Microsoft Office 2013 Support Ended

Microsoft Office is one of the most used office productivity software, so it is an important revenue stream for Microsoft. With the latest Office 265 solution being a monthly or annual paid subscription, it is probably with some regret that users will see Office 2013 support has ended on April 11, 2023.

The older Office versions, including Office 2013 supported the perpetual license method, where you only pay once. Great for people that don’t need the latest features and extensions to Office products. But with 10 years under the belt, Microsoft has now ended support for the 2013 version. No more patches and updates, and at the same time, no guarantee that any connections to Microsoft 365 services (Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive).

It is possible to keep using these unsupported versions of Office, as long as you are aware of the risks. Any new security issues will not be patched by Microsoft anymore (at least they don’t have to). Another option is to upgrade to a newer version of Office. But keep in mind that even the 2016 and 2019 versions will go out of support in a few years (October 2025). The support for these products regarding connectivity to Office 365 services will even end this year (October 2023).

So, what to do? There are a few choices possible.

Stay with the Office 2013 version. This is a viable option as long as you don’t need any new functionality and can accept the security risks and possible lack of connection with Office 365 services.

Upgrade to Office 2016, Office 2019, or Office 2021. This will give you the option to use the perpetual license option a little longer. At the same time, you benefit from the new features these versions offer as well as extended support (including connection to Office 365 services).

Upgrade to Office 365. The option that Microsoft prefers. This subscription-based Office software will still allow you to install and use a local version on a PC and use it offline. Activation, updates, and online services will require an active Internet connection. There is a free version of Office 365, but the functionality is limited (no spell and grammar check for example).

This last option is the best solution for businesses, as the security risks and online collaboration aspects are more important there. For home users, one additional aspect to realize with these new features is that they will only run on Windows 10 upwards. So, if you still need to run an older version of Windows for some reason, combining that with Office 365 is not an option.

Use a non-Microsoft solution. For home users, there are more options. If you are purely looking for office productivity software, LibreOffice and FreeOffice are other options to consider. Running on Windows, and with support for Office document formats (as well as PDF), these solutions are good alternatives. Google Workspace can also be considered if you don’t mind working online.

Need help with Office? Check out our Office How To articles.