File type for OneDrive Capture (former Lens)

Question

I used to use Lens to scan documents and save to OneDrive. Each photo would be saved as a separate jpg.

Recently the Lens app says to "move to OneDrive to keep scanning." The Capture function works much the same as Lens, except for there is no choice of how to save the file, only the location to save the file. All photo scans get saved as a PDF with multiple pages.

Is there a way to choose to save as image files? Will this feature be added in the future?

Answer 1

HI, I'm Rodrigo and I will help you.

You can choose the option to scan a photo on the OneDrive app before saving the file; it must be selected before scanning, and it will output a .jpeg file.

When it opens the camera to start scanning, slide to select the Photo option.

Answer 2

OneDrive’s built‑in Scan/Capture feature saves scans as PDFs and does not provide an option to save each page as an individual image file (such as JPG). The behavior described—multi‑page PDF output with no file‑type choice—is the current, expected design of the OneDrive Scan feature.

The available guidance only documents saving scans from OneDrive as PDFs and does not mention any setting to switch output to image formats, nor any announced plan to add such an option. For scenarios that require image files, the documented alternatives are:

• Use Microsoft Lens (iOS or Android) while it remains available to save captures as images or other formats such as Word, PowerPoint, or PDF.
• After scanning to PDF with OneDrive, use another tool or service to convert the PDF pages to images.

Note that Microsoft Lens itself is planned for retirement on iOS and Android starting January 9, 2026, with OneDrive Scan recommended as the long‑term alternative.

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References:

• Unable to save from Office Lens to OneDrive
• Microsoft Lens for iOS
• Microsoft Lens for Android
• Retirement of Microsoft Lens
• Scan a whiteboard, document, business card, or photo in OneDrive for Android