Microsoft dropping support for Windows 10 Mobile Office apps in 2021

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

Office is on its way out for Windows 10 Mobile.

Windows 10 Mobile Home screen
Windows 10 Mobile Home screen (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • The Windows 10 Mobile Office apps will reach their end-of-support date on January 12, 2021.
  • Windows 10 Mobile itself loses support on December 10, 2019.
  • After they lose support, the apps will no longer receive technical support, bug fixes, or security fixes.

Microsoft announced today that it will drop support for the Office apps on Windows 10 Mobile on January 12, 2021. While that's still more than a year away, it comes after Microsoft will end support for Windows 10 Mobile on December 10, 2019.

"On [January 12, 2021], app users will no longer receive security updates, non-security hotfixes, free assisted support options or online technical content updates from Microsoft," Microsoft said in a blog post (opens in new tab). "This decision follows the earlier announcement that support for Windows 10 Mobile ends on December 10, 2019."

In lieu of the WIndows 10 Mobile Office apps, Microsoft says that it will continue supporting the iOS and Android apps.

After the apps lose support on Windows 10 Mobile, you'll no longer be able to receive technical support for any issues you have, and the apps will no longer receive bug and security fixes. The apps will continue to work after the support end date, but a lack of updates means they'll be insecure and open to the introduction of new bugs.

Microsoft also announced today that the Wunderlist apps will shut down next year in favor of Microsoft To Do.

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

21 Comments
  • As far as I know, there's currently no such app as "Office for Windows 10 mobile". Key words here is "W10 mobile" The only mobile office apps on the MS store are built for all devices having 10.1 inch screen or less. Be it ARM or x86
    I installed them recently on my 8 inch tab running on intel atom, W10 32bit.
    So I don't know what they mean by end of support.
  • They're still around. Here's the link for Word: https://www.windowscentral.com/e?link=https2F%2Fclick.linksynergy.co...
  • End of support = no more updates of any type for W10M. I'm guessing they also won't be available in the store to install on phones after 1/12/21.
  • I disagree Olumide O, I use them on a daily basis on my L950XL and they come pre-installed on some variants.
  • @TechFreak1 what I mean is that the mobile office apps in MS store are virtually the same as those on Play Store And Apple Store. They also supports x86 devices.
    They're free for devices with 10.1 and below screen size and require office 365 subscription to edit documents for larger screens. Are the apps being discontinued on MS store, or are they simply going to prevent it's installation on W10 mobile devices?
  • Just got this reply from MS on the original blog post "This only applies to the Mobile apps on Windows 10 Mobile (phones). Since they will continue to be supported on tablets of 10.1, they will continue to work on the Windows 10 desktop. "
  • @Olumide O. I see and it can be somewhat confusing as they appear to be the same but, they are not the same apps per say (semantics). As the store will only deploy the appropriate app package for the device it is being installed on; that app package can be targeted to specific devices as well as screen sizes providing the developers includes a UX and code to enable dynamic scaling to screen sizes. Additionally, the developer can choose to omit a device category even if they include code to dynamically adjust the screen + UX. But yeah at first glance they look like the same apps :).
  • I assume this is in favor of office as a pwa or full x86/64 app
  • They are moving away from the individual apps and putting everything into one Office app. I'm currently running the Insider Preview of this app. As far as I can tell, it's much better to have everything right there. Even Office lense is front and center of this app to make it easy to access, without having to go into a seperate Office Lens app or OneDrive app. The only thing they haven't added is OneNote. Although, I think that should remain a standalone app, considering the ability to secure individual notes.
    I would like to see the option to secure the Office app or at least have the ability to secure folders within the app. Although, I wouldn't expect it to show up on Windows Mobile.
  • It's another glorified launcher in my opinion as long they don't remove the dedicated tiles, icons and ability to point custom shortcuts to the .exes I don't mind having a hub for all the office apps as it's easier, simpler and more efficient for some. I tend to use word like this winkey+s --> type in word then press enter and for myself that's way more efficient than doing winkey+s --> office --> navigating to the word icon either using the tab key or the mouse.
  • Yet more evidence that (contrary to what you may read even on this blog) UWP is dead, dead, dead.
  • That's fine. The app has always worked fine over the decades, even without support.
  • An app from 2015 has "worked fine over the decades"?
  • A new decade started in 2018. Technically spanning two. ^Totally true.
  • So which version Office will be running on touch-centric devices like the Surface Neo if not Mobile Office? Office PWA?
  • I'm guessing an emulated version of office or the store versions that are already available for all windows 10 versions.
  • I'm still pissed about this. I really liked my Lumia 950
  • More bad news for the thousands (hundreds?) of people still using Windows phones. The OS is, as of right now, officially dead.
  • Well... there is still a year of support and it's not like the apps are going to stop working automagically. Although people might want to turn off auto updates incase Microsoft pushes through an update deliberately breaking the apps - they've done it in the past with the lumia camera app for instance as it worked fine even after the EOL date but an update messed up it.
  • We all know the OS is great and a million times better than this static icon BS we are stuck with now but the standouts from a hardware perspective were the HTC 8x, which had the added amplifier in it so I could blast my music through headphones while I played drums. The Lumia icon had a stellar camera as well and many mics for great audio recording.
  • This is getting more and more funny...