Microsoft has announced a significant upcoming change for its popular spreadsheet software: the Organization data types feature in Excel is set to be retired. This decision, driven by economic and usage factors, will take effect in a couple of months, specifically on July 31, 2025. The company cites low usage and high ongoing sustaining costs as the primary reasons, making continued development and support unviable. The End of an Era: Organization Data Types Sunsetting Microsoft has formally communicated that the Organization data types feature within Excel for both Windows and Mac will be discontinued. The official retirement date is pegged for July 31, 2025. This move is attributed to a combination of "low usage and high ongoing sustaining costs," as stated by the company. Essentially, the resources required to maintain and further develop this feature outweigh the benefits derived from its current adoption rate. For users who have integrated this feature into their workflows, it's crucial to understand the implications post-retirement: The "Organization" option will be removed from the Data Types gallery on the Data tab in the Excel ribbon. Users will no longer be able to convert values into new Organization data types. Importantly, existing data in workbooks that utilized the Organization data type will be preserved. However, this data will no longer refresh with updated information. This change will not affect Bing data types, which Microsoft has confirmed will continue to be supported. IT administrators and M365 subscribers can find the official announcement in the M365 Admin Center portal under the message ID MC1072405. This provides a direct line to Microsoft's communication regarding this change. Why is Microsoft Retiring This Feature? The core reasons provided by Microsoft for retiring the Organization data types are twofold: low usage and high ongoing sustaining costs. From a business perspective, investing in a feature that isn't widely adopted and is expensive to maintain doesn't align with strategic resource allocation. Microsoft indicated that the company "can't find the reason and will to develop it anymore," which, while blunt, reflects a pragmatic approach to software development and lifecycle management. The "high ongoing sustaining costs" likely refer to the complex infrastructure, data partnerships, and engineering effort required to keep such a data type accurate, reliable, and up-to-date. When these costs are not offset by widespread adoption and user demand, companies often re-evaluate the feature's place in their product roadmap. This decision underscores a common challenge in the tech industry: balancing innovation with the practicalities of long-term support and financial viability. Impact on Users and Navigating the Transition The retirement of any feature can cause disruption, particularly for those who found it valuable. While Microsoft assures that existing data linked to Organization data types will remain in workbooks, the inability for this data to refresh is a significant limitation. This means that any previously linked organizational data will become static snapshots as of the retirement date, potentially losing its relevance over time if dynamic updates were critical. Interestingly, even before this formal announcement, some users had reported issues with the feature. Reports on platforms like the Microsoft Community forums and Fabric Community indicated that the Organization data types feature had "suddenly disappeared" for some, particularly in the Excel desktop application, though it sometimes remained accessible via Excel Online. These anecdotal experiences suggest that the phasing out or underlying issues might have been manifesting for some users ahead of the official communication. For those affected, the key will be to identify how reliant their current processes are on the dynamic refresh capabilities of Organization data types and to begin planning for alternatives. Microsoft's Recommended Alternative: Power BI To mitigate the impact on users who relied on Organization data types, Microsoft is recommending a shift towards its Power BI platform. Specifically, the company suggests using the import function within the Power BI app to access and work with similar organizational data. Microsoft directs users to its support articles for detailed guidance on how to leverage Power BI for this purpose. Power BI, a business analytics service, offers robust data connection, transformation, and visualization capabilities. While it represents a different tool and potentially a new learning curve for some Excel users, it is a powerful platform designed for handling diverse datasets, including organizational information. This recommendation signals Microsoft's strategic direction, encouraging users to utilize specialized tools within its ecosystem for more advanced data management and analysis tasks. Broader Implications and User Sentiment The decision to retire a feature, even one with reportedly low usage, often sparks discussion within the user community. Some users, as highlighted in general discussions about software changes , express frustration over investing time to learn and integrate features that are later discontinued. This sentiment points to a broader challenge: users seek stability and reliability in the tools they use daily, while software companies continuously evolve their offerings, sometimes leading to the deprecation of older or less popular functionalities. This retirement is a reminder of the dynamic nature of software. Features are constantly being evaluated based on user engagement, technological advancements, maintenance costs, and strategic alignment. While Microsoft's rationale is based on practical business considerations, users impacted by this change will need to adapt their workflows and explore the suggested alternatives or find other solutions to manage their organizational data effectively moving forward. The transition period until July 2025 provides a window for users to make these adjustments.
