Microsoft announced its plans to retire the OneDrive sync client on older versions of macOS back in August, and now the app is getting a similar treatment on older versions of Windows. Beginning in January next year, the OneDrive sync app will reach end of support on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, and it will stop syncing personal files to the cloud on March 1st, 2022.
“In order to focus resources on new technologies and operating systems, and to provide users with the most up-to-date and secure experience, beginning January 1, 2022, updates will no longer be provided for the OneDrive desktop application on your personal Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 devices,” the OneDrive team explained in a blog post.
It is important to note that this change is only applicable to consumer accounts, and it won’t impact business users immediately. “If you sign in to OneDrive with a work or school account, starting January 1, 2022, support for this application will be aligned with the Windows support lifecycle,” the OneDrive team said yesterday. As a reminder, Windows 7 and 8.1 are in extended support until January 10, 2023.
If you’re still running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, Microsoft is recommending that you should upgrade your machine to Windows 10 or Windows 11 to keep using the OneDrive sync client. However, users with unsupported PCs that do not meet the minimum system requirements can still back up their personal files by manually uploading them to the OneDrive web app.
