Unnecessary retirement of Microsoft Office Lens: Difference between revisions
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|Type=Digital Ownership, Digital Restriction, Discontinued | |Type=Digital Ownership, Digital Restriction, Discontinued | ||
|Description=Microsoft disabled Microsoft Lens and forced users to use OneDrive to scan documents which does not support local storage of said documents | |Description=Microsoft disabled Microsoft Lens and forced users to use OneDrive to scan documents which does not support local storage of said documents | ||
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[[Microsoft]] starting cutting support for Microsoft Lens in late 2025 and early 2026, suggesting users try OneDrive instead for creating digital scans. Microsoft Lens supported saving scanned documents to local storage, however, OneDrive does not allow this<ref>{{Cite news |last=Okemwa |first=Kevin |date=2026-02-09 |title=Microsoft kills Lens and pushes everyone to OneDrive… which still can’t save scans locally |url=https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/microsoft-lens-is-dead-microsoft-wants-you-on-onedrive-but-it-doesnt-let-you-save-scans-locally |url-status=live |work=Windows Central}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-05-06 |title=Retirement of Microsoft Lens |url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/Lens/retirement-of-microsoft-lens |url-status=live |access-date=2026-05-06 |website=Microsoft}}</ref>. | |||
==Background== | ==Background== | ||
Microsoft Lens (formally known as Office Lens) is a piece of software within Microsoft Office 365 which allows users to create digital copies of written documents using the camera on a smart device.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2026-03-12 |title=Microsoft Lens for Android |url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/microsoft-lens-for-android-ec124207-0049-4201-afaf-b5874a8e6f2b |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=Microsoft Support}}</ref> These documents can then be saved to either Microsoft's OneDrive or to the local | Microsoft Lens (formally known as Office Lens) is a piece of software within Microsoft Office 365 which allows users to create digital copies of written documents using the camera on a smart device.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2026-03-12 |title=Microsoft Lens for Android |url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/microsoft-lens-for-android-ec124207-0049-4201-afaf-b5874a8e6f2b |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=Microsoft Support}}</ref> These documents can then be saved to either Microsoft's OneDrive or to the local storage on the users device. It is important to note that users are required to be signed in to a Microsoft Account with a valid Office 365 subscription in order to use Office Lens.<ref name=":0" /> | ||
==Retirement of Microsoft Lens== | ==Retirement of Microsoft Lens== | ||
In | In August 2025,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=2025-08-08 |title=RIP, Microsoft Lens, a simple little app that's getting replaced by AI |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/08/rip-microsoft-lens-a-simple-little-app-thats-getting-replaced-by-ai/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=TechCrunch}}</ref> Microsoft announced that they would be retiring Microsoft Lens on 2025-09-15. This was then moved back to 2026-02-09 when Microsoft Lens was removed from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store and after 2026-03-09, Microsoft Lens was completely disabled on the devices that still had it installed. However, it was still possible to access locally saved documents as long as the user had a Microsoft account with a valid Office 365 subscription.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2026-03-12 |title=Retirement of Microsoft Lens |url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/retirement-of-microsoft-lens-fc965de7-499d-4d38-aeae-f6e48271652d#:~:text=The%20Microsoft%20Lens%20app%20will%20be%20retired%20from,capability%20in%20the%20app%20until%20December%2015%2C%202025 |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=Microsoft Support}}</ref> | ||
===Microsoft's Solution=== | ===Microsoft's Solution=== | ||
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==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
[[Category:2025 incidents]] | |||
[[Category:Microsoft Office]] | |||
Latest revision as of 15:29, 6 May 2026
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Microsoft starting cutting support for Microsoft Lens in late 2025 and early 2026, suggesting users try OneDrive instead for creating digital scans. Microsoft Lens supported saving scanned documents to local storage, however, OneDrive does not allow this[1][2].
Background
[edit | edit source]Microsoft Lens (formally known as Office Lens) is a piece of software within Microsoft Office 365 which allows users to create digital copies of written documents using the camera on a smart device.[3] These documents can then be saved to either Microsoft's OneDrive or to the local storage on the users device. It is important to note that users are required to be signed in to a Microsoft Account with a valid Office 365 subscription in order to use Office Lens.[3]
Retirement of Microsoft Lens
[edit | edit source]In August 2025,[4] Microsoft announced that they would be retiring Microsoft Lens on 2025-09-15. This was then moved back to 2026-02-09 when Microsoft Lens was removed from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store and after 2026-03-09, Microsoft Lens was completely disabled on the devices that still had it installed. However, it was still possible to access locally saved documents as long as the user had a Microsoft account with a valid Office 365 subscription.[5]
Microsoft's Solution
[edit | edit source]Instead of using Microsoft Lens, Microsoft recommended that users use the built-in scanning feature on OneDrive. However it is important to note that this feature does not support storing the files locally.[5]
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ Okemwa, Kevin (2026-02-09). "Microsoft kills Lens and pushes everyone to OneDrive… which still can't save scans locally". Windows Central.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Retirement of Microsoft Lens". Microsoft. 2026-05-06. Retrieved 2026-05-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Microsoft Lens for Android". Microsoft Support. 2026-03-12. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Perez, Sarah (2025-08-08). "RIP, Microsoft Lens, a simple little app that's getting replaced by AI". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Retirement of Microsoft Lens". Microsoft Support. 2026-03-12. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)