Office 2021 is reaching the end of the line
If you’re still using a one-time purchase copy of Microsoft Office 2021, there’s an important deadline approaching. Microsoft is ending support for the suite on October 13, 2026.
After that date, Office 2021 will continue to work, but Microsoft will stop providing security updates, bug fixes, and technical support. The company’s online help resources for the product will also no longer receive updates.
That’s a significant change from the days when perpetual Office licenses could remain supported for a decade. Office 2010 received ten years of support, while Office 2013 lasted roughly the same. More recently, however, Microsoft has steadily shortened the lifespan of these products. Office 2019 received six years, while Office 2021 gets just five.
The timing is hardly surprising. Microsoft increasingly wants customers to move on to Microsoft 365, where Office becomes a recurring subscription rather than a product you buy once and keep indefinitely. If you want, the simplest option is to keep using it, although doing so means eventually running an unsupported and potentially vulnerable application. Microsoft would rather you upgrade to Office 2024 or move to Microsoft 365.
There are also cheaper, or completely free, alternatives. Microsoft’s web versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint cover basic needs, while services such as Google Docs, Sheets and Slides offer another route. Open-source and free desktop suites including LibreOffice, Collabora Office and OnlyOffice are also available.
In other words, Office 2021 isn’t suddenly going to stop working on October 13. But its expiration date marks another step in Microsoft’s shift away from traditional perpetual software licenses.
