Microsoft has announced that Office 2016 and Office 2019 will reach their official end of support on 14 October 2025. Organisations or individuals using this software should consider upgrading to newer options to maintain security and reliability, and to ensure continued connectivity to services such as Microsoft 365.

After this date, the defined support lifecycle will come to an end, and Microsoft will cease providing critical services and updates for Office 2016 and Office 2019. These include:

• Technical support: Users can no longer rely on Microsoft’s assistance for troubleshooting or resolving problems
• Bug fixes: Any newly discovered issues will not be resolved, potentially impacting functionality
• Security fixes: Vulnerabilities identified after the end of support date will not be patched

These changes present a potential security risk to organisations continuing to use Office 2016 or Office 2019 beyond 14 October 2025. Therefore, upgrading to a supported version of Office is recommended. The two main choices are:

• Microsoft 365, the subscription-based version of Office which provides continuous updates and new features for the apps, as well as ongoing support
• Office LTSC (long term service channel), a one-time purchase option for Home or Business which is restricted to features available at its initial release but includes perpetual support

You can see prices and more information about Microsoft 365 licenses here.