If you’re running SharePoint Server 2016 or SharePoint Server 2019 today, July 14, 2026 is almost certainly on your roadmap. That is the date Microsoft support for both products officially ends. After that point, there will be no security updates, no fixes, and crucially no safety net.
Whilst that date matters a lot, it’s not the only date that should be shaping your SharePoint decisions right now.
As of Spring 2026, several SharePoint-related features will be being retired or constrained. These changes do not shut down your SharePoint servers ahead of schedule, but they do affect what will still work when you move forward.
So, if migration, modernization, or long-term supportability is part of your plan, these earlier changes should already be influencing your migration decisions.
Why “Supported Until 2026” Isn’t the Complete Plan
Because SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 remain supported until July 2026, it’s easy to assume that nothing materially changes before then. From a server lifecycle perspective, that assumption holds up. From a feature dependency and migration perspective, it can leave you exposed.
Microsoft does not retire SharePoint as a single, all-or-nothing platform. Individual capabilities are retired on their own schedules, particularly in Microsoft 365. When your current environment depends on those capabilities, the impact usually appears during migration planning, not on the official end-of-support date.
In reality, you are managing two timelines at once. One is the server support timeline that ends in July 2026. The other is a feature viability timeline that is already in motion.
The risk is not missing July 2026.
The risk is discovering an earlier constraint after timelines are locked and decisions are harder to reverse.
April 2026: When Legacy Workflows Become Migration Blockers
One of the most consequential changes now close at hand involves SharePoint workflows.
SharePoint 2010 workflows are already retired. SharePoint 2013 workflows are next. They were disabled for new Microsoft 365 tenants in 2024, and they are scheduled to be fully retired across all tenants on April 2, 2026. There is no extension available.
This does not turn off workflows inside your SharePoint Server 2016 or 2019 environment while it is still running on-premises. What it does affect is your migration path.
If your environment relies on SharePoint Designer workflows or other SharePoint 2013 workflow-based processes, those workflows cannot be migrated into SharePoint Online as they are. They must be replaced with supported alternatives, most commonly Power Automate.
For simple scenarios, that work can be relatively quick. For complex or business-critical processes, redesign, testing, and validation take time. As a result, April 2026 is fast becoming a functional deadline. Even if your servers are still supported, your migration is not truly complete until those workflow dependencies are resolved.
April 2026 Also Marks the End of SharePoint Add-Ins
The same April 2, 2026 milestone brings another important change: the retirement of SharePoint Add-Ins in SharePoint Online.
SharePoint Add-Ins have historically been used for custom functionality, integrations, and packaged third-party solutions. Microsoft has confirmed that SharePoint Add-Ins will stop working in SharePoint Online after April 2, 2026.
Again, this does not disable anything inside your on-premises SharePoint Server environment today. But it does define what your future state can look like. Any Add-Ins your organization relies on cannot move forward as part of a modern SharePoint environment. They must be redesigned, replaced, or retired before migration can be considered complete.
For organizations with long-standing custom solutions or business-critical third-party Add-Ins, this often becomes one of the earliest and most impactful planning constraints.
The Quiet Retirement of SharePoint Alerts
Another change already underway is the retirement of classic SharePoint Alerts.
Microsoft is in the process of retiring the “Alert Me” functionality in SharePoint Online. The creation of new alerts began phasing out in mid-2025, with broader restrictions rolled out through late 2025 and into early 2026. Classic SharePoint alerts are scheduled for full retirement by July 2026.
Alerts rarely block a migration outright, but they are deeply embedded in how many people work. Users rely on them to track document changes, list updates, and approvals. When alerts disappear without a plan, the result is confusion and frustration, not because SharePoint is broken, but because it behaves differently than people expect.
Modern alternatives exist, including Power Automate notifications, SharePoint rules, activity views, and Teams-based notifications. The key is acknowledging this change early and helping users adapt, rather than letting it surface after migration as an adoption issue.
The SharePoint Features You Can’t Carry Forward
Workflows and alerts are not the only legacy components approaching the end of their usable life.
InfoPath Forms Services and SharePoint Designer 2013 are both deprecated. InfoPath is scheduled for removal from SharePoint Online after July 14, 2026, and SharePoint Designer is not supported beyond that same window. Classic business intelligence components and other legacy features also do not exist in modern SharePoint environments.
If your SharePoint environment includes InfoPath forms, Designer-based customizations, or older feature patterns, those elements do not have a future state without redesign. Migration in these cases is not a matter of copying content. It requires deliberate modernization decisions.
What Doesn’t Affect You Until You Migrate
It’s important to be clear about what these changes are and what they are not.
None of the feature retirements described in the above shut down your SharePoint Server 2016 or 2019 ahead of July 2026. Let’s be clear, Microsoft is not disabling core on-premises functionality early. Your servers will continue to run as supported today.
What these changes affect is your destination. Once content moves into Microsoft 365, legacy patterns no longer apply. Automation behaves differently. Notifications behave differently. Governance models shift.
Understanding that distinction early gives you more control over planning, sequencing and scope.
What This Means for Your SharePoint Roadmap
The strongest SharePoint roadmaps today are built around dependency awareness, not calendar pressure.
That means understanding where SharePoint 2013 workflows are still in use, identifying any SharePoint Add-Ins your organization depends on, inventorying InfoPath forms, and learning how alerts are actually used day to day. It also means recognizing that modernization and migration are often inseparable. Some work must be done before migration can realistically be called finished.
For many organizations, the real question is no longer when to migrate.
It is what needs to change before migration is truly done.
July 2026 Is the Final Deadline, Not the First One
Although July 14, 2026 remains the hard stop for SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019, what often goes unnoticed is that constraints appear earlier, depending on how your environment is built and which features it relies on. When you see those constraints early, you still have options. When you discover them late, timelines compress and decisions become reactive.
Seeing the full picture now gives you flexibility later and that is ultimately what good planning is about.
Understanding these earlier constraints is often the difference between a smooth SharePoint migration and a compressed, reactive one.
Cloudwell helps teams identify what won’t carry forward, what needs modernization first, and how to sequence work so timelines stay realistic. If you want a clearer picture of your SharePoint 2016 or 2019 environment before deadlines tighten, we’re happy to help.