Retirement of the Sway Windows Desktop App on June 1, 2026

I’m guessing that there will be a number of readers that will have the most important question… What is Sway? For those who don’t know, it’s a Microsoft presentation tool that allows you to present and navigate content in unique ways. However, most people prefer the tried and true PowerPoint approach, and Sway has never really taken off. But for those who have drank the Sway Kool-Aid, they love it. This is a heads up that Microsoft is retiring the Windows desktop app version of Sway, and your only option for ongoing use is the browser version.

A bit of personal commentary… while Sway looks like a bright shiny tool, it never took off like Microsoft hoped. When asked about Sway, I’ve recommended NOT going down the Sway path, as I can see this being a discontinued tool at some point, causing you to have orphaned content with no migration options. While this announcement still keeps Sway going in the browser, I’m not sure how much longer that may continue. On the other hand, I could be completely wrong, too.

Here’s the announcement from Microsoft…

Introduction

To streamline and modernize the Sway experience, Microsoft is retiring the Sway Windows desktop application (Win32 client) effective June 1, 2026. This change aligns with our efforts to simplify app management and encourage use of the web-based version, which offers the same capabilities with improved accessibility and support. Users can access all current and future Sway features, as well as their content, through the browser interface at sway.cloud.microsoft.

When this will happen:

• Retirement date: June 1, 2026

How this affects your organization:

Who is affected:

• All users who currently use the Sway Windows desktop application (Win32 client).
• Admins responsible for managing Microsoft Office installations and user training materials.

What will happen:

• The Sway Windows desktop app will be retired and no longer available for use after June 1, 2026.
• Users will continue to have full access to Sway via the browser at sway.cloud.microsoft.
• No changes will be made to existing Sway content; all content remains accessible via the web interface.
• There is no impact to Sway features or functionality—only the desktop app is being retired.