Project Online Essentials reaches End of Life on October 1, 2026: Action required
Versions captured by this deployment. Earlier versions and notices may be missing; first observed is not first published.
Action date
- Microsoft's start date
- 2 Sep 2026
- Last changed by Microsoft
- 2 Sep 2026
- First seen here
- 19 Oct 2026
- Versions seen
- 1
What the notice says
Microsoft's text, with its sections, lists and tables; source markup removedWhat and Why
Project Online Essentials has not been available for purchase since October 1, 2025. On October 1, 2026, Project Online Essentials will reach end of life.
Project Online Essentials currently provides licensing rights for Project Online and Project Server through Client Access Licenses (CALs). Organizations should transition affected users to supported replacement licenses before October 1, 2026, to ensure they retain the required access and licensing rights.
Project and Planner Plan 1 and Project and Planner Plan 3 provide broader capabilities than Project Online Essentials, including Planner Premium experiences, while continuing to provide applicable licensing rights for supported Project scenarios.
Impact on Your Organization
Who is affected: Organizations with users who are currently assigned Project Online Essentials licenses.
Platforms and services
- Project Online
- Project Server
- Microsoft Planner
What will happen
- Project Online Essentials will reach end of life on October 1, 2026.
- After October 1, 2026, users assigned Project Online Essentials will no longer have access through that license.
- Users who require Planner Premium capabilities or applicable Project Server access rights must be assigned a supported replacement license.
- Organizations using Project Server should review their licensing requirements and ensure affected users have the appropriate access rights after the retirement date.
Action Required / Recommendations
Complete the following actions before October 1, 2026:
- Review users who are currently assigned Project Online Essentials licenses.
- Determine whether those users require Planner Premium capabilities, Project Server access rights, or both.
- For users who require Planner Premium capabilities or Project Server CALs, assign Project and Planner Plan 1 or Project and Planner Plan 3.
- For users who require only Project Server Subscription Edition access rights, acquire the appropriate Project Server CALs.
- Complete all licensing transitions before October 1, 2026, to avoid disruption to user access.
We recommend notifying affected project managers, resource managers, and Project Server users about the retirement and any licensing changes that may affect their access or available capabilities.
Compliance Considerations
No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.
What changed
Between the versions this installation saw, newest firstThis installation has seen one version of this notice, first on 19 Oct 2026. Later changes will show here.
Linked documentation
Microsoft pages the notice links toThe notice links to no Microsoft Learn or Support page that this installation reads.
Not confirmed here
What this page cannot tell you- Whether your tenant is affected: this is Microsoft's notice, not a check of your settings.
- Versions before 19 Oct 2026: this installation first saw the notice after Microsoft posted it.