Create a Digital Recipe Book Using Google Lens and Docs

by | Mar 10, 2025 | Life Hacks with Tech

Love cooking but tired of cluttered cookbooks, torn recipe cards, or screenshots lost in your photo roll? It’s time to upgrade your kitchen game. With just your smartphone and Google’s free tools, you can build your own searchable, shareable, digital recipe book in minutes.

Here’s how to use Google Lens and Google Docs to digitize recipes from magazines, handwritten notes, grandma’s index cards—or even from your favorite food blogs.

📸 Step 1: Capture Recipes with Google Lens

Google Lens turns your phone’s camera into a powerful scanner and text extractor. Perfect for digitizing paper recipes with zero typing.

How to use it:

  1. Open the Google app or Google Lens on your phone.
  2. Point your camera at a printed or handwritten recipe.
  3. Tap “Text” at the bottom.
  4. Select the text you want.
  5. Tap “Copy to computer” or “Copy text”.

Boom—your recipe is now digital and ready to paste into Docs!

📝 Tip: For older, handwritten recipes, take your time to clean up formatting after scanning. It’s worth it.

📄 Step 2: Paste Into Google Docs and Format

Once you’ve copied your text, open Google Docs (on mobile or desktop) and paste it into a new document.

Pro formatting tips:

  • Title your recipe in bold at the top.

  • Separate ingredients and instructions into clear sections.

  • Use bullet points for ingredients and numbered lists for steps.

  • Add notes or tips at the bottom (e.g., substitutions, serving suggestions).

🌟 Bonus: Use headings in Docs to make recipes easier to navigate when you search later.

📁 Step 3: Organize with Folders or a Master Index

Now that you’re building your collection, it’s time to stay organized.

Option A: Use Folders in Google Drive

Create folders like:

  • Breakfasts

  • Weeknight Dinners

  • Desserts

  • Vegan/Vegetarian

  • Holiday Favorites

Drag each recipe Doc into the appropriate folder so you can find things fast.

Option B: Create a Master Index

Make a single Google Doc called “My Recipe Book” and list all your recipes with clickable links:

### 🍝 Mains

- [Spaghetti Bolognese](https://docs.google.com/yourlink)

- [Lemon Herb Chicken](https://docs.google.com/yourlink)

 

### 🍪 Desserts

- [Chocolate Chip Cookies](https://docs.google.com/yourlink)

🔍 Step 4: Make It Searchable & Shareable

One of the biggest perks of going digital? Searchability.

Need a recipe with “avocado”? Just hit Ctrl + F (or Cmd + F on Mac) and find it instantly.

Want to share a family favorite? Just click Share in Google Docs, and send it to a friend—or the whole group chat.

🧑‍🍳 You can even collaborate: let friends or family drop in their own recipes and make it a shared cookbook project.

🧠 Bonus Ideas for Power Users

  • Add photos: Snap a pic of your finished dish and insert it into the doc.

  • Voice type: Use Google Docs voice typing to dictate new recipes while cooking.

  • Add tags like “gluten-free”, “quick”, or “meal prep” for easy filtering later.

  • Use checkboxes to mark off ingredients while cooking.

A Smarter Kitchen Starts Here

Whether you’re reviving old family recipes or building your own collection from scratch, Google Lens + Docs gives you a free, flexible, and future-proof way to keep your favorite meals at your fingertips.

Forget the recipe box. Your new kitchen companion fits in your pocket—and it’s searchable, sharable, and impossible to misplace.