Microsoft Announces Shutdown of EWS in Exchange Online, Migration Deadline Set for April 2027

By April of 2027, Exchange Web Services (EWS) in Exchange Online will be permanently discontinued by Microsoft. Consequently, the transition from older email integration systems to the more modern Microsoft Graph platform is progressing at a faster pace. The Exchange Team said in a blog post dated 5 February that EWS will be turned off in stages, one tenant at a time, starting in October 2026 and culminating in a full shutdown in 2027.

No changes will be made to Exchange Server installations that are hosted on-premises; this update solely affects Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online. For almost twenty years, businesses and third-party developers have relied on EWS to link their apps to Exchange mailboxes. According to Microsoft, the service is outdated and cannot keep up with current standards for dependability, scalability, and security.

Microsoft Graph to Take Over

The corporation made note of the fact that, for the majority of EWS use cases, Microsoft Graph now has feature matching that is close to fully utilised. The older design has already been abandoned by many applications, including Microsoft's own products. Additional administrative restrictions will be implemented by Microsoft under the new strategy. To ensure that only authorised applications have access to EWS, a feature that will be available in early 2026 will let businesses define an AppID allow list.

Starting on October 1, 2026, EWS will be off by default for tenants who have not expressly configured their preferences. According to Microsoft, EWS will be automatically stopped for any tenant using the default setup. This could disrupt operations that depend on earlier integrations. During the transition time, administrators who still need EWS temporarily can re-enable access through Exchange Online PowerShell and keep an allow list. However, there are limited other choices.

Final Shutdown to Begin on 1 April 2027

Starting on April 1, 2027, EWS will be completely disabled, and controls at the tenant level will be eliminated. Hence, marking the beginning of the final shutdown. After that date, no extensions will be given, according to Microsoft.

This is part of a larger trend in the industry towards moving away from outdated interfaces and focusing on more contemporary, cloud-first APIs for business software ecosystem consolidation. In order to finish migrations to Microsoft Graph and conduct usage audits, the following year is crucial for organisations that rely on EWS-based applications.