Microsoft 365 End-of-Support Guide for Remainder of 2025
Stay ahead of the curve through this concise guide on Microsoft 365 end-of-support milestones. Here we will cover everything scheduled for deprecation before 2025 ends.
Being an IT admin myself, I have taken special care during the preparation of this distilled documentation. Here, I have tried to cut out all the noise and bring you a clear, actionable road map of what’s expiring when. Admins can use this guide to chart out a plan for their organization and stay on top of all the service changes and feature terminations.
Table of Contents
Creation of this documentation is important because the clock is ticking for many of the key Microsoft products and services that you know and love. Plus, another critical factor is that a lot, if not all, of this is happening in a span of a few months before the end of 2025. So, for IT personnel and regular people who rely on those products, this is going to be a significant challenge if they try to find everything on their own.
Moreover, if you don’t know the deadline for a particular service, it could mean disruptions in service, data loss, and insufficient time to retrain staff on new solutions. Don’t worry, this guide is made in a user-first format where I will tell you what is ending, when it’s ending, why it’s ending, and what you need to do to minimize the impact. So without further ado, let’s start.
Biggest Update: Microsoft Windows 10 Reaches End of Life in October
The end of the official support of the Windows 10 operating system on October 14, 2025, is perhaps the biggest update happening this year.
The reason this particular Microsoft 365 End-of-Support is such a massive event is because of the sheer numbers involved. According to the most recent estimates, there are still almost 1.4 billion devices running Windows 10. Making it the second most popular operating system in the world, only behind Windows 11 in the PC/laptop category.
So when these billions of Windows Home, Pro, Enterprise, Education, and even IoT Enterprise editions stop receiving support, it will be a security nightmare. The same applies to the non-security updates or assisted support.
However, it does not mean that your PC will become a brick after October 14; it’s just that non-up-to-date systems are more vulnerable to zero-day attacks. If your hardware allows, then upgrading to Windows 11 is absolutely free, so do it ASAP.
Key Azure & Microsoft 365 End-of-Support Events Happening In September 2025
Every week in September, a major or minor service is being deprecated and/or absorbed into a different feature.
- September 1: The classic eDiscovery (Premium) experience in Microsoft Purview will be retired. Users will need to transition to the new unified eDiscovery for improved search and investigation capabilities.
- September 1: Legacy message trace experience and certain cmdlets in Exchange Online will be retired.
- September 1: In this year’s last phase of Microsoft 365 end-of-support, Client Access Rules (CARs) in Exchange Online will be deprecated.
- September 9: The ‘Mobile Devices’ settings page in Outlook for viewing synced devices will be removed.
- September 15: Cognitive Services and Azure Machine Learning features in Power BI are being retired.
- September 19: Azure Database for MariaDB will be retired.
- September 30: A number of Azure services will see their end of life, including:
- Azure Basic Load Balancer
- Azure HPC Cache
- Azure Remote Rendering
- Azure Service Map
- Azure SQL Edge
- Azure Unmanaged Disks
What’s Ending in October 2025
Check out this list to know the key dates for the tenth month of 2025. Please note that all the dates here, as well as those shared in the September section and the November section, follow the Pacific Time Zone (PT)—Redmond, WA, USA.
- October 7: Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premises (Modern Policy), 2024 release wave 1, version 24.x, reaches its end of servicing.
- October 14: In addition to Windows 10, support for Office 2016 and Office 2019 will also end.
- October 14: Mainstream support for Azure DevOps Server 2020 and Microsoft Robotics will end, though they will continue to receive extended support.
- October 22: Microsoft Configuration Manager, Version 2403, will end servicing.
- October 24: Windows Server Annual Channel, Version 23H2, will reach its end of servicing.
Microsoft Services and Features You Won’t Be Using After This November
In November, there are a lot fewer Microsoft 365 end-of-support instances compared to the previous months. Perhaps the closeness to the holiday season is the reason. Regardless, you will still say goodbye to a few things in the penultimate month of the year. Here is the list:
November 11: Windows 11 Home and Pro, Version 23H2, will reach its end of servicing.
This covers all the things Microsoft is closing down permanently in 2025. However, simply knowing about these facts isn’t enough. Users and other stakeholders must also have a plan to tackle these changes. Don’t worry, we have covered that right here in this tutorial.
Go-to Action Plan to Tackle the Microsoft 365 End of Support Milestones
These dates will arrive sooner than you think; that’s why adequate preparation ahead of time is a must. Here are the key steps you need to take:
Assess your environment: Knowing your current digital infrastructure is the most significant step that an admin needs to take. This helps to identify and mark all those systems and users who will be affected by the end of support changes.
Switch to Windows 11: It’s been almost four years since the release of Windows 11, and in this time, it has proved to be a worthy successor to Windows 10. So, before the Windows 10 systems cease to receive official support, you should switch to the new operating system. If your current devices don’t support Windows 11, then a hardware upgrade might be necessary.
Also See: Microsoft Conditional Access Policy
Evaluate your Azure Usage: Within these three months (i.e., September to November), many of the legacy Azure services are shutting down. If your organization relies heavily on any of these services, it’s essential to plan an alternative. Microsoft may have merged the feature set into its more popular Azure service, so check the official documentation to see if this is the case. This is the sure-shot way to avoid service disruptions.
Also Read: Why is Microsoft Office 365 Slowing Down the Computer?
Update the apps before Microsoft 365 end of support: Older editions of Office apps, more specifically the Office 2016 and Office 2019, are also in their sunset stage. If your workflow involves these products, consider switching to the continuously up-to-date M365 cloud or the newer one-time purchase edition of the Office business suite.
Check Out: Why Microsoft 365 is Better Than Google Workspace
Lastly, make sure to keep close tabs on all the latest developments and announcements made on official channels; bookmark this page, subscribe to Microsoft’s newsletter, follow Microsoft’s accounts on Twitter, etc.
Conclusion
The Microsoft 365 end of support isn’t a one-off event but a continuous set of changes that will keep happening even after 2025. By adopting a plan, you can navigate these upcoming changes with ease while maintaining security and usability.
A significant step that admins inside organizations should take is to conduct a backup of the most important data. This includes user emails, contacts, calendars, OneDrive, and all other info that is most likely to be affected. For that, the SysTools Microsoft Office 365 Backup tool can help you out.
Download the demo today.