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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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-UserPhoto, Set-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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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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