Microsoft killing a free Windows 11/10 Office desktop app to move entirely to web

In 2014, Microsoft introduced Sway, a new Office app meant to complement along with the likes of PowerPoint, designed to create visually pleasing presentations, interactive reports, newsletters, and more. To do so, the app allows combining text, images, videos, and other such content.

This was a year before Windows 10 hit general availability and soon enough, Sway dropped its preview form and became a full-fledged Windows 10 app in August of 2015. Over time Microsoft kept adding more features to Sway like Photos support, password protection, among others.

In 2018 however, Microsoft announced that it was killing Sway on iOS, though, at the time it reassured that the Windows 10 app was here to stay.

Fast forward to 2026 which is eight years after that, Microsoft has confirmed that it is now going to retire the Windows 10/11 Sway desktop app as well. However, it is not going away entirely though as Sway will continue to exist on the web. On a new entry labeled as a "major change" on the Microsoft 365 admin portal, the company has explained:

"To streamline and modernize the Sway experience, Microsoft is retiring the Sway Windows desktop application (Win32 client) effective June 1, 2026. This change aligns with our efforts to simplify app management and encourage use of the web-based version, which offers the same capabilities with improved accessibility and support. Users can access all current and future Sway features, as well as their content, through the browser interface at sway.cloud.microsoft." Those who have access to the Microsoft 365 admin center portal can view this message under ID MC1213784.

As such, the Sway desktop app will no longer be available in six months whether you like it or not, and users will have to use the web browser alternative to access it. The free app (a Microsoft account is required to sign in) is rated 4.1 out of 5 stars on the Microsoft Store after almost 2,000 ratings, indicating many users find it fairly useful. The Great Britain version of the app has a good score too of 4.4 from close to 250 ratings.

On the positive side, Microsoft has promised that no changes will be made to existing Sway content and that all of it will be accessible via the web interface. Also, it has been maintained that Sway features and functionalities will remain identical.

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Posted Friday 9 January 2026 at 5:38 am AEST (my time).

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