Microsoft cuts OneDrive support for older Windows 10 versions next month

UPDATED Microsoft will end OneDrive synchronization support next month for older versions of Windows 10, leaving users without client updates, fixes, or technical assistance. According to a post on the company's Message Center, OneDrive sync app updates will continue on Windows 10 22H2 until October 10, 2028, but will stop for …

[JoeCool]

"leaving users without client updates, fixes, or technical assistance"

This has been onedrive experience since Win 10 was new.

[JoeCool]

"The move should not come as a surprise"

Only because M$ has no demonstrated ability to architect a remote API and service that's not highly dependent on the client OS level.

[Charlie Clark]

Re: "The move should not come as a surprise"

Oh, yes. I recently had to download some huge OneDrive / Sharepoints and while I pleases that this is possible using Powershell, this really is too tightly coupled to the relevant libraries on the client: no PNPOnline for you!

[Tron]

Isn't that a good thing?

The last thing I want is for my files to be copied to a MS cloud.

[Anonymous Coward]

Does anyone actually use Onedrool ?

[Doctor Syntax]

Yes, Microsoft when they get your stuff in there.

[M.V. Lipvig]

Yes, on my work machine, because the settings are locked down tighter than a duck's ass. On my home machines, I don't run Wondoze. It's linux for me and android for the wife.

[Nifty]

By default with Windows 10 pro your bitlocker key gets stored in your OneDrive cloud on installing or activating Windows. Tech savvy people may download it to an additional device and disable OneDrive. Many won't. I'm wondering what'll happen to that.

[Michael Hoffmann]

However, users running into problems cannot expect Microsoft to fix them.

I fail to see how that differs from the current state.

I once had to spend a week trying to recover my files, and that was in a corporation that made everybody use it. Corporate tech support? <shrug> Microsoft support? <SHRUG>

[Anonymous Coward]

No OneDrive?

Bloody lovely!

[rmullen0]

Yeah, I wonder if they realize that they just created and advertisement for downgrading from 11 back to 10 for anyone who was foolish enough to have upgraded in the first place.

[Pascal Monett]

"Microsoft will end OneDrive synchronization support next month"

Hallelujah !

[blu3b3rry]

No auto sync = less to go wrong

When a previous CFO did a hatchet job on IT at $WORKPLACE a lot of stuff was promptly moved onto SharePoint and the on-prem services either reduced heavily or shut down to "save costs".

Anyone needing more storage either local or on the network was told "we can't/won't pay for that, just use SharePoint"

Needless to say it's been a total mess. Impossible to find anything you need, and sync issues that fly out of the blue without warning. Don't even get me started on the file path length errors.

We found a test rig setup had been happily dumping tens of thousands of log files (each one had the date, time and the rig's 24-character serial number) into a folder on the user's desktop, which promptly synced to SharePoint. It was a total nightmare to remove thanks to aforementioned file path issues and the crap interface offered in windows explorer.

[rmullen0]

Re: No auto sync = less to go wrong

I always found it amusing that the cloud based systems that Microsoft and Google offer couldn't figure out how to make them have friendly paths. Instead, the URLs are inscrutable and filled with UUIDs and other gibberish. A simple local file server with SMB and actual files with paths and directories is all I've ever needed or wanted. I've hated the cloud with a passion since day one, and almost as much as I hate AI.

[elsergiovolador]

Blessings

Yet another reason to never "upgrade".

If Microslop keep going with Windows 10 improvements, this might become the best OS.

[M.V. Lipvig]

Re: Blessings

Nah, 10 was a turd compared to 7, which was peak M$.

[blu3b3rry]

Re: Blessings

I was never the biggest fan of W7 when it came out, but at least it allowed you to enable the "classic" UI and have a somewhat sensible layout. W10 is only seen as good since the mess that is W11 appeared.

[glnz]

Some detail please

May we have some more details on this?

Does it affect MS 365 Family (Office)'s 1TB of OneDrive if our six users are running it on Win 10 (the latest Win 10 22H2)?

[IGotOut]

Re: Some detail please

It's right there in the subheading.

"22H2 has until 2028"

[Sproggit]

Hang On

I understand why a company like Microsoft would terminate support for older versions of it's software. Realistically they can't keep on supporting every release forever. That's reasonable when it comes to support for technical issues.

But this might be a bit different.

As the article says, Microsoft will continue to support OneDrive on Windows 10 22H2 until 2028, but will stop for earlier versions from August 15, 2026. The issue here isn't - or shouldn't be - the version of Windows the user is running. The issue should be the version of the OneDrive client the user is running.

To suggest that we'd need 2 different versions of a OneDrive client - basically a proprietary WebDAV-for-Windows - to run on *two different patch levels of the same version of Windows* seems to be an awfully tall ask. For this to be a legitimate reason for Microsoft to withdraw support - and I'm sure such reasons exist - this issue should not be the OS but the OneDrive client codebase. If there is genuinely something operationally different for OneDrive that means it works differently between the two Windows 10 releases would smell a bit rotten.

This doesn't look like Microsoft withdrawing support for e.g. Office 2000 because they're migrating they're no longer providing training for their staff on a product with just a few hundred users. This looks like Microsoft looking for a lever to withdraw support for older versions of Windows 10, using client code - written to a common API no less, as the hook.

This is exactly the sort of garbage they used to pull with DirectX on Windows and Triple-A Games that came out that absolutely HAD to HAVE the latest version of DirectX, even if the first thing you did was disable those features because your graphics card wasn't powerful enough to run them. In short, it was just a built-in mechanism to strong-arm users to upgrade to the latest version of Windows.

If there are genuine, technical reasons for Microsoft doing this, then the issue should link to the version of OneDrive, not the underlying OS.

I smell a rat.

I hope the EU takes a look.

[Greywolf40]

Re: Hang On

There no technical reason for doing this. Oh, sorry, there is: OneDrive is "integrated" into the OS. It should be a service that the user can select if desired. (And that's true for most of the OS "features").

[Big_Boomer]

Sync stopped working months ago

Yes, I use OneDrive, mostly because I was already paying for Office 365 (the Mrs uses Word and Outlook). However, my OneDrive sync hasn't worked for months despite the fact that I am on 22H2 and have extended support for Windows 10 via the same. No, I won't be renewing it once the current year ends as not interested in paying MS for stuff that doesn't work. Yes, I have already converted one of my PCs to Linux and LibreOffice and will probably be going the same route with my main PC. Not sure who I will be using for backups in the future but MS can go **** themselves up the **** with a rusty fence post.

[Greywolf40]

OneDrive should be an app, not an OS "feature".

[Blackjack]

Who rhe heck uses OneDrive unless forced to?

[keb]

it is the suggested backup

Many users were scared into enabling OneDrive as their backup by monthly Microsoft prompts, even though they don't trust "the cloud" and wouldn't have clicked yes if they knew.

[AnonymousCward]

Clearly not driven by technical constraints

I'm going to assume this is just a means to screw over Windows Server 2022 Remote Desktop Services users (since that's based on 21H2) in order to make Azure look more appealing at this point, or just a convenient way to put IoT LTSC users in their place. If you try to look up the differences between a fully patched Windows 10 21H2 and Windows 10 22H2, there doesn't seem to be anything relevant listed anywhere, and the small improvements which were touted around that time all seem to have been backported to supported older Windows versions anyway.

To quote their own documentation: "Windows 10, versions 2004, 20H2, 21H1, 21H2, and 22H2 share a common core operating system with an identical set of system files. Therefore, the new features in Windows 10, version 22H2 are included in the latest monthly quality update for Windows 10, version 2004, 20H2, 21H1, and 21H2 but are in an inactive and dormant state. These new features will remain dormant until they are turned on through the “enablement package,” a small, quick-to-install “master switch” that activates the Windows 10, version 22H2 features."

Also, even the necessary files on demand plumbing has existed for a long time, see: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/attrib