Required update for organizational authentication in Excel Power Query (Entra ID)

If your organization is running up-to-date versions of Excel, no action is required and you can disregard this message. Otherwise, please review the guidance and take appropriate action. What and Why: We are updating the authentication flow used by Excel Power Query when connecting to enterprise data sources using Organizational Accounts (Microsoft Entra ID). This change strengthens security and improves the reliability of connections to enterprise services. The update aligns Excel with modern authentication standards, helping organizations better protect access to enterprise data while providing a more consistent sign-in experience. Newer versions of Excel, including Microsoft 365, already use this updated authentication mechanism and are not affected. Rollout Schedule: We recommend updating as soon as possible, and no later than July 24, 2026. Impact on Your Organization: Who is affected: Excel users who connect to enterprise data sources through Power Query using Organizational Accounts (Microsoft Entra ID) and are running Excel 2021 version 21.08. Affected Power Query connectors include, but are not limited to: Web Files (Excel, JSON, and others) SharePoint (Lists, Folders, Files) SQL Server SQL Analysis Services OData HDFS Exchange Lakehouse Warehouse Power BI Dataflows Dataverse SQL Database SQL Analytics Data Lake Gen 2 Azure Data Explorer Azure Blob Azure Table PostgreSQL Oracle Dynamics 365 Platforms/Services: Excel (desktop) Power Query Microsoft Entra ID What will happen: Users running unsupported or outdated Excel versions will lose the ability to authenticate using Organizational Accounts. Microsoft 365 and newer supported versions of Excel are not affected. Older, unsupported Office versions will no longer function for these authentication scenarios. Action Required / Recommendations: To avoid disruption: Update devices running Excel 2021 version 21.08 to build 16.0.14334.20754 or later by July 24, 2026. Devices running Excel versions older than 21.08 should be upgraded to a newer, supported version of Excel. Compliance considerations: No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.