Microsoft has announced that the last day it will provide security assistance for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on Windows 10 will be Oct. 14, 2025. Services that rely on Microsoft 365 apps and utilize the outdated os must update to Windows 11.
“After that date, if you’re running Microsoft 365 on a Windows 10 device, the applications will continue to operate as previously,” Microsoft said in the statement. “However, we strongly recommend updating to Windows 11 to avoid efficiency and reliability concerns gradually.”
This uses to the membership version of Workplace, Microsoft 365, and non-subscription versions of Office 2021, Workplace 2019, and Office 2016. Microsoft states that when a user upgrades to Windows 11, all Microsoft 365 features and security updates will resume as before and they can run a Workplace upgrade to ensure they have the current version.
SEE: What’s Inside Microsoft’s Major Windows 11 Update?
This October cutoff will likewise mark the end of Windows 10 assistance, joining Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 in the os graveyard. Nevertheless, Windows 10 is still the most pre-owned Microsoft OS, with 62.7% of the marketplace share as of Dec. 2024. Windows 11 has just 34.12% of the marketplace share.
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Microsoft calls 2025 ‘the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh’
Microsoft has called 2025 “the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh.” Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s Executive VP, said in a post: “Our company believe that one of the most essential pieces of innovation individuals will look to refresh in 2025 isn’t the refrigerator, the tv, or their smart phone. It will be their Windows 10 PC, and they will progress with Windows 11.”
The post is seemingly attempting to get users to upgrade by associating Windows 11 with its Copilot+ PCs and other AI innovations. Microsoft has also tried bothering users into submission, by showing full-screen pop-ups recommending users update their device and transfer their files.
SEE: Microsoft Copilot Cheat Sheet: Rate, Versions & Advantages
Windows 11 has shown a controversial upgrade due to the “non-negotiable” requirement that gadgets seeking to do so need to have the Trusted Platform Module 2.0, which was announced in 2021. Microsoft claims that TPM 2.0 “raise(s) the security baseline” by making it possible for features like BitLocker, Windows Hi, and Virtualisation-Based Security, which are necessary for defense versus modern-day risks such as ransomware.
PCs made after mid-2016 typically support TPM 2.0, though it might need enabling in BIOS, but only CPUs launched from 2018 onwards will support Windows 11. Older PCs without TPM 2.0 can not run the OS officially; users should upgrade hardware or, at their own risk, bypass requirements utilizing among the many workarounds discovered by the Windows neighborhood.
Microsoft offering extended security updates
For those who are set on continuing to utilize Office apps on Windows 10, there is one more method to do this firmly. Microsoft is providing Extended Security Updates to customers for the very first time, indicating that for $30, anybody can get one extra year of “Important and Important security updates”. Enrollment for this will be opened “closer to the end of support in 2025.”
Services will have the ability to pay for as much as three years of ESU. It will cost $61 for the first year but the price will double for each successive year. Enrollment for this is open now and the first update will deploy in November.
Those who purchased Windows 10 Long-Term Servicing Branch or Long Term Servicing Channel will also continue to get security updates after Oct. 14.