There's no single Microsoft Access end of life date, because Access itself isn't being discontinued. Microsoft ends support for specific perpetual versions on different dates. Access 2016 and Access 2019 reached end of support on 14 October 2025, Access 2021 retired on 13 October 2026, and Access 2024 runs to 9 October 2029.
So the useful question is which version each database runs on, and who owns the process inside it. This post gives Microsoft's dates, what retirement changes, the move to 64-bit, and four options for a database the business depends on.
- Microsoft Access isn't going away. Microsoft's Access program manager answered that question directly in July 2026: no.
- Specific versions are retiring. Access 2016 and 2019 ended on 14 October 2025, and Access 2021 ended on 13 October 2026.
- Access 2024 and Access LTSC 2024 run to 9 October 2029. Access in Microsoft 365 has no retirement date.
- The bigger risk is usually the database, not the version: a business process that runs on an Access file nobody owns.
Is Microsoft Access going away?
- On 1 July 2026, Microsoft's program manager for Access wrote on the Microsoft Access blog that the most common question from the community is whether Access is going away, and that the answer "remains the same as it has always been": no. The same post says:
"Access continues to ship with Microsoft 365 and Office, continues to receive engineering investment, continues to receive bug fixes, security updates, accessibility improvements, and yes, new features."
Microsoft's lifecycle page for Microsoft 365 Apps puts it under the Modern Lifecycle Policy and shows it as "In Support", with no retirement date. If you run Access through a Microsoft 365 subscription and keep it updated, there's no Access end-of-life date to plan around.
What is the Microsoft Access end of life date for each version?
Each perpetual release has its own date, under either Microsoft's Fixed or Modern Lifecycle Policy.
| Version | Lifecycle policy | Support ends |
|---|---|---|
| Access 2016 | Fixed | 14 October 2025 (ended) |
| Access 2019 | Fixed | 14 October 2025 (ended) |
| Access 2021 | Modern | 13 October 2026 (ended) |
| Access LTSC 2021 | Fixed | 13 October 2026 (ended) |
| Access 2024 | Modern | 9 October 2029 |
| Access LTSC 2024 | Fixed | 9 October 2029 |
| Access in Microsoft 365 Apps | Modern | No retirement date listed |
Checked 27 October 2026 against Microsoft's lifecycle pages for products ending in 2025, 2026 and 2029, and the Microsoft 365 Apps lifecycle page.
Access 2021 is the one that catches people out. It retired two weeks ago, on 13 October 2026, with the rest of Office 2021.
What changes when an Access version reaches its date
Nothing switches off. The database opens the next morning as before. Microsoft's lifecycle pages say that after retirement there are no new security updates, no non-security updates, no assisted support of any kind and no updates to online technical content. Unpatched Access on dozens of desktops is the kind of finding an auditor raises; we cover how to handle it in the risks of running end-of-life software.
The real risk: a process running on a file nobody owns
The version date is the easy part; moving to Access in Microsoft 365 is a licensing task. The harder question is what's inside the .accdb file.
Many Access databases started as one analyst's shortcut and became the place where commissions are calculated or a regulatory extract is built. The person who wrote the VBA may have left. Microsoft's own comparison of Access and Dataverse lists Access at 2 GB of storage on the local machine, one reason these files get split, copied and linked to each other.
For each database, find out:
- what business process depends on it, and who owns that process;
- where the logic lives: tables, saved queries, form events, VBA modules and macros;
- what it connects to, such as linked tables, ODBC sources and exported files another system picks up;
- who can change it today.
That's the inventory step in our legacy system assessment guide, and an Access database belongs on any honest list of legacy system examples.
How do you upgrade an Access database to 64-bit?
Install the 64-bit version of Office, fix the VBA that calls Windows APIs, and replace any 32-bit ActiveX controls. Microsoft's guide to compatibility between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office sets out what breaks:
- Declare statements. "When running in 64-bit versions of Office, Declare statements must include the PtrSafe keyword." Adding PtrSafe isn't enough on its own: parameters and return values that hold pointers or handles must change to LongPtr, as Microsoft's PtrSafe reference explains.
- ActiveX controls. "Existing 32-bit ActiveX controls, are not compatible with the 64-bit versions of Office." That includes the old MSComCtl controls such as TreeView, ListView and ProgressBar, so forms that use them need a replacement.
- One bitness per machine. Asked whether 32-bit and 64-bit Office can be installed side by side, Microsoft's answer is "No."
What to use instead of an Access database
There are four realistic options, chosen database by database.
| Option | What changes | When it fits | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stay on Access in Microsoft 365 | The version only | It works, has an owner and few users | Ownership problem unchanged |
| Tables to SQL Server, Access as front end | Data moves; forms and reports stay | More users, more data, proper backups | Queries slow down with remote data |
| Rebuild as a web application | New application | Many or outside users, or a changed process | Rules in VBA and queries get missed |
| Package or Power Apps | Data moves to a product or Dataverse | A standard process, or a Power Platform team | Logic that doesn't fit the product |
Migrate an Access database to SQL Server
Microsoft's tool for this is SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) for Access. Microsoft describes it as "a tool for migrating databases from Microsoft Access to SQL Server and Azure SQL," with supported targets of SQL Server 2019 and later, Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance.
SSMA can also link the Access tables to the migrated tables, so "your queries, forms, reports, and data access pages use the data in the SQL Server or Azure SQL Database." Read that page's post-migration issues first. Some queries slow down because Access pulls tables locally when a query uses functions SQL Server lacks. And with SQL Server Authentication, "your password is stored in clear text on the linked Access tables," so Microsoft says to use Windows authentication. If the target SQL Server is itself old, see SQL Server 2016 end of support.
Replace an Access database with Power Apps
Microsoft documents a route from Access to Dataverse, the data platform behind Power Apps, run from Access's export feature. Afterwards "Access users can continue using their existing desktop client to manage their data." Dataverse doesn't support every Access data type, and Dataverse for Teams environments are deprecated, so check both first.
Where the 30-day assessment fits
Pick an option once you know what's in each database. The 30-day assessment is fixed in scope, at a price agreed before we start. Over 30 days we read the Access databases that matter (tables, queries, forms, VBA and macros) and the systems around them, map how they fit together with back ends, exports and reports, find the hidden architectural debt, and flag the security and compliance gaps, such as credentials in linked tables.
The report says in plain language what is broken and what it would take to fix it, database by database, and which of the four options suits each one. Your own team can act on it, or we can do the migration as a separate project with its own scope and price. Either way, the report stands on its own.
Send one sentence about the Access database you're worried about and what depends on it.