Microsoft introduced as we speak that the Change Internet Companies (EWS) API for Change On-line might be shut down in April 2027, after almost 20 years.
EWS is a cross-platform API for creating apps that may entry Change mailbox objects, akin to electronic mail messages, conferences, and contacts, retrieved from numerous sources, together with Change On-line and on-premises editions of Change (beginning with Change Server 2007).
Microsoft will start blocking Change On-line EWS by default on October 1, 2026, however directors can quickly keep entry through an software allowlist. The ultimate shutdown happens on April 1, 2027, with no exceptions granted.
Directors who create enable lists and configure settings by the tip of August 2026 might be excluded from the automated October blocking. Beginning in September 2026, Microsoft will pre-populate enable lists for organizations that haven’t created their very own, based mostly on every tenant’s utilization patterns.
The corporate can also conduct short-term “scream assessments” that quickly disable EWS to reveal hidden dependencies earlier than the ultimate cutoff, and can maintain IT admins knowledgeable through month-to-month Message Middle notifications that present tenant-specific reminders and utilization summaries.
​Nevertheless, it is necessary to notice that this retirement course of impacts solely Microsoft 365 and Change On-line environments, and EWS will proceed to perform in on-premises Change Server installations.
“Right now we’re saying we’ll use a phased, admin controllable disablement plan that begins in October 2026 and concludes with an entire shutdown of EWS in 2027,” the Change Crew mentioned on Thursday. “EWS was constructed almost 20 years in the past, and whereas it served the ecosystem effectively, it now not aligns with as we speak’s safety, scale, or reliability necessities.”
Microsoft additionally suggested builders utilizing the EWS API to change to the Microsoft Graph API till EWS is retired, because it has reached near-complete function parity with EWS for many situations.
“EWS just isn’t being retired on-prem. Hybrid situations range relying on how apps entry information. On-prem mailboxes could proceed utilizing EWS; cloud mailboxes should transfer to Graph. Autodiscover will assist apps decide mailbox location robotically,” Microsoft added.
“However notice that solely Change SE will assist Graph for calls to Change On-line, so hybrid clients must use Change SE to host on-premises mailboxes.”
Right now’s announcement comes after Microsoft revealed in September 2023 that it deliberate to start retiring the EWS API in October 2026, and after a 2018 warning that EWS would cease receiving performance updates.
Three years later, in October 2021, Microsoft revealed that it had deprecated the 25 least-used EWS APIs for Change On-line and eliminated assist for them in March 2022 for safety causes.
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