Office and Exchange Support Ends October 2026 as Microsoft Shifts to Subscriptions

While the majority of attention has been focused on the demise of Windows 10, another significant change is looming for Microsoft Office and Exchange customers. You may know about it, but this is just a gentle reminder, rather than news. On October 14, 2025, Microsoft will stop support for Office 2016, Office 2019, and Exchange Server 2016 and 2019.

This will leave many organizations with some serious introspection. These products, which are still widely used in the workplace, will no longer receive patches for security vulnerabilities after that cutoff date.

After that time, those products will be exposed to significant vulnerabilities, especially for organizations that are still using Exchange servers to access their email. Without the installation of patch updates, your systems will experience increased risk of attack, data loss, and service interruption.

Microsoft has taken the opportunity to use the cut-off date as a way to push organizations to its subscription-based services, most notably Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online. For the very few organizations that are willing to stay on-prem, the only supported upgrade will be the new Exchange Server Subscription Edition.

Microsoft says it is designed to receive continuous updates and will not require any future large updates for versions. The transition also indicates Microsoft’s general shift away from up-front purchases. Organizations that are still living with past perpetual licenses will need to determine quickly if they are going to move or purchase new hardware.