💡 Our Technical Review in summary
Summary
- Deadline: October 14, 2025.
- Scope: Support will officially end for Office 2016 and Office 2019 (including suites, standalone applications, and servers), as well as Visio 2016/2019 and Microsoft Project 2016/2019.
- Status: After the deadline, these products will no longer receive security updates, bug fixes, or technical support from Microsoft.
- Alternative Solutions: Microsoft recommends transitioning to Microsoft 365 Apps (subscription-based) or Office LTSC 2024 (for specific disconnected scenarios).
Impact
- Security Risks: Organizations continuing to use these versions will be vulnerable to new security exploits, as no further security patches will be released after October 2025.
- Compliance Issues: Using unsupported software may cause the organization to fall out of compliance with various industry regulations and data protection standards.
- Operational Stability: There is a potential for performance degradation or system incompatibilities as other integrated cloud services (like Exchange Online or SharePoint) evolve and no longer support older clients.
- Support Termination: IT departments will no longer have access to Microsoft technical assistance for troubleshooting issues related to these specific versions.
Action Required
- Audit Environment: Identify all devices currently running Office 2016, Office 2019, Visio, or Project 2016/2019 using inventory tools like Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager or Intune.
- Determine Upgrade Path:
- For most users: Plan a migration to Microsoft 365 Apps to ensure continuous updates and access to features like Microsoft 365 Copilot.
- For specialized/offline environments: Evaluate Office LTSC 2024, which provides a Fixed Lifecycle Policy until October 2029.
- Review Deployment Resources: Consult Microsoft’s official upgrade guidance and leverage the Microsoft FastTrack service if eligible to assist with the migration process.
- Budget and Timeline: Allocate necessary budget for licensing and schedule the deployment phases well ahead of the October 2025 cutoff to avoid business disruption.
Microsoft Official Update
Service: N/A
Category: planForChange
Severity: normal
As previously communicated, support for Office 2016 and Office 2019 will end on October 14, 2025. After that date, no further updates, security fixes, or technical support will be available for these versions of Office. While the applications may continue to function, using unsupported software could lead to potential security risks, compliance risks, system incompatibilities, and other issues.
Support for Visio 2016 and 2019, Microsoft Project 2016 and 2019, and several other products will also end on October 14, 2025. Organizations using these products should upgrade as soon as possible to maintain security, compliance, and performance.
[When this will happen:]
Support for Office 2016, Office 2019, and additional apps will end on October 14, 2025.
[How this will affect your organization:]
After end of support, Office 2016 and Office 2019 suites, standalones, and servers will no longer receive security updates or other fixes, and no technical assistance will be available for devices still running them. Continuing to run unsupported software may expose your organization to security vulnerabilities and compliance risks, and may affect the reliability and performance of services.
[What you need to do to prepare:]
To mitigate these risks while maintaining access to desktop Office apps, we recommend upgrading devices to a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 suite that includes Microsoft 365 Apps (for enterprise or for business). Microsoft 365 Apps provides always-up-to-date versions of familiar apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for desktop, mobile, and web with continuous support under the Modern Lifecycle Policy, and is eligible for use with the Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on.
For scenarios that require a fully disconnected solution, we recommend upgrading to Office LTSC 2024. Office LTSC 2024 includes a subset of the value in Microsoft 365 Apps and will be supported until October 2029 under the Fixed Lifecycle Policy.
Take steps to prepare for this transition with the following resources:
- Read the upgrade guidance for an overview of how to move from Office 2016 or Office 2019 to Microsoft 365 Apps.
- Consider engaging Microsoft FastTrack, a Microsoft support service, for moving to Microsoft 365.
Plan ahead to avoid potential disruptions and keep your organization’s software environment secure and up to date.
