Microsoft announced that the transcription, dictation, and read aloud features will stop working in older versions of Office 365 applications in late January 2026.
Read aloud lets users hear documents and emails read back, transcription converts speech into text in real-time, and the dictation feature allows for voice-to-text input across Office applications.
The company advised customers to update their Microsoft 365 Office apps to a version higher than 16.0.18827.20202 (released in early July) by the end of January 2026 to maintain access to these accessibility and productivity features.
This deadline provides most organizations with approximately one year to plan and implement the necessary software updates across their environments.
However, Redmond added that government cloud customers using GCC, GCC High, and DoD environments have two more months, until March 2026, to update their software.
“To ensure continued high-quality performance of the Read Aloud, Transcription, and Dictation features in Microsoft 365 Office apps, we’re upgrading the backend service that powers these capabilities,” the company said in a Friday message center message.
“As a result, these features will no longer function on Office clients running versions earlier than 16.0.18827.20202 after January 2026.”
The change stems from Microsoft’s decision to upgrade the backend service that powers these voice-enabled capabilities. Users running Office clients with version numbers below the specified threshold will lose access to the features after the deadline.
The company stated that Office clients running versions higher than 16.0.18827.20202 will not be affected by the infrastructure upgrade and will experience no changes to their current functionality.
In May, Redmond also announced plans to end support for Office apps on Windows 10 later this year and that it will continue providing security updates for three more years, until 2028.
One month earlier, in April, Microsoft reminded customers that Office 2016 and Office 2019 will reach the end of extended support two months from now, on October 14, 2025.
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