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Microsoft to Retire Lens PDF Scanner on Sept 15, Replaced by 365 Copilot

by VARINDIA 2025-08-11

Microsoft Lens – PDF Scanner, formerly known as Office Lens, will officially be discontinued on September 15, 2025, as Microsoft integrates its powerful document scanning and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) features into Microsoft 365 Copilot. The widely used productivity app has been a go-to tool for Android and iOS users since its launch in 2015, enabling seamless conversion of images into PDF, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint formats.

Over the years, Microsoft Lens amassed 50+ million downloads on the Google Play Store and maintained an impressive 4.9-star rating on the Apple App Store, backed by more than 136,000 user reviews. It became a top-rated mobile PDF scanner app for students, professionals, and businesses, thanks to its AI-powered text recognition, image enhancement, and cloud integration with OneDrive and SharePoint.

Timeline of Shutdown

September 15, 2025 — Microsoft Lens officially retires.
November 15, 2025 — App removed from Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
December 15, 2025 — Scanning functionality ends; new scans can no longer be created.

After December 15, users can still access previously saved scans as long as the app remains installed. Microsoft recommends users transition to Microsoft 365 Copilot, which will offer enhanced AI document scanning, real-time text translation, and multi-format export options, integrated directly within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

This move aligns with Microsoft’s broader AI-first strategy, aiming to consolidate features into its Copilot platform for a unified and smarter productivity experience. The shift will also benefit Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and OneNote users, who will now have native document scanning capabilities without requiring a separate app.