Hey Reader,

What’s Changing

On July 14, 2026, Microsoft will permanently end support for SharePoint Designer 2013, the tool many organisations have used for years to build SharePoint workflows and customise sites. From that date, there will be no more updates, no security patches, and no Microsoft support. More critically, workflows built in SharePoint Designer will need to be migrated to Power Automate before this date and there are no extensions.

What’s In It For You

1. More reliable automation: Power Automate runs in the cloud and handles failures more gracefully than the old workflow engine

2. Better visibility: See run history, error messages, and flow status at a glance, no more mystery failures

3. More integrations: Connect to Teams, Outlook, Dynamics, and hundreds of other tools that SharePoint Designer never supported

4. Easier to maintain: Visual flow designer makes it easier to understand, update, and hand over workflows

5. Future-proof: You’ll be building on a platform Microsoft is actively investing in, not one heading for end of life

Who It Changes For

Primary audience: Teams using SharePoint Designer 2013 workflows

• Impact: High, workflows will stop working and need migration

• How they’ll feel: Anxious about the deadline, worried about disruption to business processes

Secondary audience: SharePoint site owners and administrators

• Impact: Medium, site customisations built with the tool may also need review

• How they’ll feel: Uncertain about scope of impact and what needs to change

IT Teams / Administrators

• Impact: High, responsible for planning migration, communicating change, and supporting users

• How they’ll feel: Under pressure to audit workflows and complete migration before a hard deadline with no extensions

Why It’s Changing

SharePoint Designer 2013 was built for a different era of automation, before cloud-native tools existed. Microsoft is retiring it because the underlying workflow engine it relies on is outdated and no longer compatible with the direction of Microsoft 365. Power Automate is the strategic replacement: it runs in the cloud, supports more complex logic, connects to hundreds of systems, and is actively being developed and improved. Migrating now means your workflows will be more reliable, more visible, and better supported going forward.

When It’s Changing

This is a hard cutoff, there are no extensions and no exceptions:

• July 14, 2026: SharePoint Designer 2013 reaches end of support across all Microsoft 365 environments (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, and DoD)

• July 14–31, 2026: Retirement enforcement rolls out Microsoft stops providing updates, security fixes, and support

Unlike some Microsoft retirements, there is no grace period or phased rollout. If your workflows haven’t been migrated by this date, they will be at risk.

What You Can Do To Prepare

Before July 14, 2026, we recommend:

• Audit your SharePoint Designer 2013 workflows and site customisations to understand scope

• Use the SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) 4.1 to assess and migrate supported workflow actions to Power Automate

• Plan your migration timeline early, there will be no opportunity to request an extension

• Update internal documentation, helpdesk knowledge bases, and user communications ahead of the change

• Review Microsoft’s SharePoint Designer 2013 lifecycle and workflow migration guidance as part of your planning

Go well and feel free to let me know your thoughts.

Anthony

Remember: change succeeds when people understand not just what they must do differently, but why doing it differently serves them better.

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Source: Message Centre - Message ID: MC1230891 | Published Date: 11 February 2026 | Services: SharePoint Online‎