Helient Systems : Microsoft Office 2016 & 2019 to Lose Support for Microsoft 365 Connections Starting October 2023

by Jake Heberling
Desktop & Applications Engineer

Microsoft has announced that support for connections to Microsoft 365 services from within Microsoft Office 2016 and 2019 will be impacted starting October 10, 2023. This will have potential implications for access to Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business within those applications, but is not limited to those services. While connectivity itself will not be blocked, changes to the Microsoft 365 ecosystem may be made that adversely affect performance or reliability within older Office clients, and organizations experiencing issues of this nature should not expect to receive support.

While Microsoft has publicized changes to Microsoft 365 service connectivity in older Office clients (2013, 2016, and 2019) for years, the first major change occurred on October 13, 2020, when ongoing investments to their cloud services no longer took the older clients into account — a date coinciding with Office 2016’s end of mainstream support. Similarly, the loss of support for Microsoft 365 connections in older clients beginning October 10, 2023 coincides with the mainstream support end date for Office 2019. Further loss of Microsoft 365 service connectivity in older clients may not be far off.

As of October 10, 2023, the following considerations will apply for connectivity to Microsoft 365 services:

• Users of older clients (Office 2013, 2016, and 2019) may encounter performance or reliability issues when connecting to Microsoft 365 services and may not be able to receive support depending on the nature of the issue.
  • Examples services include, but are not limited to Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business.
• Microsoft will continue to make changes and improvements to the Microsoft 365 experience in Microsoft 365 Apps clients that will not take into account older (Office 2013, 2016, 2019) clients.
• Microsoft will not take any active measures to block connections to Microsoft 365 services from older clients that are still within their support lifecycle and are up to date, but changes may be made that adversely affect their ability to connect.
  • While an official cutoff date for connectivity to Microsoft 365 services in Office 2016 and 2019 has not yet been announced, it may come before their October 14, 2025 end-of-support date.

Helient recommends taking an active approach to modernize your environment and ensure connections to Microsoft 365 services remain fully functional. Organizations using older Office clients should begin planning an upgrade to a subscription version of the Office client, such as Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise. If you would like more information or assistance, please contact our industry-leading experts at service@helient.com.