Microsoft Project Online Retires September 30 — and It's Missing From Microsoft's Own 2026 End-of-Support List
On September 30, 2026 — 29 days from this article's publication — Microsoft Project Online does not become unsupported. It becomes unavailable. Per Microsoft's Lifecycle page, Project Online follows the Modern Lifecycle Policy with a retirement date of September 30, 2026, and the September 2025 announcement on Microsoft's Planner blog says it plainly: on that date, Project Online "will no longer be available."
Here is the part that earns this article: Project Online is not listed on Microsoft's "Ending Support in 2026" roll-up page — the page many IT teams treat as their annual end-of-support radar. We checked on September 1, 2026: the page lists more than twenty September retirements, and this is not one of them. The retirement lives only on the product's own lifecycle page and in a Planner-blog post from last September. If your tracking process starts and ends at the roll-up page, a thirteen-year-old project-management service your PMO may run on is about to vanish without ever appearing on your radar.
The verified timeline
| Date | What happened / happens |
|---|---|
| March 1, 2013 | Project Online launches (the start date on Microsoft's Lifecycle page) |
| 2018 | Microsoft announces the strategic direction away from Project Online's architecture |
| September 5, 2025 | Retirement announced on the Planner blog |
| October 1, 2025 | End of sale — no new customers for Project Online-only SKUs |
| September 30, 2026 | Retirement — Project Online "will no longer be available" |
What this does — and does not — affect
Microsoft's announcement is precise about scope, and it's worth quoting the structure exactly, because the Project family's naming has confused people for a decade. The retirement is exclusive to Project Online — the SharePoint-architecture web service sold through Project Online SKUs and administered through Project Web App (PWA). It does not affect:
- Project desktop — the installed application remains available and is not impacted;
- Project Server — the on-premises product line continues (see the migration section below);
- Planner — Microsoft's ongoing work-management product, which absorbed Project for the web.
Microsoft's stated reason for the retirement is that Project Online's legacy architecture limits integration, compounded by certain SharePoint Online workflow design tools deprecating in 2026. The strategic investment is going to Planner, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the Project Manager agent.
The three migration paths Microsoft names
| Destination | Best fit | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Planner premium (Planner and Project Plan 3 / Plan 5) | Most teams; existing Project Online license holders already have access | Portfolios, baselines, dependencies, Gantt charts; the AI Project Manager agent (in preview) for Microsoft 365 Copilot users |
| Project Server Subscription Edition | Organizations needing the closest match to Project Online's full PPM feature set | Comprehensive planning, scheduling and resource management — on-premises, built on SharePoint Server Subscription Edition |
| Dynamics 365 Project Operations | Organizations centered on timesheets, resource scheduling and project financials | Integrated project delivery and financials |
One lifecycle note on the middle option, because it moves the decision for some organizations: Project Server Subscription Edition runs on SharePoint Server — and the older on-premises SharePoint estate just hit its own wall. SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 both reached end of support on July 14, 2026, leaving SharePoint Server Subscription Edition as the supported on-premises platform. If your organization is choosing Project Server Subscription Edition to stay close to the Project Online feature set, the SharePoint platform migration comes bundled with that choice — budget for both, not one.
We track verified end-of-life and retirement dates for 500+ products — the EOL Watch hub follows deadlines like this one as they approach, and the September 2026 Azure retirement wave shows how crowded this particular month is. If a scan of your estate turns up more end-of-September surprises, our Stack Scanner reads a pasted inventory against the full dataset.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Microsoft Project Online retire?
September 30, 2026, per Microsoft's Lifecycle page for Project Online and the September 2025 announcement on the Planner blog. This is a Modern Lifecycle retirement: on that date Project Online will no longer be available — the service stops, it does not merely lose support. End of sale for new Project Online-only customers already passed on October 1, 2025.
Does the retirement affect Project desktop, Project Server, or Planner?
No. Microsoft's announcement states the change is exclusive to Project Online and does not affect Project desktop, Project Server, or Planner. Project desktop remains available, and Planner continues as Microsoft's ongoing work-management product.
What are the migration options?
Microsoft names three transition options. Planner premium plans (Planner and Project Plan 3 or Plan 5) carry portfolios, baselines, dependencies and Gantt charts — and existing Project Online license holders already have access. Project Server Subscription Edition is the closest match to Project Online's full project and portfolio management feature set, running on SharePoint Server Subscription Edition on-premises. Dynamics 365 Project Operations fits organizations that need timesheet management, resource scheduling and project financials.
What happens to Project Online data after September 30, 2026?
The retirement happens automatically with no admin action required, and Microsoft's guidance is explicit: back up your data, if needed, before the retirement date. After September 30, 2026 the service will no longer be available — plan on the data in it being unreachable from that point. Microsoft publishes a "Prepare for Project Online retirement" guide covering data export.
Why isn't Project Online on Microsoft's "Ending Support in 2026" page?
As of September 1, 2026, Microsoft's "Ending Support in 2026" roll-up page does not list Project Online at all — the retirement appears only on the product's own Lifecycle page and in the Planner blog announcement. Teams that track the annual roll-up page as their end-of-support radar will not see this one coming. It is a reminder that the roll-up pages are not exhaustive: the per-product lifecycle page is the authoritative record.
Related
- Azure retires 20+ services and APIs this September — the rest of the month's Microsoft cloud cliff, in one table
- SharePoint Server — every version with live status — the platform under Project Server Subscription Edition
- SharePoint 2016 and 2019 end of support — the July deadline that shapes the on-premises migration path
- EOL Watch — the deadlines we're tracking as they approach