Microsoft to kill off support for its Windows 10 Mobile Office apps

Another nail in the coffin

In brief: Microsoft’s slow eradication of Windows 10 Mobile will continue through to January 2021—the date when support for its first-party Office apps comes to an end.

Way back in July 2017, Microsoft officially pulled the plug on the Windows Phone, and its focus on Windows 10 Mobile was waning rapidly. The inevitable happened in January this year, when the Redmond firm said free support for all Windows 10 Mobile products would end on December 10—tomorrow—which means no more security updates, non-security hotfixes, free assisted support options, or online technical content updates.

But what about Microsoft’s suite of Windows 10 Mobile Office apps, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote? They still have a while before reaching their end-of-support date: January 12, 2021.

The Office apps will still work after that date, but users won’t be able to install them on phones using Windows 10 Mobile. Additionally, there’ll be no more technical support, bug fixes, or security updates.

"Because of the lack of security updates, we strongly recommend that if you wish to use Office on a phone you transition to the latest Microsoft Office apps on an iOS or Android phone," wrote Bill Doll, senior product marketing manager for Office apps strategy at Microsoft.

Microsoft started stepping away from Windows 10 Mobile in 2016, so killing off support for its Office apps isn’t too much of surprise—Facebook did the same thing with its application earlier this year. But with the company’s Surface Duo—a dual-screen, Android-powered smartphone—arriving in 2020, Microsoft’s next mobile venture could be a lot more successful.