Microsoft Office users face several important changes in 2023 that affect standalone versions of Microsoft Office and mobile Microsoft Office apps. Microsoft customers who have a Microsoft 365 subscription or Microsoft Office 2021 LTSC are not affected by the changes.
Main changes affect the desktop versions Office 2013, which runs out of support in April 2023, and Office 2016/2019, which will run out of Microsoft 365 connectivity support.
Office 2013 support ends in April 2023
Microsoft Office 2013 is in its Extended Support phase currently. It receives monthly security updates in that phase, but no feature updates anymore.
The Office version will be retired on April 11, 2023 by Microsoft. While it won't stop working after that date, it won't receive any more security updates going forward. Customers won't receive technical support either anymore for the product.
Office 2016 and 2019: Microsoft 365 service supports ends in October 2023
Microsoft will end support for connecting to Microsoft 365 services for the two Microsoft Office versions Office 2016 and Office 2019. Microsoft explains on a support website that only mainstream support versions of Office are supported for connecting to Microsoft 365 services. Office 2019 runs out of mainstream support in October 2023. The company made an exception for Office 2016, which is already out of mainstream support.
Note that end of support does not necessarily mean that these versions can't connect to Microsoft 365 anymore. Microsoft notes on this support page that older Office versions "might still be able to connect to Microsoft 365 services, but that connectivity isn't supported". The same applies to Office 2016 and 2019 on October 10, 2023. Connections may continue to work, but there is no guarantee for that.
Microsoft explains that some functionality and features may not become available, and that users may "encounter other unexpected performance or reliability issues while using Microsoft 365 services". New features and changes do not get tested against these older versions of Office, and this may lead to unexpected issues according to Microsoft.
Both Office versions reach end of support on October 14, 2025.
Office mobile: two features removed
Microsoft made two changes to Office Mobile applications. The company announced the change in November 2022 and has removed the following two features from Office mobile as of December 31, 2022.
- Transfer Files -- A basic file transfer feature to send and receive files. The file sharing feature has been deprecated in favor of OneDrive, which Office users may use for file transfers.
- Share Nearby -- Another file sharing feature. It allowed users to share files with nearby devices over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
Closing Words
The desktop versions of Office continue to work, even Microsoft 365 connectivity won't end suddenly on October 10, 2023. Still, it is clear that Microsoft's focus is on Microsoft 365 and the cloud.
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