In July 2025, Microsoft announced that it would be ending support for Office 365 applications installed through the Microsoft Store. It also made clear that starting in October 2025, they would no longer be delivering new updates or features, with security fixes ending in December 2026. Microsoft Office will still be updated and maintained, but the company will focus on Click-to-Run versions. It’s simply easier for the Microsoft development team to maintain one version of the suite and they’ve chosen the most convenient option — Click-to-Run. Consolidation is nothing new, with Windows 10 nearing its end as Microsoft shifts its focus to Windows 11. Note that the company is still making Windows 10 extended updates free to some users, however.
The Click-to-Run versions of Microsoft Office, as the moniker implies, work without downloading and installing the entire suite’s data. That’s thanks to smart engineering where the installation packages are minimized and updates happen in the background, plus you can skip components you don’t want. To check which version of the app you have, open one of the suite’s programs like Microsoft Word or Excel and navigate to File > Account. Under the About section, you will see details like version and build number, as well as whether or not it’s the Microsoft Store or Click-to-Run version. As the company says in its recent announcement, “If you have the Microsoft Store installation type…, you must upgrade to the Click-to-Run installation type for continuing new features and security updates.”
Upgrading to Microsoft Office Click-to-Run version
If you currently have the Microsoft Store version of Office 365, you can upgrade using Microsoft’s handy 365 Apps installer to double check your version and download the one you need. When you run the installer it will automatically detect the version you have, remove the Microsoft Store variant if necessary, and install the Click-to-Run package. It’s that simple, but you do need to have a valid license for Microsoft Office 365, which would have come with a purchase from the Microsoft Store.
You can also continue to use the Microsoft Store applications, just know that there will be no new bug fixes, feature updates, or, in December, security fixes. It’s not clear yet how this will affect the online features of the Microsoft Store apps. Support for Office and Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10, 8, and 7 has already been discontinued. In addition, Microsoft discontinued one of its oldest office apps, Microsoft Publisher, in 2025. The company suggests Word, PowerPoint, and Designer can make up for this loss, along with Microsoft Create. But you’ll need to retain access to the new app versions, which, again, leads to the Click-to-Run approach.
