Microsoft introduced in the present day that the Alternate Net Companies (EWS) API for Alternate On-line will probably be shut down in April 2027, after practically 20 years.
EWS is a cross-platform API for growing apps that may entry Alternate mailbox gadgets, equivalent to electronic mail messages, conferences, and contacts, retrieved from numerous sources, together with Alternate On-line and on-premises editions of Alternate (beginning with Alternate Server 2007).
Microsoft will start blocking Alternate On-line EWS by default on October 1, 2026, however directors can quickly keep entry by way of an software allowlist. The ultimate shutdown happens on April 1, 2027, with no exceptions granted.
Directors who create permit lists and configure settings by the tip of August 2026 will probably be excluded from the automated October blocking. Beginning in September 2026, Microsoft will pre-populate permit lists for organizations that haven’t created their very own, based mostly on every tenant’s utilization patterns.
The corporate may additionally conduct short-term “scream exams” that quickly disable EWS to show hidden dependencies earlier than the ultimate cutoff, and can hold IT admins knowledgeable by way of month-to-month Message Middle notifications that present tenant-specific reminders and utilization summaries.
​Nonetheless, it is essential to notice that this retirement course of impacts solely Microsoft 365 and Alternate On-line environments, and EWS will proceed to operate in on-premises Alternate Server installations.
“At this time we’re asserting we are going to use a phased, admin controllable disablement plan that begins in October 2026 and concludes with an entire shutdown of EWS in 2027,” the Alternate Workforce stated on Thursday. “EWS was constructed practically 20 years in the past, and whereas it served the ecosystem nicely, it not aligns with in the present day’s safety, scale, or reliability necessities.”
Microsoft additionally suggested builders utilizing the EWS API to modify to the Microsoft Graph API till EWS is retired, because it has reached near-complete characteristic parity with EWS for many situations.
“EWS is just not being retired on-prem. Hybrid situations differ relying on how apps entry information. On-prem mailboxes might proceed utilizing EWS; cloud mailboxes should transfer to Graph. Autodiscover will assist apps decide mailbox location mechanically,” Microsoft added.
“However be aware that solely Alternate SE will assist Graph for calls to Alternate On-line, so hybrid clients must use Alternate SE to host on-premises mailboxes.”
At this time’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 Alternate On-line and eliminated assist for them in March 2022 for safety causes.
Fashionable IT infrastructure strikes quicker than handbook workflows can deal with.
On this new Tines information, learn the way your crew can scale back hidden handbook delays, enhance reliability by means of automated response, and construct and scale clever workflows on high of instruments you already use.
