M365 Message Center

Geändert

16.04.2026

Services

Microsoft Entra

Introduction Beginning January 30, 2026, Microsoft Entra ID Governance will require all tenants to have a linked Azure subscription to continue using Identity Governance features for guest users. This change ensures accurate billing for governance actions performed by guests and supports continued access to advanced governance capabilities. When this will happen: General availability and enforcement begin on January 30, 2026. How this will affect your organization: Who is affected: Organizations using Microsoft Entra ID Governance features for guest users (userType = Guest). Admins managing lifecycle workflows or Entra ID Governance features in entitlement management for external or guest identities. Access reviews will be included by March 31, 2026. What will happen: If your tenant does not have a linked Azure subscription, creation or updates of policies scoped to guest users using pre

Geändert

13.04.2026

Services

Windows

Next month, Windows Autopatch will become more broadly available in Government Community Cloud (GCC). Previously, Windows Autopatch was not automatically available for Microsoft 365 G3 and G5 SKUs in GCC. It required the $0 Windows Enterprise (OLS) activation SKU. Now, the OLS SKU is no longer needed. Windows Autopatch is included automatically with:Microsoft 365 G3 GCCMicrosoft 365 GCC G5Microsoft 365 GCC G5 without WDATP/CAS Unified When will this happen:Expected date of launch: May 13, 2026 How this will affect your organization:If you don't use the $0 Windows Enterprise (OLS) activation SKU, you’ll see new Windows Autopatch features in Microsoft Intune next month. These features include update policies for feature, quality, and driver updates, plus enhanced reporting. What you need to do to prepare:No action is needed. New capabilities will be available automatically in Microsoft Int

Geändert

13.04.2026

Services

Microsoft 365 suite

As previously communicated, support for Office LTSC 2021 will end on October 13, 2026. After that date, no further updates, security fixes, or technical support will be available for this version of Office. While the applications may continue to function, using unsupported software could lead to potential security risks, compliance risks, system incompatibilities, and other issues.Support for Visio LTSC 2021 and Microsoft Project LTSC 2021 and several other products will also end on October 13, 2026. Organizations using these products should upgrade as soon as possible to maintain security, compliance, and performance.[How this will affect your organization:]After end of support, Office LTSC 2021 suites and standalones will no longer receive security updates or other fixes, and no technical assistance will be available for devices still running them. Continuing to use unsupported softwar

Geändert

10.04.2026

Services

Windows

As announced in January 2026, the unattend.xml file used in hands‑free deployment poses a vulnerability when transmitted over an unauthenticated RPC channel. Beginning with the April 2026 security update, the second phase of hardening for CVE-2026-0386 is now in effect. These changes make hands‑free deployment disabled by default to enforce secure behavior. After this update, hands‑free deployment no longer works unless explicitly overridden with registry settings.When will this happen:Starting with the April 2026 security update, Windows Deployment Services (WDS) enforces secure‑by‑default behavior by automatically disabling hands‑free deployment.How this will affect your organization:After installing the April 2026 security update, hands‑free deployment is blocked to prevent unauthenticated access to unattend.xml, enforcing the hardening requirements for CVE-2026-0386. Any workflows th

Geändert

09.04.2026

Services

Windows

Administrative actions are undergoing hardening changes that might require operational change to support your organization’s security posture. With the August 2025 Windows non-security update, devices were hardened against unauthorized attempts to bypass loopback detection. However, if you’ve cloned machines without Sysprep, you might see Kerberos and NTLM authentication failures. This is by design. The recommended solution is to rebuild affected devices using supported imaging methods. A temporary workaround is also available. When will this happen:September 2025 and later: Windows security updates include hardening changes that strengthen the trust boundary between identity, authentication, and User Account Control (UAC).April 2026 and later: Windows security updates include a temporary workaround for machines cloned without Sysprep. This registry-based compatibility option isn’t recom

Geändert

09.04.2026

Services

Windows

If you are an IT admin with questions about managing and updating Windows, we want to help. Every third Thursday of the month, we host a live chat-based event on the Tech Community called Windows Office Hours. Members of the Windows, Microsoft Intune, Windows Autopilot, Windows Autopatch, and Windows 365 engineering teams will be standing by to answer your questions.Want to attend the April 16 session of Office Hours? Add it to your calendar and select Attend on the event page to let us know you’re coming. There is no video or live meeting component. Simply visit the event page, log in to the Tech Community, and leave your questions in the Comments section. You can also bookmark https://aka.ms/Windows/OfficeHours for upcoming dates (and the ability to add this event to your calendar). We look forward to helping you.