RIP, Microsoft Lens, a simple little app that’s getting replaced by AI

Sometimes it’s nice to have a simple app that does one thing well without a lot of fuss.

Microsoft Lens was that type of app: a mobile document scanner that turned paper documents, business cards, receipts, and anything else into easily readable digital files. Now that app is being discontinued, Microsoft says, as it directs its users to its Copilot AI chat app instead.

According to a new support document, Lens will be retired from iOS and Android devices starting on September 15, 2025, then removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play on November 15, 2025. Existing users will be able to continue to use the app’s scanning capabilities through December 15, 2025. After that date, no new scans will be possible, but access to prior scans will remain in the app as long as it stays on the user’s device.

First launched in 2015, Microsoft Lens (then known as Office Lens) evolved from an application originally designed for Windows Phone devices. While its core functionality was similar to other mobile scanning applications, it didn’t try to upcharge users for certain functionality or push them into a subscription — a rarity in today’s App Store.

Instead, it performed its task of turning any note — handwritten or otherwise — document, receipt, business card, or even whiteboard scribbles into the file format of your choice, like PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or images. It also offered a variety of built-in filters to enhance the resulting image, lighten the document, turn it into a sharper black-and-white copy, and more.

You could then save the file to one of Microsoft’s apps, other online services, or your camera roll. It was simple, and it worked well.

The app’s impending shutdown was first spotted by the site Bleeping Computer, which points out that users are being directed to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, which lacks all the functionality found in Lens. While Copilot can handle scanning, it doesn’t support saving those scans directly to OneNote, Word, or PowerPoint, nor does it save business card scans to OneNote. It also lacks Lens’ accessibility features like read-out-loud and Immersive Reader integration, the site notes.

Despite its age, Lens remains fairly popular, having pulled in over 322,000 downloads on the App Store and Google Play over the past 30 days, according to data from app intelligence provider Appfigures. Since January 2017, it has been downloaded 92.3 million times, the firm’s data shows.

Microsoft has not yet responded to a request for comment on its decision to shut down Lens.