Windows Server 2022 end of life and end of support
Mainstream support for Windows Server 2022 ends on 13 October 2026. Security fixes continue until 14 October 2031, and that later date is the one that matters for most business applications.
Status on 3 October 2026
- Windows Server 2022
- Supported
- Security fixes
- Ends 14 October 2031
- Released
- 18 August 2021
- Mainstream support ends
- 13 October 202610 days from today
- Security fixes end
- 14 October 20311,837 days from today
Dates come from the Microsoft product lifecycle; check there before relying on them for a decision.
What ends, and what carries on
Windows Server 2022 has two dates that are easy to confuse.
Mainstream support ends on 13 October 2026. From that date Microsoft adds no new features, makes no design changes and stops fixing problems that are not security problems. Security fixes continue to arrive with the regular updates, at no extra cost.
End of support is 14 October 2031. This is the date people mean by end of life. From then there are no security fixes.
The five years between the two dates are called extended support. For a server whose job is to run a business application, very little changes when it begins. The application does not rely on new operating system features, and the security fixes that protect it keep coming.
What it means for the applications on the server
- Nothing has to be done on 13 October 2026. The application runs as before and the server is patched as before.
- .NET Framework applications are covered. Windows Server 2022 includes .NET Framework 4.8, which is supported for as long as the server is. That gives ASP.NET Web Forms and other .NET Framework applications a supported home until 14 October 2031.
- Modern .NET keeps its own calendar. An application built on .NET 8 or .NET 9 goes out of support on 10 November 2026 whatever server it runs on. A supported server does not make the runtime supported. See the .NET dates.
- Ordinary bugs stay unfixed. If the application meets an operating system fault that is not a security problem, a fix is unlikely once mainstream support has ended. For a settled application this rarely comes up.
Your options
Stay on it. For most servers this is the right answer. Extended support only helps if the updates are installed, so the thing to confirm is that somebody owns the monthly patching and checks the application afterwards.
Use it as the destination for an older server. If you are leaving Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2 or 2016, Windows Server 2022 is a sound version to move to, with security fixes until 14 October 2031.
Choose Windows Server 2025 for a new build. It stays in mainstream support until 13 November 2029 and receives security fixes until 14 November 2034. If a new server is being built anyway, the extra three years are worth having, provided everything the application needs is supported on it.
What we would check first
On a server already running Windows Server 2022, we would check that updates are being installed, then look for anything on it with an earlier date than the operating system: the SQL Server version, the .NET runtime and third-party components. Keeping those current is routine work, and it is part of what our software maintenance service covers.
For an application about to move onto Windows Server 2022, we would rehearse the move on a test server first. Our cloud migration page describes how.
Get a reminder
Windows Server 2022 stops receiving security fixes on 14 October 2031. Put the date where you will see it.
Add a reminder to your calendarNot sure where Windows Server 2022 is still running?
Most organisations find more copies than they expected. Two ways to find out, depending on how much you want to know.
Check which version you have
Standard, Datacenter and Essentials editions share the same dates. So do servers installed with and without the desktop.
How to check every productOn the server, run winver, or this PowerShell command. The build number identifies the release.
(Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem) | Select-Object Caption, BuildNumber| Build number | Product |
|---|---|
| 9200 | Windows Server 2012 |
| 9600 | Windows Server 2012 R2 |
| 14393 | Windows Server 2016 |
| 17763 | Windows Server 2019 |
| 20348 | Windows Server 2022 |
| 26100 | Windows Server 2025 |
When it is not yours to upgrade
A server is often kept on an old version of Windows because of one thing running on it: a packaged application its vendor only certifies on that version, a hardware controller with an old driver, or a licence dongle.
List what each server runs before planning its upgrade, and ask each vendor in writing which Windows Server versions their product supports. Where the answer is none of the current ones, the choice is between replacing that product and isolating the old server from the rest of the network.
Making the case for the work
An upgrade nobody outside IT can see is easy to defer. These are the reasons that tend to move it up the list.
- Cyber Essentials
- The scheme requires software in scope to be supported by its vendor. Anything past its end-of-support date has to be removed, or cut off from the internet, before you can certify or renew.
- Cyber insurance
- Proposal forms commonly ask whether you run unsupported software. Check what yours asked, and what you answered.
- Customer questionnaires
- Larger customers ask the same question of their suppliers. An honest "yes, and here is the plan" is a better answer than a late discovery.
- Personal data
- UK data protection law expects appropriate technical measures to protect personal data. Software that can no longer be patched is hard to square with that.
- The cost of waiting
- An upgrade done to a deadline, after something has failed, costs more than the same upgrade planned. Where Microsoft sells a paid security extension, its price has risen each year it runs.
- Official guidance
- The National Cyber Security Centre is blunt: "The only fully effective way to mitigate this risk is to stop using the obsolete product." See its guidance on obsolete products.
What we do and do not sell: we do not sell Microsoft licences or Extended Security Updates, so we have no stake in which version you choose. Our part is the application: finding what depends on the old version, testing it against the new one and fixing what breaks.
Supported versions to move to
How long each would keep you in support. All Windows Server versions
| Version | Released | Mainstream support ended | Security fixes end | Status today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Server 2025 | 1 November 2024 | 13 November 2029 | 14 November 2034 | Supported |
Questions we are asked
When does Windows Server 2022 reach end of life?
Extended support ends on 14 October 2031. Mainstream support ends earlier, on 13 October 2026, and from then the server receives security fixes only.
Will Windows Server 2022 stop working after October 2026?
No. Nothing changes in how the server runs. The end of mainstream support means no new features and no fixes for problems that are not security problems. Security fixes carry on until 14 October 2031.
Is there extended support for Windows Server 2022?
Yes. Extended support is the phase that follows mainstream support, and for Windows Server 2022 it runs from 13 October 2026 to 14 October 2031. It provides security fixes and is included, not paid for. No paid Extended Security Updates programme has been announced for the period after it.
What is the difference between the end of mainstream support and end of life?
During mainstream support Microsoft improves the product and fixes ordinary bugs as well as security problems. When mainstream support ends, only security fixes continue. End of life is the later date when the security fixes stop too.
Should a new server be Windows Server 2022 or Windows Server 2025?
Both are supported choices. Windows Server 2025 has the later end date, 14 November 2034 against 14 October 2031. Check that everything the application depends on is supported on the version you pick, and test the application on it before deciding.
Running a version that is out of support?
Tell us which version, what depends on it and how it is hosted. We will set out the upgrade route and what it is likely to involve.