Brian P. answered • 09/27/20
Experienced Tutor Specializing in Math and Computer Skills
Apparently, in March 2019 Microsoft started offering native Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capability in mobile versions of Excel. You can take a photo of data and the mobile Excel app will perform the character recognition. This was written up in two online magazines I found:
The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/29/18644396/microsoft-excel-iphone-spreadsheet-import-camera-picture-tables
Redmond: https://redmondmag.com/articles/2019/10/14/excel-ocr-data.aspx#:~:text=While%20I%20don't%20expect,import%20data%20from%20a%20photograph.
It appears that an easy way to use the native OCR function is to take the photo with your phone and use the Excel app on your phone to do the conversion. Save the file to the cloud and then edit it on a desktop as you like. Full disclosure: I've never used this feature, and in my years of experience with data handling, I've ALWAYS had problems with OCR giving me the correct characters 100% of the time. And numbers can be especially hard to proofread. Be careful! Hope it works for you!
