Microsoft 365 Discontinues POP Support: Key Dates and Impact

According to Microsoft, it no longer supports POP3 and IMAP protocols for Microsoft 365 accounts created after October 1, 2022, on the following services and versions:

Affected Accounts

1. Newly Created Microsoft 365 Accounts: POP and IMAP are disabled by default for accounts created after this date.
2. Legacy Protocols: Microsoft is phasing out support for older email protocols like POP, IMAP, and Basic Authentication in favor of more secure and modern methods, including OAuth2.

Versions Impacted

This change applies to all Microsoft 365 subscriptions, including:

• Microsoft 365 Business Standard
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium
• Office 365 Enterprise Plans (E1, E3, E5)
• Microsoft 365 Family and Personal Plans

Any account that was created prior to October 1, 2022, might still allow the use of POP/IMAP but for enabling such features, one must be configured by the admin. These may be discontinued any time in future.

What's Up with Change?

Microsoft is set to grow more priority for modern secure protocols such as Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) and OAuth2.0, thus continuing the enhancement of email security and reducing vulnerabilities associated with older protocols like POP and IMAP. These protocols either do not support MFA as well as modern authentication methods.

Alternative Solutions

1. Use Modern Email Clients: Clients like Outlook, which natively support Exchange and modern authentication.
2. Enable OAuth2: If using IMAP, ensure the client supports OAuth2 authentication.

Migrate to Modern APIs: For custom applications, use Microsoft Graph API instead of legacy email protocols.