The Microsoft Retailer variations of Workplace apps are being discontinued

In line with a brand new help doc (noticed by Home windows Newest), Microsoft plans to finish help for Workplace purposes put in by means of the Microsoft Retailer. Beginning October 2025, these variations of Workplace apps will cease getting new options. Beginning December 2026, they’ll cease receiving safety updates as nicely.

This transfer could also be inconvenient in case you’re utilizing the Microsoft Retailer variations, however it’s an inexpensive one. As a substitute of getting to help two alternative ways to make use of Workplace apps, Microsoft can now focus its efforts on one—the one which isn’t tied to Home windows Updates or the Microsoft Retailer.

Microsoft is encouraging customers to change to the Click on-to-Run variations of Workplace, which is a sooner and extra versatile technique to set up apps in comparison with utilizing conventional MSI installer recordsdata or AppX packages from the Microsoft Retailer (which supply restricted help for enterprise options).

With Click on-to-Run, Workplace apps can be utilized even earlier than the complete suite is downloaded and put in, set up sizes are minimized as a result of you possibly can skip pointless elements, and a number of variations of Workplace will be put in on one PC with out model conflicts. Updates are streamed and mechanically dealt with within the background, too.

Which kind of Workplace do you’ve gotten?

To test which Workplace model you’ve gotten, open an Workplace app and navigate to File > Account, then look beneath “About [the application].” You must see a Model quantity, a Construct quantity, and a sign of both “Microsoft Retailer” or “Click on-to-Run.”

To modify to the Click on-to-Run model, you’ll have to reinstall Workplace utilizing the Microsoft 365 Apps installer. This installer mechanically detects if in case you have the Microsoft Retailer model, and in that case, eliminated that model and replaces it with the Click on-to-Run model.

Additional studying: Must you purchase Workplace 2024 or subscribe to Microsoft 365? Listed here are the professionals and cons