Microsoft has confirmed that from next January will deactivate some of Microsoft 365 Office’s application functions if they do not have them updated to the latest versions. Specifically, if they do not use version 16.0.18827.20202 or later before it ends next January.
The announcement of these changes has been made through a message posted in the Microsoft 365 administration center. In it, the company indicates that it is updating the backend services that are offering support to some functions and that, as a consequence, the previous versions of the applications will not be fully compatible with them.
The functions that are being updated are those corresponding to the intelligent services of Office, and the changes will affect functions such as reading aloud, transcription or dictation, which will not be available if the suite apps are not updated, at least, at least, the aforementioned version. It is not something that will affect all Office applications offered by Microsoft 365, but several of the most popular: Word, Outlook, Onenote and PowerPoint.
According to the message in which the changes are notified, «To guarantee the continuous and high quality performance of the functions to read aloud, transcription and dictated in the applications of Microsoft 365 Office, we are updating the backend service that makes them possible. As a result, these functions will stop working in Office customers that execute prior versions at 16.0.18827.20202 after January 2026«.
The company has also indicated that The changes, which are currently in the background in process, are significantand that is why it is giving half a year of notice to take the necessary steps to continue using the affected functions. For this, it will only be necessary to install the most recent updates of Office applications.
