Support for Office 2016, Office 2019 clients connecting to Microsoft 365 services ended on October 10, 2023 (previously shared in older posts). If your organization is still using these versions to access Microsoft 365 services such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business, it is important that you take action.
Implications for your organization: Customers using these versions of Office may experience performance or reliability issues when accessing Microsoft 365 services. Here’s what you can expect:
- Improvements to Microsoft 365 services will no longer be tested against Office 2016 and Office 2019. As a result, users could experience performance or reliability issues even if they can connect these versions of Office to Microsoft 365.
- Microsoft will not actively block these clients from connecting to Microsoft 365 services as long as they are in extended support and are kept up to date. You can review our products’ lifecycle here.
Support for Office for Mac 2019 has ended
Office 2019 for Mac has reached the end of the support on October 10, 2023. Clients running this version of the product will no longer receive security updates, bug fixes, technical support, or online technical content support. Continuing to use this version could increase your organization’s exposure to security risks, impact your ability to meet compliance obligations, and/or affect end user productivity.
Recommended actions
Customers affected by these End of Support (EOS) milestones should transition to a supported Office version to prevent potential security, compliance, and productivity risks. If your organization is seeking a solution that is always supported (refer to the Modern Lifecycle Policy), we suggest upgrading to Microsoft 365 E3. This solution includes Microsoft 365 Apps, which includes all apps users are already familiar with, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more.
Alongside Microsoft 365 Apps, Microsoft 365 E3 offers the following capabilities:
Here are some resources to help plan the move:
- Foundational Zero-Trust: Helps secure identities, devices, and applications against threats.
- Streamlined Endpoint Management: Provides IT administrators with management tools and enhanced user experience for employees.
- Productivity and collaboration: Promotes collaboration across your organization, fostering new ways of working.
For devices that might not be ready to move the cloud, we launched Office Long-Term Servicing Channel 2021 (LTSC). This version of Office was designed for devices that can’t accept feature updates or connect to the Internet. Note that only Mainstream Support applies to Office LTSC 2021 and support ends on October 13, 2026.
- Review a summary of the Microsoft 365 Apps and Office support configuration matrix.
- Read this article to plan an upgrade from older versions of Office to Microsoft 365 Apps. (While the guidance doesn't specifically mention Office 2016 or Office 2019, most of the information still applies to those versions.)
- Consider engaging Microsoft FastTrack, a Microsoft support service for moving to Microsoft 365 E3.
- Review the new Total Economic Impact™ of Microsoft 365 E3 study by Forrester Consulting.
Please visit our Office End of Support Tech Community for more information and resources about end of support for Office.
Thanks again for being a Microsoft customer!
Source:
Important Office end of support reminders
Urgent Action Required. If you have Office 2016/2019 clients connecting to Microsoft 365 services or if you are running Office for Mac 2019, you need to..
techcommunity.microsoft.com
