Published: 8 August 2026. Source: Microsoft Tech Community: Microsoft Project Online is retiring - What you need to know
With fewer than 60 days remaining, the clock on Microsoft Project Online is almost up. The service reaches end of life on 30 September 2026, taking all Project Web App (PWA) site collections with it. For SharePoint admins, that means a specific set of site collections in the tenant will go dark on that date, whether they contain active project data or years of untouched documents.
Retirement timeline
| Date | What changes |
|---|---|
| October 2025 | End of sale for standalone Project Online SKUs. New customers can no longer purchase Project Online as a standalone product. |
| April 2026 | Creation of new Project Web App sites blocked. Tenants with no active projects lose access to Project Online from this date. |
| 30 September 2026 | Full retirement. Project Online service access ends. All PWA site collections and project data become inaccessible. |
Why this has direct SharePoint implications
Project Online is not a standalone cloud product sitting outside SharePoint. It runs on top of SharePoint Online and creates SharePoint site collections automatically: each project provisions a PWA site that stores schedules, resource plans, documents, and custom metadata. Those site collections live in the tenant and consume storage quota, just like any other SharePoint site.
When the service retires, those site collections do not enter a read-only state or move into Microsoft 365 Archive. Data access is cut off. Admins managing tenants that have used Project Online over the past few years may be unaware of how many PWA sites exist, particularly in organisations where project managers provisioned them without IT involvement.
Any SharePoint Add-Ins deployed within Project Online also follow the SharePoint Add-In retirement timeline. Custom web parts and scripting-dependent pages in PWA sites will stop functioning before or at the same time as the service itself.
Action checklist for SharePoint admins
-
Find all PWA site collections. In the SharePoint admin centre, filter site collections by the
/PWAURL segment or use the Sites report to identify site template types associated with Project Online. ShareMaster's Report Master can export a full site inventory with storage size and last-activity date, making it straightforward to flag abandoned PWA sites alongside active ones. - Export project data before 30 September. For active projects, use the Project Online OData reporting endpoints or export tools documented by Microsoft to extract schedule, resource, and task data. After the retirement date, you cannot retrieve project data.
- Migrate documents to permanent SharePoint libraries. Files stored in PWA document libraries should be relocated to appropriate SharePoint Online team sites before the cutoff. Use ShareMaster's Copy To / Move To to relocate document sets without re-uploading them manually.
- Choose a successor platform and begin migration. Microsoft recommends Planner Premium for cloud-managed work and Project Server Subscription Edition for on-premises or hybrid requirements. Both have migration guidance available on Microsoft Learn.
- Delete or archive empty PWA sites. Once content is migrated, delete unused PWA site collections to reclaim storage quota. Sites left active until the retirement date will become inaccessible rather than automatically cleaned up.
Successor options compared
| Option | Best fit | Key point |
|---|---|---|
| Planner Premium (formerly Project for the web) | Cloud-first teams already in Microsoft 365 | Included in some Microsoft 365 plans; no separate server infrastructure needed |
| Project Server Subscription Edition | Organisations needing on-premises or hybrid infrastructure | Requires Windows Server; full enterprise project management feature set |
| Microsoft Lists + Power Automate | Simple tracking scenarios that did not use advanced scheduling features | No dedicated project license required; limited compared to full project management tooling |
Sources: Microsoft Tech Community: Microsoft Project Online is retiring - What you need to know; Changes to Project Web App site creation effective April 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to Project Web App sites in SharePoint after Project Online retires?
PWA sites are SharePoint site collections provisioned automatically by Project Online. When the service retires on 30 September 2026, access to those sites and all content within them is cut off. Admins should identify, export, and clean up PWA site content before that date.
What replaces Microsoft Project Online in Microsoft 365?
Microsoft offers two successor paths: Planner Premium (cloud-only, formerly Project for the web) and Project Server Subscription Edition (on-premises or hybrid). The right choice depends on whether the organisation needs a cloud-managed or self-hosted platform and how complex the existing project structures are.
Can I still create new PWA sites in Project Online before September 2026?
No. New Project Web App site creation was blocked from April 2026, and Microsoft stopped selling standalone Project Online SKUs to new customers from October 2025. Only existing tenants with active projects could continue accessing the service past April 2026.