Support for Microsoft 365 on Windows 10 ends in mid-October

Support for Microsoft 365 ends along with Windows 10PixieMe/Shutterstock

Although Microsoft announced some time ago that Windows 10 will only be supported (free of charge) until October 14, 2025, the switch to its successor Windows 11 is only taking place slowly.

According to calculations by security provider Eset, 32 million PCs in Germany are still running Windows 10. The situation is similar in other countries. One reason for this is that although the switch to Windows 11 is free, there are stricter hardware requirements which, according to studies by Lansweeper, around 50 percent of computers in Germany do not meet.

Functional, but not supported

To urge more users to upgrade to Windows 11, Microsoft recently announced in a blog post that Microsoft-365 apps will no longer be supported on Windows 10 devices after October 14, 2025. “To use Microsoft 365 apps on your device, you will need to upgrade to Windows 11,” it continued.

The blog post raised numerous questions, and has since been deleted by Microsoft. However, there was no correction or explanation.

What the software giant was actually getting at is shown by a support page on the subject that was updated in December. Here, too, Microsoft points out that Microsoft 365 apps will no longer be supported under Windows 10 after the end of support in mid-October. At the same time, however, the company explains that the applications will continue to work as before. However, to avoid performance and reliability problems over time, an upgrade to Windows 11 is strongly recommended.

The reasoning: “Microsoft 365 is subject to the Modern Lifecycle Policy, which requires that customers keep the product or service up to date according to maintenance and system requirements and use Microsoft 365 on a Windows operating system for which support is currently provided.”

License versions not affected

The situation is somewhat clearer for Office versions with a one-time license: Based on the Fixed Lifecycle Policy, “Office Home & Student”, “Office Home & Business” or “Office Professional Plus” will continue to be fully supported under Windows 10 — as long as they do not reach the end of support themselves. Support for Office 2016 and 2019 will also end at the same time as Windows 10.