3 ways to turn scanned document into Word document

Converting a scanned file to a Word document is the best way to edit it or add annotations. If your scan is in PDF format, you can use Word's built-in functions. If it's in an image format, you'll need to go through a free converter. If you have a Microsoft account and a phone, you can use the free Office Lens app to scan the document and save it as a Word file to your OneDrive storage.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Convert a scanned PDF

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 1

Step 1. Make sure your document is in PDF format

Microsoft Word can recognize and convert scanned PDF files to Word documents with no additional software required.

If your document is saved in an image format (for example.jpg" />

Step 2. Open the PDF in Word

The flow of the process will depend on your operating system.

On a Windows computer: right click on the PDF you want to convert, select Open with then choose Word in the menu that appears.
On a Mac: click on the PDF you want to convert, select the menu File, click on Open with then choose Word in the context menu.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 3

Step 3. Click OK

Word will start converting the scanned PDF to a Word document.

The process may take several minutes if your PDF contains a lot of text or images

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 4

Step 4. Activate the file changes if necessary

If you see a yellow bar with a warning at the top of the Word window, click Activate modification to unlock the file and allow editing.

In general, this measure only applies to files that you have downloaded (for example, if you have downloaded your scanned PDF from an online storage service)

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 5

Step 5. Review your document

Converting scanned files to Word documents is not an exact science. You may need to add missing words, remove excess spaces, and correct spelling before your Word file is usable.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 6

Step 6. Save the document

Once you are ready to save the document as a Word file, follow the steps below.

On Windows: press Ctrl + S, enter a file name, select a save location, then click Save.
On Mac: press Command + S, enter a file name, select a save location from the drop-down menu Or then click on Save.

Method 2 of 3: Convert a scanned image

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 7

Step 1. Open the New OCR site

In your computer's web browser, open this page.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 8

Step 2. Click Browse

It's a gray button at the top of the page. Click on it to open a File Explorer (on a Windows computer) or Finder (on a Mac).

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 9

Step 3. Select the scanned file

In File Explorer, locate the scanned image file of your document and click on it.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 10

Step 4. Choose Open

This option is located at the bottom right of the window and allows you to import the file to the website.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 11

Step 5. Click Upload + OCR

You will find this option at the bottom of the visible page. New OCR will begin extracting readable text from the scanned image.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 12

Step 6. Scroll down to the Download option

This link is at the bottom left of the page, just above the field that contains the text of the document. Click on it to open a drop-down menu.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 13

Step 7. Choose Microsoft Word (DOC)

This option can be found in the drop-down menu To download. A Microsoft Word version of the scanned file will be downloaded to your computer.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 14

Step 8. Open the document

Once the file is downloaded, you can double-click it to open it in Microsoft Word. Your scanned image is now a Microsoft Word document.

You may need to click Activate modification at the top of the page because the document may be locked by default.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 15

Step 9. Inspect your document

The resulting Word document may not be identical to the scanned file. You may need to add missing words, remove extra spaces, or correct some spelling mistakes.

Method 3 of 3: Scan a document to Word file

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 16

Step 1. Open Office Lens

Tap the red and white Office Lens app icon with a camera lens and the letter "L" on it.

If you don't have Office Lens on your device, you can download it from the Google Play Store for Android or the App Store for iPhone

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 17

Step 2. Allow access to your phone

If this is your first time to open Office Lens, tap To allow Where OK when prompted to allow Office Lens to access files on your phone.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 18

Step 3. Press DOCUMENT

This is one of the tabs at the bottom of the screen.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 19

Step 4. Point your phone's camera at the document

Position the document you want to scan in the frame of your camera.

Make sure the document is well lit so that the camera can capture as much detail as possible

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 20

Step 5. Press the capture button

It's the red circle at the bottom of the screen. Tap it to photograph the document page.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 21

Step 6. Press

This button is located at the bottom right of the screen.

You can scan more pages by tapping the camera icon with a + at the bottom of the screen

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 22

Step 7. Select Word

This option can be found in the section Save to on the page Export to.

On Android, tap the box next to Word and then tap Save at the bottom of the screen.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 23

Step 8. Sign in to your Microsoft account

If you haven't already, enter your Microsoft account email address and password. Once you are signed in, the Word document will be imported into your OneDrive account.

This must be the account you use to sign in to Microsoft Word

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 24

Step 9. Open Word on your computer

This is the blue application with a white document and the letter "W" on it.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 25

Step 10. Click Open Other Documents

This option is on the left of the window under the section Recent documents.

On a Mac, click the folder icon that says To open to the left of the window.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 26

Step 11. Select OneDrive - Personal

You will find this option at the top of the window. Click on it to open your OneDrive folder.

If you don't see the OneDrive option, click + Add a location, on OneDrive then sign in to your Microsoft account.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 27

Step 12. Go to the Office Lens folder

Click on the folder Documents then on the folder Office Lens in the right panel on window.

Turn a Scanned Document Into Microsoft Word Document Step 28

Step 13. Double-click on your Word document

The Word document that you scanned with Office Lens will open in Microsoft Word.

4 ways to prepare for coronavirus

The news about the coronavirus (COVID-19) has probably not escaped you and it is normal for you to be worried. With the virus being confirmed in more and more places around the world, you may be wondering what will happen to your community. Even though a pandemic is frightening, keep in mind that you probably don't have to worry if your area has no confirmed cases.

3 ways to get rid of mucus without medication

It can be very irritating to have your throat covered with mucus. Fortunately, there are a lot of home remedies that are quite effective. If you have mucus in your throat, you can try home treatments like gargling with salt water or inhaling steam to make the mucus more watery.

4 ways to clean your bedroom

Cleaning your room might seem like an overwhelming task, but you'll probably get it done faster and easier than you imagine! Listen to music, make a list, treat yourself to rewards, and turn your toil into a game to stay motivated. Take care of the most important tasks first before moving on to the deep cleaning by dusting, wiping all surfaces and vacuuming all over the place.

3 ways to stop automatic subscriptions on Instagram

Have you ever noticed that you've suddenly subscribed to a whole bunch of weird Instagram accounts? This happens when spammers take control of your account. To prevent your Instagram account from automatically subscribing to other accounts, you'll need to make sure that no one other than you can access it.

3 ways to type the euro symbol

In France, it is common to have to insert the euro symbol (€) in a document. Typing is simple, although it varies depending on the device you are using: desktop computer, smartphone or tablet. This symbol, like others, can be obtained by a combination of keys or by selecting it from an array of secondary characters.