Scan business cards into Excel with Patrascan
- 1
Install Patrascan and scan the first card
Open the app, tap the Scan button and hold your phone over the business card. The scanner finds the edges and captures the card; scan the back too if it has details. You can also pick a photo of a card from your gallery.
- 2
Check the fields it filled in
Patrascan fills in the name, designation, company, mobile and office numbers, email, website and address. Fields it is unsure about are highlighted. To fix one, tap the field, or tap a word on the card image to drop it in.
- 3
Scan the rest of the stack
For many cards, long-press Scan and choose Batch scan to read up to 30 cards in one go (Pro). Apply one folder and tag to the whole batch, check the cards marked for review, then save all.
- 4
Put the cards in a folder
Keep cards from one event or client together, for example “Mumbai Expo Oct 2026”. A folder is the easiest thing to export.
- 5
Export to Excel
Open Settings → Export all data, or open a folder and choose Export. Pick Excel (.xlsx), choose All cards, A folder or a Date range, tick the columns you want and tap Export.
- 6
Open or share the file
Share the .xlsx file to yourself on email, WhatsApp or Google Drive and open it in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Each card is one row, with the columns you picked plus the date you scanned it. All of a person’s numbers share the Phones column, each labelled mobile, office or WhatsApp.
Three ways to get business cards into a spreadsheet
| Method | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Type each card into Excel | A handful of cards | Slow, and typos in phone numbers and emails are easy to miss |
| Copy text from a photo (photo text tools) | Occasional cards | You still sort every line into the right column yourself |
| A business card scanner app with export | Events, sales visits, anything over 10 cards | Check highlighted fields on unusual cards |
Tips for a clean sheet
- Scan on the day you collect the cards. You still remember who wanted what, so add a tag (Hot, Lead, Supplier) and a note while scanning.
- Use one folder per event or client. Exporting a folder gives you a ready list for that event instead of everything at once.
- Keep numbers in international format. Patrascan stores numbers with the country code (for example +91 or +44) and the area code, which CRMs and WhatsApp understand.
- Remove duplicates before exporting. When you scan someone who is already saved, Patrascan offers to merge instead of creating a second row.
- Pick CSV for imports, Excel for people. CRMs import CSV more reliably; colleagues prefer reading Excel.
What about the card images?
The spreadsheet holds the details, not the pictures. The card images stay with each contact in Patrascan (and in your cloud backup if you use Pro), so you can always open a contact to see the original card.
Questions people also ask
Can I scan business cards to Excel for free?
You can scan and save up to 15 cards free in Patrascan. Exporting to Excel, CSV or vCard is part of Patrascan Pro. On the free plan you can still save each card to your phone contacts.
Which columns does the Excel export have?
You choose them: Name, Designation, Company, Phones, Emails, Website, Address, Folder, Tags and Notes. Untick any column you don’t need before exporting.
Should I export to Excel or CSV for my CRM?
Most CRMs (Zoho, HubSpot, Salesforce, LeadSquared and others) import CSV most reliably. Use Excel when people will read or edit the sheet, and CSV when a system will import it.
Why do phone numbers lose the + sign in Excel?
Excel can treat numbers like +91 or +44 as formulas or numbers. Patrascan writes phone numbers as text, so they keep the + and the spaces. If you retype one by hand, format the column as Text first.