Microsoft 365 upcoming changes

Microsoft 365: Upcoming Changes and End-of-Support Milestones

Last updated: Dec 2023

Join us in this blog as we explore the dynamic world of Microsoft 365. 🌟 We’ll shed light on the features and products that are undergoing transformations or bidding farewell. Whether you’re a system administrator 🧑‍💻 managing the Microsoft 365 environment or an avid user 🙋‍♂️ staying ahead of the curve, this blog will provide invaluable insights and actionable recommendations.

🚀Discover the key changes, deprecations, and end-of-support scenarios that require your attention. From deprecated features to configuration modifications and essential upgrade plans, we’ve got you covered! Make informed decisions and ensure a smooth transition.⚡️

Note: Interested in exploring past month’s features and deprecations? Look no further! You can find a comprehensive history of all the changes in our GitHub repository.

Microsoft 365 Upcoming Changes and Deprecations List:

Here is a list of changes categorized by month and year.

  • December 2023 (Public Preview: 1; New Features: 3, Retirements: 4, Enhancements: 3, Existing Functionality Change: 1, Action Needed: 1
  • 2024 (Attention Needed: 25) 
  • 2025 (Attention Needed: 3) 
  • 2026 (Attention Needed: 6)

December 2023 

Public Preview: 1 | New Features: 3 | Retirements: 4 | Enhancements: 3 | Functionality Changes: 1 | Action Required: 1

Public Preview 

Microsoft 365 Backup 

Microsoft 365 backup is a new storage architecture for backup and data protection inside Microsoft 365. It’s helpful to recover M365 data from cataclysmic events such as: at scale ransomware attacks, or malicious/accidental data deletion/corruption by end users.    

It has the capability to  

  • Backup all or select SharePoint sites, OneDrive accounts, and Exchange mailboxes in your tenant.      
  • Restore OneDrive accounts, SharePoint sites, and mailbox items to a prior point in time for your entire tenant.   

The paid public preview of Microsoft 365 Backup will begin in Dec 2023. 

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/microsoft-365-backup-and-microsoft-365-backup-storage-at-ignite/ba-p/3981049 

New Features: 

Mid Dec- MS Teams Users can Delete/Remove Items from Activity Feed 

Microsoft Teams users can delete unwanted items from their activity feed. The feature [provides clutter-free experience and allows users to focus on the most relevant and important information in their feed.   

Targeted release will begin rolling out mid-Dec 2023. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC692466 

Dec 2023 – Stream Videos can be Watched Inline in Outlook 

Users will have the ability to watch Stream videos inline in Outlook on the web and the new Outlook for Windows. If someone pastes a Stream video link in a supported Outlook app and sends it to you, you will be able to watch it directly in your inbox. 

Ref: https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=185389 

Dec 2023 – Integrated Apps in Microsoft 365 Admin Center 

Integrated Apps in M365 admin center allows admins to discover, deploy and manage apps across various M365 suite products. 

Ref: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=164079 

Retirements:

Dec 01, 2023 – Outlook Browser Extension Retirement 

Microsoft is retiring the Outlook browser extension. and it will not be accessible from Dec 01, 2023. 

Solution: Users should transition to use the Outlook on Edge sidebar, the Outlook app or Outlook web on their browser (Edge or Chrome). 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC688629 

Mid Dec – Who bot in Microsoft Teams Retirement 

Who is a bot in Teams that’s designed to help you find information about anyone in your organization. Microsoft retiring Who bot in mid-December 2023. 
Note: This functionality will transition to Microsoft Copilot in the future. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC687849 

Late December – Microsoft Retiring Mail Flow Rules for Tracking End User Reporting 

Microsoft will be retiring the mail flow rule which helps you track end user reporting. 

Solution: If you want to route messages to a mailbox, you can configure them in the user reported settings in the Microsoft Defender. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC690173 

Dec 31, 2023 – Retirement of OMEv1 (Office 365 Message Encryption)   

OME v1 mail flow rules will be fully retired.   

Solution: If you don’t do anything, Microsoft will process all mail flow rules that currently applies OME protection to Microsoft Purview Message Encryption protection.   

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/adminportal/home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC455516

Enhancements

Dec 2023 – Microsoft Teams: Improved In-caller Experience 

This update enables users in a call to easily Transfer, Share, and Hold the call, making access to various calling capabilities. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC690922 

Mid-Dec 2023 – Guest Users can Manage Tags in MS Teams 

Microsoft introducing guest setting option in Tag management settings. If you wish to allow guests to manage tags, update your tag management settings to “Team owners, members and guests” option. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC694644 

Late Dec 2023 – View-only Mode for DLP and Information Protection Policies 

This feature enables administrators with view-only restricted permissions to examine the configuration details of Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Information Protection policies. configuration details without editing the policies or label configurations. The access is limited to viewing the settings and does not grant the ability to make changes to the policies or label configurations. 

Ref: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=186527 

Existing Features Replacement:

Dec 2023- Polling Feature in the ‘Forms’ App in Microsoft Teams Replaced by ‘Polls’ App

Polling experience of Forms app in Teams meeting & chat scenarios will be gradually replaced by Polls app. This is a dedicated app for all polling and quiz needs to provide an intuitive and easy-to-access experience. 

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-forms-blog/ultimate-polling-and-quiz-experience-with-polls-app-the/ba-p/3731630 

Action Required

Auto-rollout of Conditional Access Policy 

Microsoft has started pushing auto-rollout of Conditional Access Policies to automatically protect tenants. Once the policies are visible in your tenant, you’ll have 90 days to review and customize or disable them before Microsoft turns them on. For those 90 days, the policies will be in report-only mode. So, take action based on your organization’s needs. 

Ref: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/11/06/automatic-conditional-access-policies-in-microsoft-entra-streamline-identity-protection/ 

2024 (Attention Needed: 25) 

Jan 2024- Wiki Retirement in Teams Channels 

Wikis tab and wiki App wouldn’t be able to accessible in Teams and users wouldn’t be able to export.      

Solution: Your data is accessible from SharePoint as per retention policy even after Wiki is deprecated. You can download wiki content from SharePoint.   

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC496248 

Jan 2024 – Device-bound Passkeys in Microsoft Entra 

Microsoft Entra ID will support device-bound passkeys stored on computers and mobile devices as an authentication method. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC690185 

Jan 2024 – New & Improved Design for Microsoft 365 Admin Center Usage Report 

The Microsoft 365 admin center Usage report Overview page has been revamped for improved navigation of vital usage insights. The redesign includes new metrics like enabled and active users, user state compositions (e.g., distinguishing first-time from returning users), storage by product, and key usage metrics for Microsoft 365 products. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC692467 

 

Jan 2024 – New Recommendations for Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management 

Microsoft will introduce additional recommended actions for fine-tuning insider risk policies and implementing advanced configurations in Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC692019 

Jan 01, 2024 – Social Rating App Retirement in SharePoint 

Microsoft will start retiring the number of social rating APIs starting January 2024, including CountRatingsOnUrl, GetRatingsOfUser. 

Solution: You can use the SetRating (string URL, int rating, string title, FeedbackData analysisDataEntry), PropagateRating (string URL) , and GetRatingAverageOnUrl (string URL) as a replacement. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC683665 

Jan 08, 2024 – Business Connectivity Services retirement in Microsoft 365 

As part of Business Connectivity Services retirement in Microsoft 365, Microsoft will block Business Connectivity Services features in new Microsoft 365 tenants by default from Jan 08, 2024.  

Note: From Sep 30, 2024, Business Connectivity Services will be fully retired. 

Solution: Microsoft encourages customers to use Power Apps to replace their Business Connectivity Services solutions in SharePoint in Microsoft 365. 

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sharepoint-blog/support-update-for-business-connectivity-services-in-microsoft/ba-p/3938773 

Jan 15 – Microsoft 365 Browser Extension Retirement 

The Microsoft 365 browser extension, previously known as the Office browser extension, is a free add-on accessible on Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome. It allows users to access their Microsoft 365 applications and documents directly through the web browser. This extension will reach retirement and end of support on January 15th, 2024. 

Proactive step: Remove the Microsoft 365 browser extension from Microsoft Edge and Chrome. 

Ref: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/end-of-support-for-the-microsoft-365-browser-extension-dc1024b4-92be-46eb-81a7-aea85368baa0 

Mid Jan 2024 – Activity-Based Authentication Timeout for OWA Replacement  

The Activity-Based Authentication Timeout for Outlook on the web will be replaced by Idle Session Timeout for Microsoft 365.  

When Idle Session Timeout is enabled, users receive a notification when they reach the configured idle session duration. They can choose to either stay signed in or be automatically signed out of Microsoft 365 web apps, including Outlook on the web. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC694387 

Jan 30, 2024 – Retirement of Stream Live Events 

This affects customers who use Stream (Classic) or Yammer to create and host Stream live events 

Solution: You can use the Teams live events with encoder support, 

Ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/stream/streamnew/stream-classic-to-new-migration-overview#upcoming 

Feb 2024- Microsoft Teams: Forward Messages Between Chat Conversations  

Microsoft Teams will allow users to forward messages to 1:1 chats, meeting chats, and group chats. The forward messages feature simplifies the sharing of important information and facilitates tracking of discussions for future reference. 

Ref: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=90585 

Feb 2023 – MS Teams Users can Delete/Remove Items from Activity Feed 

Microsoft Teams users can delete unwanted items from their activity feed. The feature [provides clutter-free experience and allows users to focus on the most relevant and important information in their feed.   

Standard release will begin rolling out early-Feb 2024. 

Ref: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=181794 

Feb 02 – Managing Audit Permission from EAC Retirement 

Starting February 2, 2024, you will no longer be able to manage Audit permissions using the Exchange Admin Center. 

Solution: You can use the Purview Compliance portal to manage Audit permissions.  

Note: Audit permission assigned in the EAC will be automatically replicated into the permissions tab of the Microsoft Purview Compliance portal on February 2, 2024. 

Ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/audit-standard-setup#step-2-assign-permissions-to-search-the-audit-log 

Mar 2024- Exchange PowerShell: Retirement of Get, Set, and Remove UserPhotos Cmdlets  

Microsoft is phasing out the Exchange PowerShell cmdlets used by tenant administrators to manage user profile photos, including commands like: Get-UserPhotoSet-UserPhoto, and Remove-UserPhoto.  

Solution: As an alternative admins can utilize MS Graph PowerShell or Microsoft 365 admin center to manage user photos. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC678855

Mar 30, 2024 – Azure AD Graph Retirement and PowerShell Module Deprecation 

Microsoft has postponed the deprecation date for MS Online, AzureAD, and AzureAD Preview PowerShell modules to March 30, 2024.    

Solution: Before the deprecation date, you can migrate your existing scripts to MS Graph. 

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-entra-azure-ad-blog/important-azure-ad-graph-retirement-and-powershell-module/ba-p/3848270 

Mar 31, 2024- Classic Teams Users Will be Automatically Updated to New Teams 

Classic Teams users will be 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟑𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒. If you are still using Teams classic by that date. New Teams is up to 2x faster and use 50% less memory. There is no major impact to the user experience for new Teams. 

Tip: You can deploy the new Teams client in your organization by updating Teams Update policy in Microsoft Teams admin center. 

Ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/new-teams-automatic-upgrade-announced

Apr 02, 2024- SharePoint 2013 Workflow Retirement    

Starting April 2nd, 2024, SharePoint 2013 workflows will be turned off for newly created tenants.  Starting April 2nd, 2026, SharePoint 2013 workflows will no longer be supported for existing tenants.    

Solution: You can move to Power Automate or other supported solutions.   

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC542767 

Apr 11, 2024- Retirement for the Azure Information Protection Unified Labeling Add-in for Office 

The AIP Unified Labeling add-in for Office will reach end of availability and support of the service.   

Solution: You can use sensitivity labeling directly into Office apps. 

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/security-compliance-and-identity/retirement-notification-for-the-azure-information-protection/ba-p/3791908 

Apr 15, 2024- Stream (Classic) is Fully Retired & Automatically Disabled. 

Users & admins are no longer able to access or use Stream (Classic). Any remaining content in Stream (Classic) that wasn’t migrated will be deleted. 

Solution: You can use Stream on SharePoint. 

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-stream-blog/update-on-stream-classic-retirement-last-day-of-service-set-for/ba-p/3712075 

Sep 30, 2024- Azure Multi-Factor Authentication Server   

Azure MFA Server deployments will no longer service MFA requests, which could cause authentications to fail for your organization. 

Solution: Organizations should migrate their users’ authentication data to the cloud-based Azure MFA service   

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-entra-azure-ad-blog/microsoft-entra-change-announcements-september-2022-train/ba-p/2967454

Sep 30, 2024 – Business Connectivity Services Retirement in Microsoft 365 

Microsoft will retire Business Connectivity Services features in Microsoft 365.  

Solution: Microsoft recommends using Power Apps to replace their Business Connectivity Services solutions in SharePoint in Microsoft 365. 

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sharepoint-blog/support-update-for-business-connectivity-services-in-microsoft/ba-p/3938773 

Oct 14, 2024 – Office 2016 End of Support 

After Office 2016 reaches its end of support, Microsoft no longer provides technical support, bug fixes, and security fixes for vulnerabilities that are discovered 

Solution: Microsoft recommend upgrading to Microsoft 365 E3, which comes with Microsoft 365 Apps. 

Ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/endofsupport/plan-upgrade-older-versions-office 

 

Nov 01, 2024- Azure ACS Retirement in Microsoft 365 

Microsoft is retiring the use of Azure ACS as auth platform for SharePoint Online. Starting November 1st, 2024, new tenants will not be able use Azure ACS. For existing tenants that currently rely on Azure ACS to provide custom-developed or third-party applications access to SharePoint Online, this functionality will cease to work after April 2, 2026. 

Solution: Admins can utilize the Microsoft 365 Assessment tool to scan the tenants for any usage of Azure Access Control Service (ACS) and migrating from Azure ACS to Microsoft Entra ID

Ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/sp-add-ins/retirement-announcement-for-azure-acs 

Nov 01, 2024- SharePoint Add-in Retirement  

SharePoint Add-Ins will stop working for new tenants as of November 1, 2024, and they will be fully retired as of April 2nd, 2026. 

Solution: Admins can run the Microsoft 365 Assessment tool to scan their tenants for SharePoint Add-In usage. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC693865


Dec 31, 2024- Microsoft Teams Live Event Retirement 

As part of MS Teams live event retirement (planned on Sep 30, 2024), existing recordings will be accessible till Dec 31, 2024. If you want to keep the recording, download and upload them to a different location before December 31. 

Solution: You can start to use town halls. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/adminportal/home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC678003 

End of 2024- Retirement of Mail and Calendar Apps in Windows 

At the end of 2024, Microsoft replacing the Mail and Calendar apps in Windows with the new Outlook for Windows.   

Solution: Start trying and testing the new Outlook for Windows. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC590123 

2025 (Attention Needed: 3) 

Feb 01, 2025- Azure Key Vault: Soft-delete Will be Enabled on All Key Vaults    

Soft Delete preserves deleted key vaults and secrets for up to 90 days, enabling customers to restore them through a self-serve process.   

Ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/key-vault/general/soft-delete-change 

Sep 30, 2025- Retirement of Managing Authentication Methods in Legacy MFA & SSPR Policy   

Starting Oct 2025, Microsoft no longer allow authentication methods to be managed in the legacy MFA and SSPR policies.   

Solution: Organizations should use the converged authentication methods policy where methods can be managed centrally for all authentication scenarios including passwordless, MFA and SSPR.   

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-entra-azure-ad-blog/microsoft-entra-change-announcements-march-2023-train/ba-p/2967448 

Oct 14, 2025- End of Extended Support for Office 2016 & Office 2019   

Office 2016 and Office 2019 extended support ends in 2025. 

Solution: You can start to use the latest supported versions. 

Ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/microsoft-office-2016

2026 (Attention Needed: 6) 

Jan 13, 2026- End of Extended Support for Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics 1.x   

Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics (ATA) extended support will be ended on January 13, 2026.   

Solution: Updates for Microsoft ATA are available from Microsoft Update or by manual download.   

Ref: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/description-of-update-3-for-microsoft-advanced-threat-analytics-1-9-954cb9b7-9646-78ce-2000-2a257b64df7c 

Mar 31, 2026- Deprecation of ‘Require Approved Client App’ Conditional Access Grant    

The Require approved client app control in Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) Conditional Access will be retired and no longer enforced.   

Solution: You can make use of the “Require app protection policy” control, which has all the same capabilities   

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-entra-azure-ad-blog/microsoft-entra-change-announcements-march-2023-train/ba-p/2967448 

Apr 02, 2026- SharePoint 2013 Workflow Retirement 

SharePoint 2013 workflows will no longer be supported. 

Solution: You can move to Power Automate or other supported solutions. 

Ref: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC542767 

July 14, 2026- InfoPath 2013 Client and InfoPath Forms Services in SharePoint Online will be Retired 

InfoPath Client 2013 will reach the end of its extended support period on July 14, 2026, and to keep an aligned experience across Microsoft products, InfoPath Forms Service will be retired from SharePoint Online. 

Solution: To understand the usage of InfoPath within your organization, you can utilize the Microsoft 365 Assessment tool to scan your tenant and analyze InfoPath usage. If you are currently using InfoPath, you can initiate the migration process to modern alternatives such as Power Apps, Power Automate, or Forms. 

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sharepoint-blog/support-update-for-infopath-forms-services-in-microsoft-365/ba-p/3858190 

Oct 01, 2026- Retirement of Exchange Web Services in Exchange Online 

October 1, 2026, Microsoft will start blocking EWS requests from non-Microsoft apps to Exchange Online. The changes in Exchange Online do not affect Outlook for Windows or Mac, Teams, or any other Microsoft product. 

Solution: Migrate your applications to Microsoft Graph to access Exchange Online data and gain access to the latest features and functionality. 

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/retirement-of-exchange-web-services-in-exchange-online/ba-p/3924440 

Oct 01, 2026- Sign-in Risk Policy and User Risk Policy Retirement from Entra ID Protection 

User risk policy or Sign-in risk policy UX in Entra ID Protection (formerly Identity Protection) will be retired on October 1, 2026. 

Solution: Migrate Sign-in risk and User risk policies to Conditional Access. 

Ref: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-entra-azure-ad-blog/what-s-new-in-microsoft-entra/ba-p/3796395 

In conclusion, navigating the ever-evolving landscape of Microsoft 365 requires staying informed about the changes🔍. By proactively adapting to these changes, you can optimize your Microsoft 365 experience, maximize productivity, and effectively plan for the future. 💪

Don’t miss out on the latest buzz in Microsoft 365! 🐝

We’re committed to keeping this blog fresh with the most current information. Stay tuned for the latest updates!

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Microsoft 365: Upcoming Changes and End-of-Support Milestones

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