3 Methods to Scan Business Cards to Excel (Free Included)

A possible partnership begins with the business cards exchanging. To highly efficient manage business cards, we prefer to scan them and retain all the contact database in Excel spreadsheet, so we can import and organize the info as we like.

There are 3 methods to scan business cards to Excel format. We will introduce the best apps and free apps to scan business card to excel with ease, also demonstrate how to scan your cards into Excel with online free tools. 

 Cisdem PDF Converter OCR

Convert PDF Business Card Scans to Excel Format

• Convert PDF/image scans to Word, Excel, Powerpoint, image and so on.
• Convert native PDF to 10+ document formats
• Batch export PDF scans
• Fast conversion process
• Easy to use

Free Download   Free Download

Best App to Scan Business Cards to Excel

In the process of scanning paper business cards to digital Excel file, OCR is required. OCR, its full name is Optical Character Recognition, it is applied to recognize texts from image-based/scanned files. Therefore, we need an app with OCR feature to scan business cards to Excel. Basing on OCR accuracy, format maintaining, ease of use and conversion speed, here we pick the best app to scan business cards to excel on Mac, Windows and even on your mobile devices.

#1 Cisdem PDF Converter OCR

It is a Windows and MacOS OCR converter to turn native PDF and image-based files into editable formats, including Excel spreadsheet. It can recognize texts from one or multiple business cards at one time, then save the information in Word, PDF, Excel, PowerPoint, Text and other editable formats. No matter what language the business cards use, Cisdem PDF Converter OCR can accurately read it.

With its advanced OCR feature, you can export part of the business card as Table, while other parts as Text or Image.

How to Scan Business Cards to Excel on Windows or Mac?

1. Take pictures of the business cards with the camera on your Phone or desktop, save the photos on your device.
2. Download and install Cisdem PDF Converter OCR.
   Free Download   Free Download
3. Add business cards images to Cisdem by drag and drop.
4. Choose output as XLSX and click on the settings icon to adjust output settings.
5. Click Convert button.

#2 ABBYY FineReader PDF (for Windows User)

Talking about OCR solution, ABBYY FineReader leads in this field. In fact, it offers business card reader to scan and OCR business cards into your contacts, however it doesn’t support scan to excel format, we will need its desktop product ABBYY FineReader PDF to scan your business cards to Excel.

ABBYY FineReader PDF for Windows is more than a PDF editor, it helps to scan and OCR business cards to MS office or other formats too. It can import scans from a scanner, then perform OCR on the file, you will be able to edit the scanned file, export as Excel or other formats.

How to scan business cards to excel on Windows?

1. Download and install ABBYY FineReader to your Windows PC;
2. Place the business cards in the scanner that connected to your Windows PC;
3. Launch the program, go to Scan and import the scans to ABBYY FineReader; 
4. Click Recognize button on the top, check and revise the OCR result; 
5. Then choose output as Excel, your business cards will be scanned to Excel format on Windows.

Free App to Scan Business Cards to Excel

We’ve studied on dozens of apps designed to scan business cards, it is pitiful that most of them allow exporting as csv only and require a payment. If you are still looking for free apps to scan business cards to Excel, we have 2 options, but both of them require extra steps to save your business cards in Excel.

#1 OneNote (Android, iOS, Windows, macOS)

Microsoft OneNote is a note taking app for free, working on Android, iOS, Windows and macOS devices. Its built-in OneNote OCR feature allows scanning files, copying texts from images. It doesn’t support exporting recognized files as Excel, but you can copy and paste the business card information to a Excel spreadsheet.

Disadvantages:

• Cannot batch scan and convert;
• Cannot export business cards as Excel directly;

Scan Business Cards to Excel Free with OneNote

1. Download and install Microsoft OneNote onto your desktop or mobile device, the steps will be similar on different versions;
2. Open a recent note or create a new note; 
3. Go to Insert>Pictures/Camera to import the business card; 
4. Once the business card is imported, click on the image and choose “Copy Text”; 
5. Then open a Excel document, paste the business card data into it.

#2 Evernote (Android, iOS)

Evenote is another note-taking app with OCR feature, however, you can only scan business card on its Android or iOS edition. It cannot export business card as Excel, but it can scan your cards accurately and import them to your contacts with fields correctly filled, the name, email address, telephone number will be in right position.

Disadvantages:

• Cannot batch scan and export;
• Cannot export business card as Excel format directly;

Scan business cards to excel free with evernote

1. Download and install Evernote onto your iPhone or Android phone;
2. Tap on the Camera icon to take a photo of the business card;
3. Once the business card is imported, check the details, save the scans as business card for contact import or copy and paste to a Excel file;

Scan Business Cards to Excel Online Free

Still, we can scan business cards to excel without installing any app, just by using an online free OCR tool, like Google Drive and OnlineOCR. 

#1 Google Drive

Google Drive is a free platform to store and manage files online, it offers a set of tools to process files online, Google Docs is one of the tools. Google Docs is OCR featured, allowing users to export scanned PDF or image as editable formats. Though not supporting export business card scans directly as Excel, you can copy and paste the text to an Excel file.

How to scan business cards to excel online free?

1. Take pictures of business cards and save the images;
2. Login into Google account and go to Google Drive;
3. Click New>File Upload, import the business card images;
4. Right click on the business card image and open with Google Docs;
5. Then go to File>Download as, choose an output format or directly copy and paste the text from your business card to an Excel file.

#2 OnlineOCR

It is an online free OCR converter to export scanned PDF and images in JPG, BMP, TIFF, GIF as Text, Word or Excel format. It doesn’t support batch scan and convert. But you can preview the OCR result before downloading the output file.

How to scan business cards to excel online free?

1. Take pictures of the business cards and save the images;
2. Go to onlineocr.net;
3. Click Select file… to import a business card image;
4. Choose file language;
5. Choose output format as Excel;
6. Click Convert to scan business card to Excel.

Conclusion

To scan business cards to Excel, we recommend using a desktop app on Mac or Windows, large screens will be more convenient to manipulate the data in an Excel file. Also, we should take notice that there is few mobile app designed to scan our business cards to Excel, so check carefully before paying for an app to do the job.