SharePoint deadline
SharePoint Server mobile app retirement: what on-premises users lose on November 27, 2026
The SharePoint Server mobile app retirement, announced in Microsoft 365 message center post MC1528013, takes effect from November 27, 2026: the SharePoint apps for iOS and Android stop connecting to on-premises SharePoint Server and support SharePoint Online only. It is the second mobile door to close on running farms this year. The OneDrive mobile apps already stopped accepting SharePoint Server sign-ins in June 2026, and SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 left support on July 14, 2026.
This page is for organizations that still run a farm today and have people opening it from a phone. It is not the stay-or-go question itself, which our comparison of SharePoint Online vs on-premises covers, nor the mechanics of a move, which sit on our SharePoint Server to SharePoint Online migration page. It is about a dated loss of mobile access and what you can honestly offer those users instead. Every Microsoft statement below was checked against Microsoft’s published notices and documentation on November 6, 2026.
What exactly changes on November 27, 2026?
From November 27, 2026, the SharePoint apps for iOS and Android stop connecting to SharePoint Server. Microsoft’s message center post MC1528013 says the apps will support SharePoint Online only. On-premises sites added to the app stop opening there; nothing in the notice changes the farm itself, its content or desktop browser access.
The change is not isolated, which is why it deserves more than a help desk note. Read together with the two earlier changes, it closes every Microsoft mobile app route to an on-premises farm, while the oldest supported farms have already lost security updates.
| When | What changed | Microsoft source | What it means for a running farm |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | OneDrive for iOS and Android stopped supporting sign-ins with SharePoint Server on-premises accounts | Message center post MC1332814 | On-premises document libraries can no longer be reached through the OneDrive app |
| July 14, 2026 | SharePoint Server 2016 and SharePoint Server 2019 reached the end of extended support | Microsoft Lifecycle | No more security updates or fixes for those versions; Subscription Edition is the supported on-premises version |
| November 27, 2026 | SharePoint apps for iOS and Android stop accessing SharePoint Server and support SharePoint Online only | Message center post MC1528013 | Phone users of the farm move to a mobile browser, or the sites they need move to SharePoint Online |
The support dates are on Microsoft’s SharePoint Server 2019 lifecycle page (opens in new tab), which lists extended support ending in July 2026 and links to the upgrade guidance for Subscription Edition. SharePoint Server 2016 follows the same fixed lifecycle and ended on the same day.
Not sure which row your farm sits in? Tell us what you run and who uses it from a phone.
Ask a question →Who does the retirement affect?
Anyone who opens on-premises SharePoint sites in the SharePoint app on an iOS or Android device: field staff checking documents, managers reading the intranet, people following news from a farm. The change applies in Worldwide, GCC, GCC High and DoD. People who only use SharePoint Online in the app are not affected.
Hybrid organizations feel it unevenly. The same person can keep their OneDrive and Online sites in the app while the farm’s sites drop out of it, which reads to them as “SharePoint is broken” rather than as a retirement. Anyone who tried the OneDrive app with an on-premises account lost that route in June, so after November 27 neither the SharePoint app nor the OneDrive app reaches the farm.
Can staff still reach SharePoint Server from a phone?
Through a mobile browser, yes, on the same terms as today. Microsoft’s browser support page for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition lists Edge or Chrome on Android and Edge, Chrome or Safari on iOS as supported. Whether a phone can reach the farm at all still depends on how you publish it: VPN, reverse proxy or internal network only.
The details are in Microsoft’s browser support planning for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition (opens in new tab). Expect a browser experience rather than an app one: people sign in through whatever your farm already uses and bookmark the sites they need. Test it on a real phone before the 27th, because classic pages and older customizations can be awkward on a small screen. Microsoft’s notice names no replacement app, and we would not plan around one.
Which options does an on-premises farm really have?
Four, and they differ by how much they change: keep the farm and switch people to the mobile browser; upgrade to SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, which still means browser-only on phones; move the sites mobile users need to SharePoint Online; or move everything. Only SharePoint Online brings the SharePoint and OneDrive apps back.
| Option | Phone access after November 27 | Support position | Fits when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stay on SharePoint Server 2016 or 2019 and use the mobile browser | Mobile browser only | Out of support since July 14, 2026: no security updates | Only as a short bridge to one of the rows below, and not exposed more widely than it is today |
| Upgrade to SharePoint Server Subscription Edition | Mobile browser, with supported browsers listed by Microsoft | The supported on-premises version | Content has a hard reason to stay on-premises: a contract, a regulator or a system that only integrates locally |
| Hybrid: move the sites mobile users need to SharePoint Online | SharePoint and OneDrive apps for the moved sites; browser for the rest | Online sites run in Microsoft 365; the farm still needs a supported version | A handful of sites, such as the intranet home and field documents, carry most of the phone use |
| Move everything to SharePoint Online | SharePoint and OneDrive apps, as for any Microsoft 365 user | Microsoft 365 service; no farm to patch | Nothing on the farm has to stay on-premises |
Moving content is only half of the hybrid and full-move rows. People also need Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Entra ID accounts, which is the same identity step Microsoft asked for when the OneDrive apps dropped on-premises sign-ins.
What should admins do before November 27, 2026?
Microsoft asks for two things: tell the users who open SharePoint Server in the mobile apps that this access is ending, and update internal documentation and support material. Add a third: test the mobile browser route to your farm from a real phone, so the message to users comes with a working alternative.
- Find the people affected. Site owners and the help desk usually know who works from a phone. If your phones are managed, the app inventory in your device management tool can show who has the SharePoint app installed.
- Test the browser route. Sign in to the busiest sites from an iOS and an Android phone, over the same connection people use in the field, and note anything that does not render.
- Send one clear notice. Say what stops, on which date, and give the exact browser address to bookmark instead.
- Update the documentation. Remove instructions for adding an on-premises site to the SharePoint or OneDrive app, and give the help desk a short script for the calls that will follow.
- Put the farm’s future on the agenda. If it still runs 2016 or 2019, the mobile change is the smaller of the two problems.
Does this make moving to SharePoint Online urgent?
Not on its own. Losing the app is an inconvenience with a browser workaround. Combined with the July 14, 2026 end of support for SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 and the June OneDrive block, it shows that Microsoft’s mobile apps now serve SharePoint Online only, and that belongs in your stay-or-go decision. So does the Office Online Server retirement on December 31, 2026, which ends support for opening and co-authoring Word, Excel and PowerPoint files in the farm’s browser view.
If the decision is still open, weigh it with our SharePoint Online vs on-premises comparison, which sets out when a farm still earns its keep. If you have already decided to move, the SharePoint Server to SharePoint Online migration page describes how we plan and run it, and a move can start with just the sites your mobile users need. Mobile access is not the only habit Microsoft has changed this year; the SharePoint Alerts retirement removed another feature people had relied on for years.
Either way, our SharePoint consulting work is scoped and priced before anything starts, delivered by senior US-based Microsoft engineers, typically within 2–4 weeks, with 30 days of hypercare afterwards. We are based in Orange County, California, and work with businesses across the US remotely. See how the fixed-fee process works.
Want a fixed price for moving the sites your phone users depend on? Tell us what the farm holds.
Scope the move →Fair and square
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FAQ
Questions farm owners ask about mobile access
No. Microsoft's notice says the SharePoint mobile apps will support SharePoint Online only, so Online sites, news and files keep working in the iOS and Android apps as before. Only connections to SharePoint Server stop. In a hybrid tenant, people keep their Online content in the app and reach the farm through a browser.
Microsoft's notice names none, and the OneDrive mobile apps stopped accepting SharePoint Server on-premises sign-ins in June 2026. For a farm that stays on-premises, the supported route from a phone is a mobile browser. Do not promise users a replacement app unless Microsoft announces one.
No. The notice covers SharePoint Server access in general and says the apps will support SharePoint Online only, so Subscription Edition farms lose app access too. Upgrading still matters for security, because SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 left support on July 14, 2026, but on phones it means browser access.
Not according to the notice. MC1528013 describes a change to the SharePoint apps for iOS and Android, not to SharePoint Server, its content or desktop access. Sites, libraries and permissions stay as they are. The work for admins is communication, documentation and making sure the browser route works for mobile users.
Talk through your farm’s mobile users with a senior engineer
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Tell us what you’re trying to fix — a report, an approval process, an intranet, a Copilot rollout. We scope it as a fixed-fee project, you approve, and a senior engineer delivers in 2–4 weeks.
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- Senior, US-based Microsoft engineers — no handoffs
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Related reading
The decisions around this one
SharePoint Online vs On-Premises
The stay-or-go decision for a farm, now that Microsoft’s mobile apps serve SharePoint Online only.
SharePoint Server to SharePoint Online Migration
How a fixed-fee move from an on-premises farm is planned and run, including a first wave of the sites phone users need.
SharePoint Alerts Retirement
Another SharePoint feature Microsoft retired this year, and how to rebuild the alerts people still need.