Please update Microsoft 365 Office apps to a version higher than 16.0.18827.20202

Update Microsoft 365 Office apps to version higher than 16.0.18827.20202 by January 2026 (March 2026 for GCC/GCC High/DoD) to maintain Read Aloud, Transcription, and Dictation features, which will stop working on older versions after these dates. To ensure continued high-quality performance of the Read Aloud, Transcription, and Dictation features in Microsoft 365 Office apps, we’re upgrading the backend service that powers these capabilities. As a result, these features will no longer function on Office clients running versions earlier than 16.0.18827.20202 after January 2026.When this will happen General Availability (Worldwide): End of January 2026 General Availability (GCC, GCC High, DoD) End of March 2026 How this affects your organization If your organization is using Microsoft 365 Office apps with version numbers lower than 16.0.18827.20202, users will lose access to Read Aloud, Transcription, and Dictation features after the dates listed above.There is no change to the user experience for clients on supported versions. What you can do to prepare To avoid service disruption, ensure that all Office clients are updated to version 16.0.18827.20202 or later before the applicable deadline. You can learn more about these features using the following resources: Listen to your Word documents  Transcribe your recordings  Dictate your documents in Word  Compliance considerations No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization. Message ID: MC1127222

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