Microsoft pulls EWS and Copilot feature

Microsoft is making two separate changes that matter for enterprise administrators at the same time. The company is moving ahead with the retirement of Exchange Web Services, or EWS, in Exchange Online, and it has also rolled back a newly introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot control called Domain Exclusion after beginning rollout. Microsoft has not publicly tied the two moves together. Together, though, they show how quickly Microsoft can change or remove capabilities that sit underneath day-to-day workflows. ### What exactly is changing with Exchange Web Services? Microsoft said in its Exchange Online documentation that EWS will be disabled in Exchange Online in October 2026. The company first announced in 2018 that EWS would stop receiving new functionality updates, and in 2023 it set the disablement date for October 2026. A February 5, 2026 post from the Exchange Team said the shutdown will happen through a phased, admin-controllable plan that starts in October 2026 and ends with a complete shutdown in 2027. (learn.microsoft.com) Microsoft said the change applies to Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online environments, not to Exchange Server. Microsoft said the retirement was accelerated after the January 2024 Midnight Blizzard security incident involved EWS. (learn.microsoft.com) The company said it is removing EWS dependencies in its own products and pushing customers toward Microsoft Graph. ### When does the EWS cutoff begin, and what happens to tenants? October 1, 2026 is the key date in Microsoft's current plan. (techcommunity.microsoft.com) The Exchange Team said tenants with the EWSEnabled property still set to Null on or soon after that date will be changed to False as deployment rolls out, which blocks EWS for all applications in those tenants. Microsoft said administrators that still need EWS have two temporary options before final retirement: set EWSEnabled to True and maintain an AppID allow list, or set EWSEnabled back to Null to re-enable EWS without restrictions until the final shutdown. (learn.microsoft.com) The company also said tenants that configure an allow list and set EWSEnabled to True by the end of August 2026 will be excluded from the October 1 automatic change to False. (techcommunity.microsoft.com) ### What was the Copilot feature that disappeared? Neowin reported on August 5 that Microsoft rolled back Domain Exclusion, a Microsoft 365 Copilot feature announced a week earlier for IT administrators. The feature let admins exclude specified websites from Copilot's web grounding and was configured through PowerShell. Neowin said the feature supported up to 1,000 excluded domains. (techcommunity.microsoft.com) After rollout began, Microsoft reversed the release, stopped wider deployment and removed the capability from administrators who had already received it, according to the report. Microsoft did not explain the withdrawal in the report. Neowin said the company told customers it was "actively evaluating next steps" and would share more later. (neowin.net) ### Why do these two Microsoft moves belong in the same conversation? Microsoft's own Copilot administration documentation says the Microsoft 365 admin center changes frequently and may not match what an organization sees in its tenant. (neowin.net) The same documentation says available controls depend on licensing and tenant configuration. Microsoft's EWS guidance makes a similar point in a different way: organizations should identify active EWS applications now, use EWS usage reports and analyzer tools, and start migration work before the disablement window arrives. (neowin.net) That is Microsoft's published instruction for customers still relying on the older API. ### What should administrators look for first? (learn.microsoft.com) Microsoft said many application scenarios already have direct mappings between EWS operations and Microsoft Graph APIs. The company also said some parity gaps remain, including areas such as public folders, mailbox import and export in certain cases, and some administration APIs that are still in preview. (learn.microsoft.com) The practical first step is inventory. Microsoft said customers should identify which applications still use EWS, determine whether those workloads have Graph replacements, and decide whether temporary allow-listing is needed before the October 2026 disablement begins. For Copilot, administrators will need to watch Microsoft 365 admin center updates for any replacement or revised version of Domain Exclusion. (learn.microsoft.com) Microsoft's next fixed milestone is October 1, 2026, when Exchange Online disablement changes begin rolling out tenant by tenant. For Copilot, the next public step is less defined: Neowin reported only that Microsoft said it is evaluating next steps for Domain Exclusion. (techcommunity.microsoft.com) (learn.microsoft.com)