On 13 October 2026 Microsoft stopped supporting Office 2021, and Access 2021 went with it. There is no extension.
If your business runs on an Access database, somebody may already have offered to rebuild it. Before you take that call, separate the two decisions the date has bundled together. The first is about the software on your PCs, and it needs making this month. The second is about the database itself, and it can wait for a better reason than a support date. For most firms only the first one matters right now.
What stopped on 13 October
In Microsoft’s words, it “will no longer provide technical support, bug fixes, or security fixes” for Office 2021. The software keeps running. Nothing switches off, and your database opens as it did before.
Office LTSC 2021, the volume-licensed edition, ended on the same day. Office 2016 and Office 2019 had already reached the end of their support in October 2025. So any Access database running on a standalone version of Office older than Office 2024 is now on unsupported software.
Why “it still works” is not the whole answer
What stopped is the security fixes. Office opens files that arrive from outside the business every day, so with no more fixes coming it is a risk on every PC it is installed on, not only the one with the database.
There is a paperwork consequence too. Cyber Essentials, the government-backed certification that many public sector and larger customers ask their suppliers to hold, requires software on in-scope devices to be licensed and supported. Once it stops being supported, it has to be removed or cut off from the internet. If you hold the certificate, or need to, Office 2021 now counts against you. We have written separately about how often UK businesses are breached.
Decision one: the licence
The database does not have to change to fix this. The software underneath it does.
Access is still included in the Microsoft 365 business plans that come with desktop apps, on Windows PCs. If you would rather buy once, Access 2024 is supported until October 2029. Either way, the database file moves across as it is. It is the same route Microsoft recommends to everyone on Office 2021: a subscription or a newer version.
Test one thing before you switch everyone over. Microsoft 365 installs the 64-bit edition of Office by default, and older databases whose code calls Windows functions directly can fail on it until that code is updated. A compiled .mde or .accde file made in 32-bit Office will not run in 64-bit Office at all, so keep the original database it was made from. The code change is often small. It is a bad thing to discover on the morning every PC was upgraded.
Decision two: the database
Whether to keep the database is a separate question, and 13 October is not a good reason to answer it either way. The good reasons are the ones that were true before the date.
One person understands it. If the person who built it has left, or is the only one who can change a report, that is a risk whatever version of Office it runs on.
It struggles with several users. Access works best with a few people using it at once on the office network. Microsoft itself advises against running a shared Access database over a wide area network, which includes a VPN from home, because it can be slow and the database may become corrupt.
It needs to reach people outside the office. Customers and staff out on site need it on a phone or in a browser, and Access runs only on Windows PCs.
It has become the place the business’s data lives. Once everything else depends on the records it holds, the case for proper permissions and tested backups gets much stronger.
If none of those apply, keep it. A working Access database on supported software is not a problem, and we would not suggest replacing one that is doing its job.
If you do move it
Microsoft’s suggested route is to move the tables into Dataverse, its cloud database, and Access has a built-in tool to export them. Your existing Access forms and reports can keep working, linked to the moved tables, and a Power Apps front end for phones and the web can be built later over the same data. A few field types, such as OLE objects and rich text, do not carry across. It suits a business already committed to Microsoft 365.
The alternative is a small custom web app. That makes more sense when the database does something particular to your business, or needs to reach people outside it.
Whichever route you choose, the first step is the same. Write down what the database does before deciding what replaces it: every table, form, query, macro and report, in plain English, including the ones nobody remembers adding. A common way for a rebuild to go wrong is to lose something the old system did quietly, because nobody knew it was doing it. AI helps with this step. It can read the queries and macros and describe what each one does, and a person then checks the description.
Then run old and new side by side on the same inputs until the outputs match. Switch over only then.
What to do this month
Find out what each PC runs. In any Office app, open File, then Account. The product name and version are listed there.
Choose the licence route for every PC still on Office 2021 or earlier, whether that is Microsoft 365 or Office 2024.
Copy the database file somewhere safe before anything is upgraded.
Test the database on one upgraded PC before rolling the change out to everyone.
Put the second decision in the diary for a quieter month, and make it on its own merits.
Frequently asked questions
Will Access 2021 stop working?
No. It keeps running after 13 October 2026. What stopped is Microsoft’s security fixes, bug fixes and technical support, so any new weakness found in it will not be patched.
Is Microsoft discontinuing Access?
Microsoft has not announced an end for Access. In July 2026 its outgoing Access programme manager wrote that the answer to “Is Access going away?” “remains the same as it has always been: No.” It is still included in the Microsoft 365 business plans with desktop apps, on Windows, and Access 2024 is supported until October 2029.
Do I need to rebuild my Access database?
Not because of the end of support. Moving to a supported version of Office fixes the support problem, and the database file comes across as it is. A rebuild is worth considering if only one person understands the database, it struggles with several users, or it needs to reach people outside the office.
What can replace a Microsoft Access database?
Microsoft’s suggested route is to move the tables into Dataverse, which Access can do with a built-in tool, while keeping your Access forms as the front end. A small custom web app is the other common option. Either way, document what the existing database does first, and run old and new side by side until the results match.
Flux Dynamics is a fractional CTO who builds. When the database is doing its job, we will tell you to upgrade the licence and leave it alone. Tell us what yours does and we will give you an honest read.