Office 2016 and Office 2019 reached end of support on 14 October 2025, US time, according to Microsoft’s 2025 end of support list. This week marks a full year. Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 reached end of support on the same day.
If you’ve been meaning to deal with the last few machines still running them, this is the nudge.
What a year without fixes means
Word still opens documents and Excel still adds up. What stopped a year ago was the fixing. Microsoft’s list says that after end of support “there will be no new security updates, non-security updates, free or paid assisted support options or online technical content updates.”
Microsoft has released security updates for its supported software every month since. None of them have gone to Office 2016 or Office 2019. That’s a year of monthly fixes those copies have missed, and the gap gets wider every month.
The risk sits in what these apps open. Outlook opens email from strangers all day. Word and Excel open attachments from clients, suppliers and people you’ve never dealt with. An old, unpatched version of those apps is exactly what a malicious attachment is written to take advantage of.
Exchange is a slightly different story
Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 also ended on 14 October 2025, but businesses that paid for Extended Security Updates have kept receiving fixes. Microsoft’s Exchange team has confirmed that once October 2026 ends there will be no further updates, even for businesses that paid. For Exchange servers, the full stop is the end of this month.
Where old Office hides in a small office
It’s rarely on the main desks. It’s usually on one of these:
- The spare PC at reception that only gets used when someone’s away
- The accounts machine that “has everything set up just right”
- The old laptop out in the site shed or the workshop
- A PC that came with a one-off copy of Office when it was bought
- A home computer someone uses to catch up on the books after hours
In November 2025, after its main office machines were done, one business had us upgrade Windows on its reception PC and its workshop PC. The machines left until last for Windows are usually the same ones left until last for Office.
How to check
On each machine, open Word, then go to File, Account. Under Product Information you’ll see one of these:
- Microsoft 365: a subscription that keeps itself up to date. Fine.
- Office 2016 or Office 2019, in any edition: out of support for a year.
- Office 2021: its support ends this week too. Microsoft’s Office 2021 lifecycle page shows it ending on 13 October US time, which is today, 14 October, in Brisbane.
Check the PCs nobody logs in to every day. They’re the ones most likely to surprise you.
What to do with what you find
For most small businesses the answer is moving those users onto a Microsoft 365 plan that includes the desktop apps, so they keep updating without anyone having to think about it. For a machine that only needs to open the odd document, the web versions of Word and Excel may be enough.
Before anyone uninstalls the old version, check what depends on it:
- An add-in for your accounting or practice software
- Templates or forms with macros
- A mail merge that someone set up years ago and runs once a quarter
None of those are reasons to stay on unsupported software. They’re reasons to test before you switch.
Next step
This week, check File, Account on every machine, including the ones nobody uses daily, and write down what each one says.
If some of them still say 2016 or 2019 and you’d like help planning the switch, get in touch.