Microsoft 365 companion apps are shutting down in December

Microsoft is shutting down its Microsoft 365 companion apps for good. The Calendar, People, and Files apps will stop working on December 16, and the company wants them gone from work computers before that.

The apps arrived on the Windows 11 taskbar last year and were installed automatically alongside the Microsoft 365 suite. Now the software maker wants IT teams to remove them before the shutdown hits.

The Microsoft 365 companion apps handled everyday tasks

The three apps were designed to save clicks. Calendar showed upcoming meetings, while People helped locate colleagues and view reporting lines inside a company. Files pulled up recent documents from OneDrive and Microsoft 365 without opening the app.

Copilot powered the apps behind the scenes and even offered contextual AI help along with basic lookup tools.

The rollout started back in October 2025, when Microsoft started auto-installing the trio on Windows 11 machines running the full Microsoft 365 desktop…