Microsoft has announced that it will be retiring its Microsoft 365 Companion apps, including Calendar, People, and Files, by December 16th this year. This decision comes roughly a year after these apps were automatically rolled out to compatible devices with the Microsoft 365 desktop client apps. Admins are being urged to remove these apps from managed devices in their organization before the end of the year.
The Microsoft 365 Companion apps were designed to integrate Copilot for contextual AI assistance, helping users quickly locate people within the organization, access files, and manage their schedule using the Microsoft 365 calendar directly from the Windows 11 taskbar. While these apps provided a convenient way for users to stay organized, they will no longer be supported or function after December 16th.
According to Microsoft’s support documentation, once installed, these apps would launch automatically at startup by default. However, IT admins had the option to opt out of automatic installation via Device Configuration settings in the Apps Admin Center. Additionally, users could disable auto-launch from each app’s Settings dialog by turning off the “Start app minimized when you log in” option.
Microsoft is advising administrators to remove these apps from their devices before the end of the year, as they will no longer be supported or function after December 16th. It’s also worth noting that Microsoft has stopped installing these companion apps through Microsoft 365 Apps updates starting last Friday. For users on unmanaged devices, it’s recommended to uninstall the apps themselves.
This retirement comes amidst other changes being made by Microsoft, including the upcoming retirement of SMS first-factor sign-in in February 2027. The company is reminding admins to migrate Entra ID users to phishing-resistant methods such as passkeys or FIDO2 security keys to avoid potential disruptions.
With this change, it’s essential for IT administrators and users to be aware of the implications of removing these apps from their devices. This includes understanding how users will interact with Microsoft 365 services without the companion apps and making necessary adjustments to workflows accordingly.
Source: Bleeping Computer — 2026-09-21