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Earlier this year, Microsoft said it would end support for 365 Office apps within Windows 10 on Oct. 14, 2025 alongside formal support for the aging OS itself. The company has now reversed that decision and will give Microsoft 365 apps on the platform three more years of support.
The company quietly announced the change for Office on Windows 10, which impacts apps like Excel, Outlook, Teams, Word, and more. The new deadline is set for Oct. 14, 2028. The company updated a support article in April reversing the changes. It then updated further documentation noting the extension last week, which was then spotted by Neowin.
Microsoft says, “To help maintain security while you transition to Windows 11, Microsoft will continue providing security updates for Microsoft 365 Apps on Windows 10 for three years after Windows 10 reaches end of support.” Updates will continue through the normal process.
Still, Microsoft recommends updating to Windows 11 as soon as possible to avoid software issues. "Although apps such as Word will continue to work after Windows 10 reaches end of support, using an unsupported operating system can cause performance and reliability issues when running Microsoft 365 Apps," it argues. “If your organization is using Microsoft 365 Apps on devices running Windows 10, those devices should move to Windows 11.”
Three years extra is a big change and may slow down the company's push to move as many people as possible over to the latest version of the software. This was supposed to be "the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh," according to the company.
The latest data from market share monitor StatCounter shows 53% of PCs worldwide are still running on Windows 10 software and 44% are on Windows 11. That’s a big improvement over last year, when Windows 10 was 70% of the market, but it seems the trickle of people moving to the latest software will continue to be slow.
It's pretty easy to upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10, even if you have a PC that is technically unsupported. But if your PC is on its last legs, check out our roundup of the best laptops you can buy now, as well as some budget options. Otherwise, Microsoft will let Windows 10 users stay on the OS and get support for another year, but it'll cost $30.