What's Being Retired
Microsoft is discontinuing three taskbar-integrated companion apps — Calendar, People, and Files — that shipped as part of Microsoft 365 on Windows 11. The apps provided quick, contextual access to scheduling, contacts, and files directly from the taskbar, along with Copilot-assisted functionality layered on top.
Retirement date: December 16, 2026. After that date, Microsoft says the apps "will no longer function or be supported."
Timeline
Microsoft began automatically installing these companion apps on Windows 11 enterprise devices in late 2025, following an October 2025 announcement. As of this retirement announcement (September 21, 2026), Microsoft has stopped installing the apps through Microsoft 365 Apps updates — meaning the population running them will only shrink from here, ahead of the hard cutoff in December.
What Admins Should Do
- Remove the apps from managed devices before the December 16 deadline
- Opt out of automatic installation going forward via Device Configuration settings in the Apps Admin Center (relevant for any devices that haven't yet been touched by the retirement rollout)
What Individual Users Should Do
- On unmanaged devices, manually uninstall Calendar, People, and Files
- To stop the apps auto-launching in the meantime, open each app's Settings and disable "Start app minimized when you log in"
Why This Matters
Microsoft hasn't pointed to a specific replacement for the functionality these apps provided — organizations that leaned on the taskbar-integrated Copilot shortcuts for scheduling and file access will fall back to the native Windows 11 taskbar or the full Microsoft 365 web and desktop apps directly. The practical work here is mostly on IT admins: any organization that had these apps auto-deployed since late 2025 needs to plan a managed removal rather than waiting for the December cutoff to break things unannounced on end-user machines.