All deprecations

Microsoft · Product lifecycle

Exchange Online

Authentication, protocol, API, and messaging-service retirements.

1

Lifecycle events

1

Dates confirmed

0

Awaiting date

Lifecycle timeline

Action requiredAnnounced Jan 27, 2026

SMTP AUTH Basic Authentication disabled by default

Existing tenants keep current behavior until the end of 2026; OAuth is the supported path for modernized SMTP workloads.

Effective date

Dec 31, 2026

Recommended replacement

OAuth 2.0 for SMTP AUTH or Azure Communication Services

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