Can you scan to a word document

Word for Microsoft 365 Word 2021 Word 2019 Word 2016 Word 2013 More…Less

If you’ve got a printed document or picture that you want to insert into your Word document, there are a couple of ways you can do that.

Note: If you’re looking for instructions on how to connect your scanner or copier to Microsoft Windows, please visit the manufacturer’s support website for your device.

Scan an image into Word

To scan an image into a Word document, you can use a scanner, a multi-function printer, a copier with scan capability, or a digital camera.

  1. Scan your image or take a photograph of it with your digital camera or smartphone.

  2. Save the image as a standard image format such as .JPG, .PNG or .GIF. Place it in a folder you can access on your computer.

  3. In Word, place your cursor where you would like to insert the scanned image and on the Insert tab of the Ribbon, click Pictures.

    The Pictures icon is highlighted on the Insert tab.

  4. Select your scanned picture from the dialog box, and click Insert.

    Select the picture you wish to insert in Word.

Scan text into Word

The best way to scan a document into Microsoft Word is to use our free Office Lens app on your smartphone or tablet. It uses your device’s camera to capture the document and can save directly into Word format as an editable document. It’s available for free on iPad, iPhone, Windows Phone and Android.

If you don’t want to use Office Lens, the next best option is to scan your document as a PDF using your scanner’s native software and then open that PDF file in Word.

  1. In Word click File > Open.

  2. Navigate to where your PDF file is stored, and open it.

  3. Word will open a dialog box confirming that it is going to attempt to import the text of the PDF file. Click OK to confirm, and Word will import the text. Word will do its best to preserve the formatting of the text as it appears in the PDF.

    Word confirms that it will attempt to reflow the PDF file you opened.

See Edit PDF content in Word for more information.

Note: The accuracy of the text recognition depends on the quality of the scan and on the clarity of the text you scanned. Handwritten text is seldom recognized, so scanning typed or printed text will give the best results. Always proofread the text after opening it in Word to ensure the text was accurately recognized.

Alternatively, your scanner may have come with an application that allows you to do Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Check the documentation for your device, or contact the manufacturer of your device, for more information.

Do you have a question about Word that we didn’t answer here?

Post a question in the Word Answers community forum

Help us improve Word

Do you have suggestions for how we can improve Word? Let us know by providing us feedback. See How do I give feedback on Microsoft Office? for more information.

See also

  • Insert pictures in Office 2013 and Office 2016

  • Insert a signature

  • Scan app for Windows: FAQ

Need more help?

Word for Microsoft 365 Word 2021 Word 2019 Word 2016 Word 2013 Word 2010 Word 2007 More…Less

After you scan a document, you can open the document in Word to edit it. How you do this depends on the version of Office that you have installed.

Scan a document as a PDF file and edit it in Word

Tip: The conversion works best with documents that are mostly text.

  1. Scan your document according to the instructions for your scanner, and save it to your computer as a .pdf file.

  2. In Word, click File > Open.

  3. Browse to the location of the PDF file on your computer and click Open.

  4. A message appears, stating that Word will convert the PDF file into an editable Word document. Click OK.

The converted document might not have a perfect page-to-page correspondence with the original. For example, lines and pages may break at different locations. For more information, see Opening PDFs in Word.

See also

Edit PDF content in Word

Save as PDF

Important: 
Office 2010 is no longer supported. Upgrade to Microsoft 365 to work anywhere from any device and continue to receive support.

Upgrade now

The From Scanner or Camera option for scanning documents and pictures is not available in Word 2010. Instead, you can use your scanner to scan the document, and then you can save the file on your computer.

Step 1: Install Microsoft Office Document Imaging

Microsoft Office Document Imaging has been removed from Office 2010; however, you can use one of the options described in Install MODI for use with Microsoft Office 2010 to install it on your computer.

Step 2: Create a document that you can edit

Scan your document according to the instructions for your scanner.

Before you continue    Convert the file that the scanner created to TIFF format. You can use Paint or another program to convert the file.

  1. Open Microsoft Office Document Imaging by searching for Microsoft Office Document Imaging on the Windows Start menu.

  2. On the File menu, click Open.

  3. Locate the document that you scanned, and then click Open.

  4. After Microsoft Office Document Imaging runs, press CTRL+A to select the entire document, and then press CTRL+C.

  5. Start Microsoft Word.

  6. On the File tab, click New.

  7. Double-click Blank document.

  8. Press CTRL+V to paste the contents of the scanned document into the new file.

You now have a document that you can edit. Be sure to save the new file so that you don’t lose your changes.

Important: 
Office 2007 is no longer supported. Upgrade to Microsoft 365 to work anywhere from any device and continue to receive support.

Upgrade now

The From Scanner or Camera option for scanning documents and pictures is not available in Microsoft Office Word 2007. Instead, you can use your scanner to scan the document, and then you can save the file on your computer.

Step 1: Install Microsoft Office Document Imaging

  1. Exit all programs.

    Tip: You may want to print this topic before you exit all programs.

  2. Open Control Panel: Right-click the Windows Start button, and then click Control Panel, or type Control Panel in the Windows Search box.

  3. In Control Panel, click Programs, and then click Programs and Features.

  4. Right-click the name of the Microsoft Office edition that you have installed, or right-click Microsoft Office Word 2007 (depending on whether you installed Word as part of Office or as an individual program), and then click Change.

  5. Click Add or Remove Features, and then click Continue.

  6. Under Installation Options, click the plus sign (+) next to Office Tools.

  7. Click the arrow next to Microsoft Office Document Imaging, click Run all from my Computer, and then click Continue.

Step 2: Create a document that you can edit

Scan your document according to the instructions for your scanner.

Before you continue    Convert the file that the scanner created to TIFF format. You can use Paint or another program to convert the file.

  1. Open Microsoft Office Document Imaging by searching for Microsoft Office Document Imaging on the Windows Start menu.

  2. On the File menu, click Open.

  3. Locate the document that you scanned, and then click Open.

  4. After Microsoft Office Document Imaging runs, press CTRL+A to select the entire document, and then press CTRL+C.

  5. Start Microsoft Office Word.

  6. Click the Microsoft Office Button Office button image, and then click New.

  7. Click Blank document, and then click Create.

  8. Press CTRL+V to paste the contents of the scanned document into the new file.

You now have a document that you can edit. Be sure to save the new file so that you don’t lose your changes.

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Scan text into Word

  1. In Word click File > Open.
  2. Navigate to where your PDF file is stored, and open it.
  3. Word will open a dialog box confirming that it is going to attempt to import the text of the PDF file. Click OK to confirm, and Word will import the text.

Contents

  • 1 How do I convert a scanned PDF to Word?
  • 2 How do I scan a document and save it as a document?
  • 3 Can a scanned document be converted to Word?
  • 4 How do I scan a document to Word Online?
  • 5 How do I scan documents into my computer?
  • 6 How do I scan a document and send it?
  • 7 How do I convert PDF to Word without formatting?
  • 8 Can you scan a PDF and edit it in Word?
  • 9 How do I convert JPEG to Word?
  • 10 How do I convert a PDF image to a Word document?
  • 11 How do I scan a document with my Iphone?
  • 12 How do I Scan a document and upload it to my computer Windows 10?
  • 13 Where do Scanned documents go on PC?
  • 14 How do I Scan a document from my printer?
  • 15 How do you Scan from a printer?
  • 16 How do I convert PDF to Word on Windows for free?
  • 17 Why does my PDF not convert to Word?
  • 18 How do I open a PDF document in Word?
  • 19 Is it possible to scan a document and edit it?
  • 20 How do I scan a document and edit it on my computer?

How do I convert a scanned PDF to Word?

Open a PDF file in Acrobat DC.

  1. Open a PDF file in Acrobat DC.
  2. Click on the “Export PDF” tool in the right pane.
  3. Choose Microsoft Word as your export format, and then choose “Word Document.”
  4. Click “Export.” If your PDF contains scanned text, the Acrobat Word converter will run text recognition automatically.

How do I scan a document and save it as a document?

Press “Ctrl-S” to open the “Save As” window, type a name for the document in the File Name box, select the folder where you want to store it and click the “Save” button to save the document.

Can a scanned document be converted to Word?

Microsoft Word can recognize and convert scanned PDF files into Word documents without requiring any additional software. If your document saved as an image (e.g., a JPG or PNG file), you can use New OCR to convert it instead.

How do I scan a document to Word Online?

Scan a document as a PDF file and edit it in Word

  1. Scan your document according to the instructions for your scanner, and save it to your computer as a .
  2. In Word, click File > Open.
  3. Browse to the location of the PDF file on your computer and click Open.

How do I scan documents into my computer?

Using your printer or scanner: o Follow the scanner manufacturer’s directions to scan each document to your computer or USB drive. Most scanners simply require you to press a Scan button, or open the scanning program on your computer and click a scan command. o Select the PDF file format option before scanning.

How do I scan a document and send it?

How to scan on Android

  1. Tap the + icon on the bottom right corner of the Google Drive app.
  2. Hit the Scan button.
  3. Place the document face-up on a flat, well-lit surface.
  4. Focus your phone camera on the document, and capture the image.
  5. Review the resultant image, and resize or adjust it as required.

How do I convert PDF to Word without formatting?

How to Retain PDF Formatting When Converting it to Word

  1. Open a PDF file in Adobe Acrobat.
  2. Click “File.” Select “Export.”
  3. Choose “Microsoft Word Document” as the text format.
  4. Click “Settings.”
  5. Make changes in “Layout Settings.” The type of formatting you choose to retain will depend on the nature of the PDF document.

Can you scan a PDF and edit it in Word?

As long as the scanned documents are in PDF format, you can edit them in Word. If the document was scanned as an image, however, you’ll need to convert it to a PDF first. The converted PDF can then be edited in Word.

How do I convert JPEG to Word?

Convert JPG to Word Online for Free

  1. Go to our online JPG converter.
  2. Upload your JPG file, which the tool initially saves as PDF.
  3. Click “PDF to Word” to convert the file to a Word doc.
  4. And that’s it. Download your file.

How do I convert a PDF image to a Word document?

Here are the steps:

  1. Upload a PDF. Upload the PDF into your Google Drive account.
  2. Open with Google Docs. Right-click the PDF image file and open it with “Google Docs”.
  3. Convert PDF Image to Word. Once it is opened, you can click the “File” > “Download” > “Microsoft Word (.

How do I scan a document with my Iphone?

Scan a document

  1. Open Notes and select a note or create a new one.
  2. Tap the Camera button , then tap Scan Documents .
  3. Place your document in view of the camera.
  4. If your device is in Auto mode, your document will automatically scan.
  5. Tap Save or add additional scans to the document.

How do I Scan a document and upload it to my computer Windows 10?

Scan a picture or document with Windows Scan app

  1. Make sure your scanner is turned on.
  2. In the search box on the taskbar, type Windows Scan, and then select Scan from the results.
  3. Do one of the following:
  4. On the Scan page, do the following:
  5. Select Scan at the bottom of the screen to scan your document or picture.

Where do Scanned documents go on PC?

Usually, when you connect a scanner to your computer, Windows PC saves scanned documents in either the “My Documents” or “My Scans” folder by default. But for a Windows 10 user, you may find the files in the “Pictures” folder, especially if you saved them as images, such as .

How do I Scan a document from my printer?

Turn the printer on and open the scanner – lift the scanner lid, load the document you wish to scan into the tray if your printer has an all-in-one paper feeder. Insert the document – place the document face-down in the scanner and use the arrow marking on the glass to help align your document in the correct place.

How do you Scan from a printer?

In Windows, go to Start > Scan > Settings > Devices> Printers & Scanners. Then, choose a printer and select Manage > Scanner > Open scanner > Scan.

How do I convert PDF to Word on Windows for free?

No need to spend time to adjust text and images.

  1. Open a PDF file in Acrobat.
  2. Click on the Export PDF tool in the right pane.
  3. Choose Microsoft Word as your export format, and then click on Word Document.
  4. Click “Export”.
  5. Select a location where you want to save the file, name your new Word file, and then click “Save”.

Why does my PDF not convert to Word?

Adobe Reader Cannot create PDF, edit/word PDF or export PDF content to another file format.The user interface you describe is from Adobe Reader, and for that to work you need to pay for the ExportPDF subscription. If you do have Adobe Acrobat, you can select File>Save as other>MS Word>… to convert to Word.

How do I open a PDF document in Word?

Go to File > Open. Find the PDF, and open it (you might have to select Browse and find the PDF in a folder). Word tells you that it’s going to make a copy of the PDF and convert its contents into a format that Word can display. The original PDF won’t be changed at all.

Is it possible to scan a document and edit it?

You can scan a document and convert the text into data that you can edit with a word processing program. This process is called OCR (Optical Character Recognition). To scan and use OCR, you need to use an OCR program, such as the ABBYY FineReader program.

How do I scan a document and edit it on my computer?

Edit text in a scanned document

  1. Open the scanned PDF file in Acrobat.
  2. Choose Tools > Edit PDF.
  3. Click the text element you want to edit and start typing.
  4. Choose File > Save As and type a new name for your editable document.

Plus, convert a scanned PDF to Word

Updated on December 5, 2021

What to Know

  • Use your scanner to scan a document as a PDF, and then open the PDF with Word.
  • Use the Office Lens and Word apps on mobile to scan documents and open them with Word.
  • Once you have a PDF of your scanned document, you can also use an online conversion tool to convert it into a Word document.

Most installed desktop versions of Microsoft Word can open and convert PDF files into editable Word documents directly. Or, you can scan pages and open recognized text in Word with an Android or iOS smartphone camera or a desktop scanner.

Scan Documents and Open with Installed Word

The character recognition capabilities in Microsoft Word work best with documents that are primarily text. For example, Word would be likely to cleanly open and convert a contract comprised of several pages of printed text whereas Word may struggle to cleanly recognize text in a brochure where text is printed within or around images in anything other than a single column.

You’ll need a working scanner connected to a Windows or macOS system, along with a relatively recent version of Word. 

Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, and Microsoft 365 all support the ability to open and convert PDF files into Word documents. While Microsoft offers some instructions for converting PDF files into word for older versions, such as Office 2010 and Office 2007, the process is more complicated.

  1. Follow your scanner manufacturer’s instructions to scan your document to a PDF file. Save this file at a location you will remember on your computer.

  2. Open Microsoft Word.

  3. Select File > Open, then navigate to the location of your saved PDF.

  4. Select the PDF file, and choose Open. Word will open the PDF and convert recognized text into a document you may edit.

  5. Read the converted text carefully, as some letters may be incorrect. The system may display items not identified within the document as images.

Use Mobile Apps for Android or iPhone

On an Android or iOS device, you’ll need to install both the Office Lens app (install for Android or iOS) and Microsoft Word (install for Android or iOS). After you install each app, tap to open it, and then sign in with your Microsoft account. Once you’ve installed and signed in to both apps, you’re ready to scan pages.

  1. Tap to open Office Lens.

  2. Along the bottom of the app, switch the slider to Document. (The choices displayed may include Whiteboard, Document, Business Card, and Photo.)

  3. Position your camera to capture the text you want to scan to Word within view. Tap the button to capture the image.

  4. After a page image is captured, you can either rotate it or crop the edges, if needed. 

  5. If you have additional pages to capture, tap the camera icon (in the lower left) to take another photo. Repeat this process until you have no more pages to scan.

  6. Tap Done. The system will display your Save To options.

  7. Tap Word. (On Android, you will then need to tap Save.)

    Wait for the app to recognize the text. The app may indicate “Waiting to transfer” or “Transferring” as it works. It will display the scanned document with a Word icon on the display.

  8. Tap the document, which will open your scanned file in a Microsoft Word document. For reference, the Word document includes the image you captured within the document.

  9. Review the recognized text to make sure the information is accurate.

Convert a PDF to a Word Document

If you lack access to Microsoft Word or your version of Word doesn’t open PDF files, you can still likely scan files to a PDF with an Android or iOS device, and then convert the documents into Microsoft Word.

  1. Follow the instructions in How to Scan Documents to Your Phone or Tablet to capture your pages into a PDF.

  2. Then, use a website service, such as CloudConvert.com or FileZigZag.com, to upload your PDF, convert it to a Word document format, then download it and save it to your system.

  3. Once converted, open the .doc or .docx file in Microsoft Word to review the file for accuracy.

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  • Opening PDF in Word
  • |

  • Scanning With & Using Microsoft Lens
  • |

  • Q&A
  • |

  • Tips

Do you want to edit that PDF in Word? You can open the PDF using Word’s built-in settings or, If you have a Microsoft account and a smartphone, you can also use the free Microsoft Lens app to scan your document and save it as a Word file in your OneDrive cloud storage. This wikiHow teaches you how to convert a scanned document into an editable Word document on your Windows PC, Mac, or smartphone.

Things You Should Know

  • If you have a PDF on your computer, you can open it within Word by going to «File > Open > OK.»
  • Use the Microsoft Lens app from your Android, iPhone, or iPad to scan documents and open them in Word.
  • If the doc you scanned is not PDF format, convert it first to be able to open it in Word.
  1. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 1

    1

    Open Word. You can only do this in newer versions of Word (including anything newer than Word 2010). If you have Word 2010 or older, those are no longer supported versions, and importing a PDF into Word isn’t possible.

    • Make sure the document you have is in PDF format.
    • Opening a PDF in Word works best if the PDF is mostly text.
  2. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 2

    2

    Click File and Open. The File tab is either at the top of your screen (Macs) or right above your document space (Windows).

    • Doing this will open your file manager.

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  3. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 3

    3

    Double-click your PDF. Double-clicking the file once you find it will open it.

  4. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 4

    4

    Click OK. Word will begin converting the scanned PDF into a Word document.

    • This process can take several minutes if your PDF has lots of text or images.[1]
  5. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 5

    5

    Clean up your document. Converting scanned files into Word documents isn’t an exact science; you may have to add missing words, remove excess spaces, and fix typos before your Word document is ready to go.

  6. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 6

    6

    Save the document. Once you’re ready to save the converted document as its own Word file, do the following:

    • Windows — Press Ctrl+S, then enter a file name, select a save location, and click Save.
    • Mac — Press Command+S, then enter a file name, select a save location from the «Where» drop-down box, and click Save.
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  1. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 7

    1

    Open Microsoft Lens. Tap the Microsoft Lens app icon, which resembles a red and white app with a camera iris and the letter «L» in the center of the icon.

    • Microsoft Lens is a free smartphone app that allows you to take pictures of documents and turn them into PDFs. This will be super useful if you have a piece of paper that you want to edit in Word. In that case, you can take a picture of the paper, turn it into a PDF, and open it in Word.
    • If you don’t have Microsoft Lens installed, you can download it from the Google Play Store for Android or from the App Store on iPhone.
  2. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 8

    2

    Allow Microsoft Lens access to your phone. If this is your first time opening Microsoft Lens, tap Allow or OK when prompted to allow Microsoft Lens to access your phone’s files.

  3. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 9

    3

    Tap DOCUMENT. It’s a tab at the bottom of the screen.

  4. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 10

    4

    Point your phone’s camera at a document. Position the document that you want to scan inside the camera’s view.

    • Make sure your document is well-lit and positioned on a dark background so the camera can pick up as much detail as possible.
  5. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 11

    5

    Tap the «Capture» button. It’s a red circle at the bottom of the screen. This will take a photo of the document’s page.

    • Tap Confirm if the capture is ok. Tap Retake if the document wasn’t captured correctly.
  6. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 12

    6

    Tap Done. It’s in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

    • You can scan more pages by tapping the camera with the plus icon in the bottom left corner of your screen.
  7. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 13

    7

    Tap Word. You’ll find this option in the «SAVE TO» section.

    • On Android, tap the box next to Word and then tap SAVE at the bottom of the screen[2]
      .
  8. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 14

    8

    Sign into your Microsoft account. If you haven’t already, enter your Microsoft account email address and password. Once signed in, your Word document will be uploaded to your OneDrive account.

    • This must be the account that you use to log into Microsoft Word as well.
    • You’re done using your phone.
  9. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 15

    9

    Open Word on your computer. It’s the blue app with a white document and the letter «W» in the icon.

  10. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 16

    10

    Click Open. It’s on the left side of the window below the «New» section.

    • On Mac, simply click the folder icon that says Open on the left-hand side of the window.
  11. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 17

    11

    Click OneDrive — Personal. It’s in the menu on the left side of the window and will prompt your OneDrive to open on the right side of the window.

    • If you don’t see the OneDrive option, click + Add a Place, then click OneDrive and sign in with your Microsoft account.
  12. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 18

    12

    Go to the Microsoft Lens folder. Click on the «Documents» folder, then click the «Microsoft/Office Lens» folder. This is on the right pane of the window.

  13. Image titled Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 19

    13

    Double-click your Word document. This opens the document you scanned using Microsoft Lens on your phone or tablet in Microsoft Word.

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Add New Question

  • Question

    Does anything here cost money? Is there any chance of getting a virus on my computer while downloading these things?

    Community Answer

    Some cost money, some don’t. The free ones run a risk of infection, but you should have an anti-virus program installed anyway.

  • Question

    I followed the instructions for enabling document imaging in Word 2007, but did not find the imaging program listed under Microsoft Office Tools, then what went wrong, and how can I do it correctly?

    Community Answer

    Microsoft (for some reason) didn’t enable document imaging in Word 2007 for 64-bit computers.

  • Question

    Will everything I scan become editable?

    Community Answer

    Indeed, it will. Just follow these simple steps: Go to onlineocr.net or if your file is more than 5mb, use you can use pdf2doc.com. Upload your file to these websites. When the file get uploaded, select doc or docx format and click ‘Convert’. It is a time-consuming process, especially if your file size is big. The moment it completes the conversion, click download the file. After downloading the file, go to your downloads and open the file which will automatically in MS Word. Now here you can edit your file and use it your way.

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  • Office Lens will handle physical files (e.g., paper documents) better than on-screen text.

  • If the scanned document is a JPEG or something else, convert it first.

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