If you’re using the Office Excel app on your Android phone, there’s a neat feature that allows you to turn a photo of other spreadsheets or lists into data and import directly into an Excel spreadsheet. Office apps like Word and Excel are free for your Android phone and can be used in conjunction with your Office 365 subscription. So, if you aren’t using them, consider going to the Google Play store and downloading.
Here’s how to make the feature work. Start by opening the Excel app on your phone.
Click the + icon to open a new spreadsheet.
At the bottom of the page, you’ll see a grid icon with a camera.
Tap the Add data from image icon at the bottom.
You’ll need to give permission for the app to access the camera and for the data to be converted online.
The phone camera will open. Fill up the screen with the image of the document you wish to photograph.
Once you’ve taken the picture, you can crop it, straighten it, or adjust lightness. Whe you’re satisfied, tap the orange checkmark.
You’ll be notified if there are items the app thinks need to be reviewed. You can choose to insert anyway or review them. Since no OCR software is perfect, you may need to make some corrections.
You can go through the items one by one and make the necessary edits.
When the review is finished, your spreadsheet is ready. You can view it on your phone.
Or choose to open it on a desktop or laptop computer that has Excel installed.
Super Tip… anyone else remember when OCR was a real nightmare.