured page can immediately be summarized, turned into an action item, or used as a prompt for generative workflows. That’s a genuine product advantage for productivity use cases.
Weaknesses and practical risks
- Feature‑parity gap: Direct export to OneNote/Word/PowerPoint, business‑card flows, and Immersive Reader are missing at launch — not cosmetic omissions, but workflow linchpins for many users.
- Data governance and compliance risk: Lens’s retirement nudges users toward cloud storage as canonical storage. That’s often desirable, but organizations must audit where sensitive scans are stored, apply OneDrive/SharePoint retention and DLP policies, and log migration activity. Local‑only scans that aren’t exported will be brittle.
- Permission and security friction on Android: Copilot may request All Files Access to surface locally stored Lens captures. Granting broad file permissions can conflict with enterprise security baselines and mobile device management policies. Consider forcing cloud‑first export rather than granting sweeping local permissions.
- Accessibility regression: Removing Immersive Reader and Read‑aloud from the default scan surface risks excluding students and users with visual or reading disabilities unless alternative accommodations are provided. Validate Copilot’s accessibility story before decommissioning Lens for affected users.
Alternatives: apps and approaches to replace Lens now
If Copilot’s scanner lacks the specific conveniences you depend on, these alternatives are practical and proven:- Adobe Scan / Adobe Acrobat mobile — robust OCR, multiple export formats, and strong PDF processing and annotation capabilities. Good for users who need consistent PDF quality and export options.
- Google PhotoScan / Google Drive scanner — straightforward capture tied to Google Drive; widely available and simple for cloud users.
- TurboScan / Tiny Scanner — lightweight third‑party options focused on speed and compact UI; suitable for receipts and quick PDF generation.
- OneDrive built‑in scanner — if you already use OneDrive heavily, its scanner can be a convenient alternative to keep content inside Microsoft cloud storage without Copilot.
- Adobe Scan: best OCR fidelity and PDF tooling; introduces an external vendor and licensing considerations.
- Google Drive/Photos: excellent for Google ecosystem users; not ideal if your organization is Microsoft‑centric.
- Tiny/TurboScan: minimal UI and fast capture; may lack enterprise connectors or accessibility features.
A practical migration plan (recommended checklist)
Use this step‑by‑step plan to reduce risk and preserve workflows:- Inventory (ASAP)
- Identify who uses Microsoft Lens and document the exact workflows: OneNote exports, business‑card import, accessibility reads, receipts, KYC captures.
- Export locally stored scans (before Dec 15, 2025)
- Encourage users to export device‑local Lens scans to OneDrive or another managed repository immediately. Keep an audit of exported content. Microsoft warns local‑only scans may not migrate automatically.
- Test Copilot’s Create → Scan flow (now)
- Install the Microsoft 365 Copilot app and rehearse the Create → Scan → My Creations flow. Note missing steps and where automation will be needed.
- Implement stopgap automations where necessary
- Use Power Automate flows to move new scans from OneDrive to OneNote or Word, if direct saves are required. For example: Copilot → OneDrive → automated import into OneNote. This two‑step flow restores much of the Lens convenience with an automated glue layer.
- Address accessibility workflows
- Engage accessibility teams and test Copilot’s experience with screen readers, Immersive Reader alternatives, and text‑to‑speech. If Copilot falls short, provision a third‑party scanner with read‑aloud support or maintain Lens on dedicated devices until parity is achieved.
- Update policies and training
- Update internal documentation, helpdesk scripts, and training materials. Communicate the timeline repeatedly (at least two reminders before Sept 15, mid‑Oct, Nov 15 and Dec 15).
- Decide on Android All Files Access policy
- If you must surface local Lens scans via Copilot on Android, weigh the security cost of granting All Files Access vs exporting local scans to OneDrive. Most enterprises will prefer cloud migration to avoid broad permissions.
- Maintain a fallback window
- Keep Lens installed on dedicated devices as a read‑only archive for critical scans until December 15, 2025 (and train users to export). After Dec 15 the app will stop new scans, but existing scans remain viewable while the binary is installed.
How to use Copilot’s scanner today (quick practical steps)
- Download and install the Microsoft 365 Copilot app for iOS or Android.
- Open the app → tap the three‑lined icon (upper left) → choose Create → Scan.
- Frame the page and tap the shutter; adjust crop/rotation on the preview and tap the checkmark to save.
- Save locally on the device or sync to OneDrive to access scans across devices and surface them in Copilot’s My Creations.
Strategic takeaways and recommended posture
- For the majority of cloud‑first users, the transition will be friction‑light: Copilot retains core capture and OCR and integrates with OneDrive, which is adequate for everyday scanning.
- For power users, educators, accessibility‑dependent users, and regulated industries, this is a migration project. Prioritize inventory, export local scans, and validate Copilot or third‑party tools against your specific compliance and accessibility requirements.
- Do not grant broad mobile permissions (Android All Files Access) unless there is a documented, approved need. Cloud migration is usually the safer governance choice.
What Microsoft may do next — and what remains unverified
Microsoft’s product consolidation into Copilot suggests ongoing investment in an AI‑first scanning surface. It’s reasonable to expect many missing Lens conveniences to be restored over time inside Copilot, but no firm timetable has been provided for when or if direct OneNote exports, business‑card flows, or Immersive Reader integrations will return. Until Microsoft publishes explicit parity roadmaps or entitlements, treat feature restoration as possible but not guaranteed. Any statements about future pricing, entitlements, or exact dates for feature rollouts remain unverified and should be tracked via official Microsoft 365 Message Center notices.Final assessment
The retirement of Microsoft Lens is a strategic consolidation that reduces product sprawl and channels scanning into a richer AI surface. For most users the core scanning and OCR capabilities survive inside the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, and that will be sufficient in many scenarios. However, the immediate cost is operational: loss of one‑tap Office exports, business‑card import flows, and built‑in Immersive Reader support — features that power users, educators and accessibility‑dependent workflows valued highly.Action now will save time and avoid data loss. Inventory Lens usage, export local scans, test Copilot’s scan flow, implement automations for missing direct exports, evaluate third‑party tools where needed, and update policies and training. The December 15, 2025 cutoff for new scans is the single most important hard deadline; treat it as the moment by which your migration must be complete or safeguarded.
Microsoft’s consolidation makes strategic sense for long‑term product focus and potential AI innovation, but it is not a frictionless swap. The pragmatic approach is to migrate deliberately, protect accessibility and compliance requirements, and use the migration window to evaluate whether Copilot or a third‑party scanning solution best serves your organization’s needs.
Conclusion
Microsoft Lens’s phased retirement and redirection to Microsoft 365 Copilot is confirmed and actionable: begin migration planning now, export any locally stored scans before December 15, 2025, test Copilot’s Create → Scan flow immediately, and implement automation or third‑party tools where Copilot lacks the conveniences your users rely on. Plan communications, update policies, and treat the announced dates as firm anchors to avoid loss of functionality or data during the transition.
Source: Technology For You Microsoft to shut down Lens and push users to Copilot – but you have other options | Technology For You