Applies to anyone running a one-off-purchase copy of Office, which is most likely on Business Basic

Support for Office LTSC 2021 (the one-off-purchase version of Office), along with Visio 2021 and Project 2021, ended on 13 October 2026. The apps still open and work, but they no longer get security updates, so any security flaws found from now on will never be fixed.

Am I affected?

Business Premium and Standard already include the always-up-to-date Microsoft 365 desktop apps, so you’re covered as long as those are what’s installed.

Business Basic doesn’t include desktop apps, so Basic users often have an older copy of Office installed alongside. Those are the computers to check.

What to do

• Check whether any computers are still running Office 2021, Visio 2021 or Project 2021.
• Move those people to Microsoft 365 Apps. On Business Basic, that means moving them to Business Standard or adding Microsoft 365 Apps for business.

Not sure what you have? Get in touch and we’ll check for you.

Source: Microsoft 365 Message Center (MC1509797) via mc.merill.net. Message Center posts vary by organisation; check your own admin centre for details specific to you.