Microsoft has been slowly trying to get its Exchange Online users to switch from Exchange Web Services (EWS) for data access to Microsoft Graph. In 2018, the company revealed that EWS in Exchange Online Will no longer receive feature updates. This week the company announced a date when it will no longer allow EWS requests from non-Microsoft applications to Exchange Online.

in a blog postMicrosoft has stated that these specific EWS requests will be blocked starting October 1, 2026. This will give Exchange Online users more than three years to make the necessary preparations.

Microsoft added:

Today’s announcement and EWS retirement applies only to Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online (all environments); No changes to EWS on Exchange Server. Moreover, the changes to Exchange Online do not affect Outlook for Windows or Mac, Teams, or any other Microsoft product.

Even with that date, Microsoft says the service’s EWS components will continue to receive security updates, along with some unnamed security updates. It is also still available and supported in production environments.

However, Microsoft still feels that users need to make the change to Microsoft Graph to access their Exchange Online data. The company knows there are some gaps in features that EWS has that Graph doesn’t currently have. This includes access to archived mailboxes, folder / user configuration related information and Exchange online management. Microsoft is working on all of these for Graph and says it will offer an updated timeline for them “in the coming months.”

One other feature that EWS currently has, access to public folders, is now being evaluated by Microsoft as a graph feature. He stated that he is looking for “details on how you use EWS with public folders” and those comments can be sent to [email protected].

Microsoft also admits that while they try to include as many EWS features in the Graph API as they can, “some functionality may not make it to Microsoft Graph.”