Project Online Retirement Timeline: Every Deadline Before September 30, 2026
Updated: 6 days ago
Microsoft Project Online retires on September 30, 2026. But that final date is not the only one that matters. Microsoft set several earlier deadlines along the way. Some have already passed. One key date catches many teams off guard. This is the full timeline, so you know exactly what happens and when.
Most guides only mention the September date. We list every deadline, because the earlier ones affect your plans right now.
The Project Online retirement date
The official Project Online retirement date is September 30, 2026. After that date, Project Online is no longer available. You lose access to your projects, schedules, and Project Web App (PWA) data. There is no read-only mode. There is no grace period. There is no data recovery.
Microsoft announced this on September 5, 2025. That gave teams just over a year to plan. If you still run projects in Project Online, this date affects you directly.
The full timeline of deadlines
Here is every key date in the Project Online retirement, in order.
Date | What happens |
September 5, 2025 | Microsoft announced the Project Online retirement. |
October 1, 2025 | End of sale for Project Online-only plans for new customers. |
April 1, 2026 | New PWA site creation is blocked. Tenants with no projects are locked out. |
April 2, 2026 | The SharePoint 2013 workflow engine stops working. |
September 30, 2026 | Project Online officially retires. Access to your data ends. |
October 1, 2025: End of sale
This was the first deadline. Microsoft stopped selling Project Online-only plans to new customers.
If you already had Project Online, nothing changed for you that day. Your service kept running. But it was the first clear sign the platform was winding down.
April 1, 2026: New sites blocked
This is the date many teams miss. Starting April 1, 2026, Microsoft blocked the creation of new PWA sites.
There is a second part to this one. Any existing tenant with no projects across its PWA sites was locked out of Project Online. If your tenant had at least one project, you kept access. If it was empty, you lost it.
Why this matters for your plan: if you wanted to spin up a fresh test site to practice your migration, you cannot after this date. Teams that planned to validate a migration in a new environment need another approach now.
April 2, 2026: Workflows stop
One day later, a bigger problem hit. The SharePoint 2013 workflow engine stopped working in SharePoint Online.
Project Online used this engine to run approvals and stage gates. So on April 2, 2026, those workflows stopped firing. If your team relied on automated approvals, they may have already broken, months before the final shutdown.
This is the most under-reported deadline. Many teams do not connect their broken approvals to this date. For more on this, see our post on Project Online workflows retirement.
September 30, 2026: Final shutdown
This is the deadline everyone knows. On September 30, 2026, Project Online retires for good.
After this date, you cannot open your projects. You cannot pull your data. Your PWA data is gone. So you must extract and back up everything you need before this day. And you must have your new platform ready.
Non-PWA data in your Microsoft environment is not affected. But your Project Online projects, schedules, and history are.
What is NOT affected
The retirement is specific to Project Online. These are safe:
Project desktop (Standard and Professional) keeps working. No end date announced.
Project Server Subscription Edition is not part of this retirement.
Microsoft Planner stays available and is a main transition option.
So if you use Project desktop or Project Server SE, this timeline does not shut you down. It is Project Online users who must act.
How to plan your project online migration?
"Once you know the deadlines, the next step is choosing a path — here's how to plan your Project Online migration before the September 30 cutoff."
How much time do you really have?
The honest answer: less than the September date suggests.
A full migration takes time. You have to map your data. You have to pick a platform. You have to move and test everary record. You have to train your team. For a complex setup, that is months of work, not weeks.
So the real deadline is not September 30. It is however many months before that your migration needs to start. For many teams, that time is now.
Not sure how big your migration is? Our Migration Readiness Calculator scores your setup in a few minutes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Microsoft Project Online retirement date?
Project Online retires on September 30, 2026. After that date, the platform and your project data are no longer available. Microsoft announced this on September 5, 2025.
What happens on April 1, 2026?
Starting April 1, 2026, Microsoft blocked the creation of new Project Web App (PWA) sites. Existing tenants with no projects were also locked out. Tenants with at least one project kept access.
Did Project Online workflows stop before the retirement date?
Yes. The SharePoint 2013 workflow engine stopped working on April 2, 2026. Project Online used it for approvals and stage gates, so those may have already stopped firing.
Is Project desktop or Project Server affected by the retirement?
No. The retirement is only for Project Online. Project desktop, Project Server Subscription Edition, and Microsoft Planner are not part of it.
How long before September 30, 2026 should I start my migration?
It depends on your data size and complexity. A complex migration can take months. Start early so you have time to map, move, test, and train before the deadline.
Plan your move before the deadline
The dates are set. The question is whether your plan is ready.
Project Made Easy helps you map your migration to this timeline, so you move safely before September 30, 2026.
See the full picture on our Project Online retirement migration plan, or schedule a free consultation to build your timeline.
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