Microsoft will stop supporting Office apps on Windows 10 beginning October 14, 2025, coinciding with the operating system’s upcoming end of support.
“Microsoft 365 apps will no longer be supported after October 14, 2025, on Windows 10 devices,” the company announced today. The apps will continue working after the cutoff date, but there are no guarantees. End of support means just that—Microsoft will stop updating Microsoft 365 apps for Windows 10 systems, and there could be some repercussions. LibreOffice and other alternatives will likely support Windows 10 for a while longer, or you can keep using the web app versions in a supported web browser. The recent standalone Microsoft Office 2024 package is available for Windows 10 and will be supported for at least a few years (Microsoft doesn’t have an exact end-of-life date right now).
Indeed, according to Microsoft’s support page, there might be “performance and reliability issues over time“ with these apps. “To use Microsoft 365 applications on your device, you will need to upgrade to Windows 11,” the company noted. If you choose to do that, all Microsoft 365 features and security updates will continue working as usual, and your Office apps will continue receiving updates with new features, fixes, and security patches.
Microsoft 365 is already unsupported on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. Microsoft ended support for Windows 8 on January 12, 2016, and Windows 8.1 on January 10, 2023.
The company has been telling people still using Windows 10 that 2025 will be “the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh.” But there might be some problem with that, because your PC hardware probably isn’t eligible for Windows 11 due to Microsoft’s non-negotiable hardware requirements. However, that didn’t stop the company from telling folks to buy a new PC via fullscreen prompts in Windows 10.
Anyone not upgrading to Windows 11 before support ends puts their computer at risk. The support page states, “After support for Windows 10 ends on October 14, 2025, it will become vulnerable to security threats.” To help with that, the Windows maker introduced a new program called Extended Security Update (ESU) for those wanting to stay on Windows 10. Under the program, the privilege of keeping your Windows 10 PC updated with security updates up to 2026 will cost you $30. However, businesses can purchase up to three years of extended Windows 10 updates. If you choose to pay for access to critical security updates past the cutoff date, your Windows 10 PC will not become completely vulnerable after support ends.
“I believe that one of the most important pieces of technology people will look to refresh in 2025 isn’t the refrigerator, the television, or their mobile phone,” Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer, said at CES 2025. “It will be their Windows 10 PC, and they will move forward with Windows 11.”
Source: Microsoft