Office LTSC 2021 end of support

Office LTSC 2021, Project LTSC 2021, and Visio LTSC 2021 nearing end of support.

Impacted audience

All partners, including Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners and advisors

Support for Office Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) 2021, Project LTSC 2021, and Visio LTSC 2021 ends on October 13, 2026. After this date, these products no longer receive updates, security fixes, or technical support.

These products have served organizations for many years, particularly in specialized or regulated environments. However, continuing to use unsupported versions after end of support might expose organizations to security vulnerabilities, compliance risks, and reduced reliability due to the absence of future updates or security patches.

This end-of-support milestone presents an opportunity for partners to help customers modernize their productivity environments by transitioning to cloud-based alternatives.

Recommended upgrade paths

For most customers, Microsoft 365 provides key benefits, including:

• Up-to-date experiences, with continuous security updates, feature enhancements, and innovation
• Enterprise-grade security and management, designed to support Zero Trust architectures and flexible work scenarios
• Scalable and flexible licensing, allowing customers to adjust services as business needs evolve

Customers who move to Microsoft 365 suites gain access to cloud-backed desktop versions of familiar apps such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, along with web and mobile access across multiple devices.

• Enterprise customers should turn to Microsoft 365 E3 as the primary recommended path, with Office 365 E3 or Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise used as appropriate fallback options based on customer needs.
• Businesses with fewer than 300 users should turn to Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, or Microsoft 365 Apps for business as supported upgrade paths.
• Planner and Project Plan 3 and Visio Plan 2 provide the cloud-based replacements for Project LTSC and Visio LTSC and can be layered on top of Microsoft 365 suites as needed.

Partners should note that Microsoft 365 Copilot is supported only on cloud-backed apps included in Microsoft 365 suites, and on-premises versions of Office aren't eligible. In addition, the Azure Information Protection (AIP) labeling client for perpetual Office has been retired.

In cases where regulatory, connectivity, or technological constraints prevent the use of cloud solutions, customers might consider the latest supported on-premises alternatives, including Office LTSC 2024, Project LTSC 2024, and Visio LTSC 2024.

Next steps

Partners are encouraged to take the following actions:

• Engage early with customers still using Office LTSC 2021, Project LTSC 2021, or Visio LTSC 2021 to communicate the October 13, 2026, end-of-support date and associated risks.
• Prioritize Microsoft 365 E3 when guiding customers toward supported alternatives, with Office 365 E3 or Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise as appropriate fallback options.
• Assess customer constraints related to connectivity, regulation, or offline requirements to determine the most appropriate support path.
• Leverage available resources to address common concerns related to cost, migration complexity, or limited usage scenarios.

Partners should begin proactive outreach now to ensure customers have sufficient time to plan and transition before support ends.