Microsoft ends support for Office apps on Windows 10 in October

January 16, 2025

Office

Microsoft says it will drop support for Office apps in Windows 10 after the operating system reaches its end of support on October 14.

"Microsoft 365 Apps will no longer be supported after October 14, 2025, on Windows 10 devices. To use Microsoft 365 Applications on your device, you will need to upgrade to Windows 11," the company said on Tuesday.

This announcement also applies to standalone versions without a Microsoft 365 subscription, including Office 2024, Office 2021, Office 2019, and Office 2016.

In a separate support document first spotted by The Verge, the company says that Office apps will continue to work even after Windows 10 support ends but said customers might encounter issues until they upgrade their PCs to Windows 11.

"After that date, if you're running Microsoft 365 on a Windows 10 device, the applications will continue to function as before. However, we strongly recommend upgrading to Windows 11 to avoid performance and reliability issues over time," Microsoft says.

While the company has continuously pushed users to move to Windows 11 since its October 2021 launch, even naming 2025 "the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh" earlier this month, customers aren't willing to switch due to "non-negotiable" TPM 2.0 support requirements.

Although Windows 10 will reach the end of support in eight months, over 62% of all Windows systems worldwide still run Windows 10, while less than 35% run Windows 11, according to Statcounter Global data.

Microsoft announced in June 2021 that TPM 2.0 is a mandatory requirement for Windows 11 installs or upgrades, saying it makes systems more resistant to tampering and cyberattacks. However, this hasn't prevented users from creating tools and finding techniques to bypass the TPM requirement.

Although Windows 10's end of support is rapidly approaching, the company announced on October 31 that Windows 10 home users could delay the switch to Windows 11 for another year if they pay $30 for Extended Security Updates (ESU).

Additionally, Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB) releases like Windows 10 2016 LTSB and Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) releases like Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 that cater to specialized devices, including industrial and medical systems, will also receive updates beyond October 2025.