When working from home or working remotely, the ability to scan common documents can seem quite difficult. Microsoft has developed an application called Microsoft Office Lens to help with this problem. 


Microsoft Office Lens is the equivalent of having a portable scanner using your portable device. By taking a picture in the application, it will digitise your notes or an application into a picture format. You can use this software to convert images to PDF, Word & PowerPoint Files & save images to OneDrive for easy access or to share amongst colleagues. 


  1. Install the Office Lens product from the App Store that is compatible with your device: iOS, Android, or Windows.
  2. Open the application & follow the prompts to set it up properly. Be sure to allow the program to access your camera & photo gallery.
  3. The camera will open and then a default “view” option will allow you to choose options such as whiteboard or document
  4. As you focus and move the camera, it will try to frame the object. Once you get a clear focus, just press the button to capture your image.
  5. Office Lens will take a few minutes to process the image and then give you a preview of it. If you think you should trim it a bit, use the crop option in the upper right corner. Once you achieve your desired results, tap Done.
  6. To save the image You have options to save to OneDrive, PDF, OneNote & Office products. Alternatively, you have the option to share using Outlook/Email. 
  7. You will need to be signed in to your work account on your phone for this save process to work.  Sign in to your OneDrive account, create a name for your image. Click Done and this image will be transferred to our Council OneDrive - it will be located in a new folder called Office Lens. You can also email the photo using your Council email address (see Outlook Setup Solution Article - https://servicedesk.chrc.qld.gov.au/a/solutions/articles/2000038819).


Instructions modified from https://onesobo.com/microsoft-office-lens-how-to-article/