Support for Office 2016 and Office 2019 will end this year. Find out when and how to upgrade to newer Office software or other cheaper options.
First and most important, follow the advice of Douglas Adams (much missed) and Don’t Panic.
People trying to sell you stuff will use plenty of tricks and misinformation to make Office 2016/2019 users think they have to act soon.
Office Watch isn’t in the selling business, we’re here to help our readers understand what’s really happening.
What’s really happening on 14 October 2025?
Both Office 2016 and Office 2019 will reach “End of Support”.
That means there’ll be no more security or bug fix updates for the software after 14 October 2025 or about 8 months from today
Office 2016 ended mainstream support in 2020, it’s now in what Microsoft calls ‘extended support’ that lasts until 14 October 2025.
Office 2019 has only five years of support, ending on the same date.
Office 2016 and Office 2019 software will keep working.
Sometimes you’ll see mentions of Office 2019/2016 ‘ending’ or ‘expiring’ but that’s just shorthand for the end of support. It does NOT mean the software will stop.
Is Office 2016/ Office 2019 safe after October 2025?
Is software safe to use after ‘end of support’. There’s no simple answer to that question.
It’s a gradually increasing risk. Over time, Office 2016/2019 will be more at risk because hackers will be able to exploit unpatched security gaps in the software.
Microsoft is constantly patching their software to block newly discovered security bugs. These security ‘holes’ can be exploited by hackers to gain access to a computer to steal or ransom data.
Hackers especially target older software that isn’t as well protected.
How long can you keep using Office after the end of support?
In our view and keeping in mind that we are NOT trying to sell you anything:
- A few months is probably fine.
- Six months is getting riskier.
- A year without security updates is NOT a good idea at all.
That timeline might change if there’s a major security bug that’s widely spread. If that happens then switching to more up-to-date Office software is advisable.
What Microsoft wants you to do
Microsoft wants people to buy Microsoft replacement software … big surprise. They push customers into buying a Microsoft 365 subscription but there’s also Office 2024 (single purchase).
- Both Microsoft 365 and Office 2024 are compatible with all Office 2016/2019 documents.
- Settings, especially Outlook setup, are retained if you install on the same computer.
The basics remain the same.
While there are many improvements and changes in the latest Office software, the vast majority of the features, menus etc haven’t changed for well over decade.
What you can do
The best time to change is whenever you need to or when you see a good deal on a replacement.
Here’s some of your options for the ‘end of support’ of Office 2019 and Office 2016 – in no particular order.
- Keep using Office 2016/2019
- Change to new Office software when you are ready, perhaps when buying a new computer.
- Change to the latest Microsoft software – Microsoft 365 or Office 2024
- Use an alternative package like LibreOffice or OpenOffice.
If your software needs are modest:
- Use the free Office apps online for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Plus the web browser into your mailbox.
- WordPad in Windows can read and do simple edits for Microsoft Word documents.
- If Wordpad has been removed from Windows, you can get it back.
Why expiring at the same time?
Office 2016 and Office 2019 were released three years apart, so why are they both ending support at the same time? Surely their ‘end of support’ dates should be three years apart?
The two end dates were ‘aligned’ (Microsoft’s euphemism) for ‘customer convenience’.
Really it was an excuse for Microsoft to cut the Office 2019 support life to five years, previously it was a ‘fixed’ ten years for Microsoft Office.