We would like to inform our SharePoint Server on-premises customers that Microsoft has announced the retirement of Office Online Server (OOS), effective December 31, 2026 - Announcing the retirement for Office Online Server. Office Online Server (formerly known as Office Web Apps Server) is a product that can be optionally integrated with SharePoint Server on-premises. It enables users to work with supported document types in various scenarios without first having to download them.
What does this mean?
- Users will lose the ability to view, edit, and collaborate on Office documents directly in the browser. Office client applications can still be used to view and edit Office documents.
- SharePoint Server relies on OOS to generate previews for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF documents. After OOS support ends, these thumbnails will no longer be actively supported in libraries and search results.
- Office Online Server will not be supported in any configuration after retirement, including scenarios where it is paired with SharePoint Server Subscription Edition.
Microsoft will not actively block the use of OOS in SharePoint Server after its retirement. However, no further updates will be provided, including security updates.
This announcement does not impact Microsoft's support for SharePoint Server, and there are no plans to retire SharePoint Server Subscription Edition. Microsoft has publicly committed to supporting SharePoint Server Subscription Edition until at least December 31, 2035.
The SharePoint Server Team
Microsoft