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Pdhameliya's avatar
Pdhameliya
Copper Contributor
Sep 07, 2026

Administrator-Approved InfoPath Form Fails to Upload After Upgrade to Subscription Edition

I am migrating an administrator-approved InfoPath form template from SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint Subscription Edition.

The form is a browser-enabled InfoPath form with managed code (code-behind), deployed as an administrator-approved template (.xsn). It was originally created in InfoPath 2010 and worked successfully in our SharePoint 2019 farm.

When attempting to upload the updated .xsn through Central Administration in SharePoint Subscription Edition. During the upload/verification process, I receive the following error:

Failed to load the form code assembly:

Could not load file or assembly

'Microsoft.Office.InfoPath, Version=16.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,

PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c'

or one of its dependencies.

 

The system cannot find the file specified.

Additional details:

  • Source environment: SharePoint Server 2019
  • Target environment: SharePoint Server Subscription Edition
  • Form type: Administrator-approved, browser-enabled, managed code form
  • InfoPath version InfoPath 2010
  • The original form worked successfully in SharePoint 2019

My questions are:

  1. Is SharePoint Subscription Edition expected to support administrator-approved InfoPath forms that contain managed code?
  2. Has anyone encountered a similar issue where the uploaded form references Microsoft.Office.InfoPath, Version=16.0.0.0 during validation?
  3. What is the Microsoft-supported resolution:
    • Recompile/republish the form using different references?
    • Use the original SharePoint 2019 XSN?
    • Install additional components on the SharePoint SE servers?
  4. Are there any known compatibility differences between SharePoint 2019 and Subscription Edition when validating InfoPath form code assemblies?

I tried updating web.config file of Central Admin but didn't work and same error message. 

<dependentAssembly>

       <bindingRedirect oldVersion="16.0.0.0" newVersion="15.0.0.0" />

</dependentAssembly>

 

 

Any guidance or Microsoft documentation related to the supported deployment of administrator-approved InfoPath forms in SharePoint Subscription Edition would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

2 Replies

  • Pdhameliya's avatar
    Pdhameliya
    Copper Contributor
    Sep 08, 2026

     

    Thank you for the clarification regarding the InfoPath Forms Services support lifecycle.

    I understand that InfoPath Forms Services is now outside of Microsoft's support window and that the long-term recommendation is to migrate these solutions to Power Apps or another supported platform.

    However, in our case, this is a migration of an entire SharePoint web application from SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint Server Subscription Edition. The business requirement is to keep the existing InfoPath forms operational during the migration phase and then modernize them afterward.

    The same administrator-approved, browser-enabled managed-code form currently works in our SharePoint 2019 environment. My immediate objective is to understand why the form fails validation in SharePoint Subscription Edition with the following error:

    Could not load file or assembly

    'Microsoft.Office.InfoPath, Version=16.0.0.0'

    Given that SharePoint SE still allowed InfoPath Forms Services to function prior to the support end date, I am trying to determine whether this is:

    • A form code assembly/version mismatch issue
    • A missing dependency on the SharePoint SE servers
    • A change in how administrator-approved forms are validated in SharePoint SE
    • A known migration issue when forms are republished from InfoPath 2010

    I'm not looking for a long-term workaround such as installing unsupported components on the farm. Rather, I'm hoping to identify the root cause of why a form that worked in SharePoint 2019 cannot be uploaded to SharePoint Subscription Edition so that we can keep the application operational while we plan its eventual migration to Power Apps.

    Has anyone successfully migrated administrator-approved managed-code InfoPath forms from SharePoint 2019 to SharePoint Subscription Edition and encountered this particular assembly loading error?

     

  • Jamony's avatar
    Jamony
    MCT
    Sep 08, 2026

    The key issue is the current support boundary, not the binding redirect. Microsoft’s lifecycle documentation states that InfoPath Forms Services in SharePoint Server Subscription Edition was supported only until July 14, 2026; it is now unsupported. Consequently, there is no Microsoft-supported way to restore an administrator-approved, browser-enabled managed-code form by installing Office assemblies, copying DLLs into the GAC, or redirecting Microsoft.Office.InfoPath versions. The validation error is consistent with the required server runtime no longer being present or supported. Remove the Central Administration web.config change and avoid altering farm binaries. Preserve the original XSN, source code, data connections, and a functional export from the 2019 environment for analysis, but do not treat an unsupported legacy farm as the production solution. Inventory every rule, connection, code path, permission, and submission target, then rebuild the form on a supported platform. Microsoft recommends evaluating Power Apps; complex server-side logic may require a supported service.