San Francisco, Sep 20 (IANS): Microsoft has said that it will be shutting down the Exchange Web Services Application Programming Interface for Exchange Online and Office 365, in approximately three years.

Exchange Web Services (EWS) is a cross-platform Application Programming Interface (API) for developing apps that can access mailbox items such as email messages, meetings, and contacts.

Access to these resources can be obtained through several options, including Exchange Online as part of Office 365, and on-premises editions of Exchange (starting with Exchange Server 2007).

"Today, we are announcing that on October 1, 2026, we will start blocking EWS requests from non-Microsoft apps to Exchange Online," Microsoft said in a blogpost on Tuesday.

"While the EWS components of the service will continue to receive security updates and certain non-security updates, product design and features will remain unchanged. This change also applies to the EWS SDKs for Java and .NET, as well," it added.

The technology giant first announced in 2018 that Microsoft was no longer making feature updates to EWS in Exchange Online, and it advised developers to move to Microsoft Graph.

It's worth noting that the retirement of EWS applies only to Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online in all environments.

EWS within Exchange Server will remain unchanged, and the adjustments made in Exchange Online will not affect Outlook for Windows or Mac, Teams, or other Microsoft products, the company said.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has shut down its most applauded feature, "Web Select" -- from Edge browser. To improve end-user experience, the Web Select feature "is being deprecated and will no longer be an option under Web Capture or via keyboard shortcut," Microsoft said in a support document.