One Of Microsoft's Most Useful Mobile Apps Is Being Retired This Year

For years, Microsoft Lens has been my go-to for scanning documents, business cards, and other physical items like photos onto my phone. It's been a mainstay in my phone library and has remained one of the most useful of Microsoft's mobile apps over the years. Sadly, though, it looks like the company is ready to kill it off in favor of pushing more users to Copilot.

According to a new support page shared this week, Microsoft is planning to retire Lens this year. The retirement is set to come in stages, with the app remaining useful for a couple of months after it is removed from Apple's App Store and Google Play. The app has been around for over 10 years now, as Microsoft officially unveiled Office Lens back in 2015, though it has seen some major upgrades and a name change since then.

While there are other scanning apps out there — and you'll still be able to use Copilot to scan documents and photos — Microsoft's decision to kill the app off in favor of sending users to Copilot is a reminder of just how hard the company is pushing its AI offerings.

Microsoft says that it will start retiring Lens on September 15. This is when the app will cease to be available to download on Android and Apple devices. A couple of months later, on November 15, the app will no longer be supported at all. However, you'll still be able to use the app's scanning features until December 15, 2025. After that date, though, the option to create a new scan will no longer be available. While there are plenty of alternatives out there — Google PhotoScan and Adobe Scan come to mind — you'll also be able to scan with Microsoft Copilot directly from the Copilot app.

On one hand, it makes sense to combine the different functions of multiple apps into one. However, because Copilot is first-and-foremost an AI assistant, some users might choose to find other alternatives. And while there are some upsides to using Copilot — like the fact that GPT-5 is available for free in Copilot — the biggest downside to using Copilot instead of Lens is the fact that you can't directly save scans as PowerPoint, Word, or OneNote files.

Ultimately, the death of Microsoft Lens isn't wholly unexpected. That said, it is a sad day for those who have tried to avoid all of the various AI offerings, especially since Microsoft seems intent on stuffing AI in our faces as often as they can.