Office 2021 loses support in October. This tool keeps it safe anyway

Microsoft plans to end support for Office 2021 once and for all on October 13th, 2026. This means users of this version will no longer receive updates—both feature updatesandsecurity updates. Because of that, continued use of Office 2021 will be unsafe past that date. However, if you still wish to continue using Office 2021 after support ends, you can do so with 0patch. As the company explains inthis blog post, 0patch will provide Office 2021 withunofficialsecurity updates for up to three years (and possibly longer if there's sufficient demand). You may already be familiar with 0patch. Back when Microsoft ended support for Windows 10, the company stepped in andpromised updates for Windows 10 until 2030. Although the official end of extended Windows 10 support has beenpostponed once again, 0patch continues to provide its own updates for critical issues. 0patch operates with what are known as 'micropatches.' These micropatches don't require direct access to Office 2021's code, but instead integrate their own code fragments externally. Not only do these micropatches help to patch vulnerabilities and resolve issues, but they can also be removed in case of errors and bugs. 0patch is a promising way to continue using Office 2021, but it's not completely free. Although the company provides select updates free of charge to private users, it'll cost €24.95 per year per PC for the full range of security updates. For business customers, the price is €34.95. If you don't use 0patch, Microsoft's recommendation is to either switch to Microsoft 365 or Office 2024. Not sure which one is right for you? See our guide tochoosing Microsoft 365 or Office 2024. Note:0patch doesn't offer traditional support for the software being patched. That's still the responsibility of Microsoft, although they're unlikely to be of much help once official support ends. This article originally appeared on our sister publicationPC-WELTand was translated and localized from German.