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Metadata at Nov 25, 2025

Published

Nov 25, 2025

Service

Microsoft 365 apps

Tag

Major change
Admin impact
Retirement

Act by

Mar 30, 2026

MC1189663 - Retirement of external access token for actionable messages – moving to Microsoft Entra authentication

Message Center

What changed since this version

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Updated March 24, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

Introduction

We’re retiring the use of external access tokens for actionable messages and transitioning to Microsoft Entra-based authentication. This update enhances security and aligns with modern identity standards, providing a more robust and compliant experience for actionable messages.

When this will happen

This change takes effect on March 31,May 15, 2026. After this date, external access tokens will no longer be supported.

How this affects your organization

Who is affected:

Organizations using actionable messages that currently rely on external access tokens.

What will happen:

  • Actionable messages that depend on external access tokens will fail after March 31,May 15, 2026.
  • All integrations and workflows using actionable messages must adopt Microsoft Entra authentication.
  • This change improves security posture by leveraging Entra’s identity and access management capabilities.
What you can do to prepare
  • Review all actionable message implementations in your organization.
  • Update integrations to use Microsoft Entra authentication before March 31,May 15, 2026.

Learn more:

Compliance considerations

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.

Snapshot from Nov 25, 2025

Introduction

We’re retiring the use of external access tokens for actionable messages and transitioning to Microsoft Entra-based authentication. This update enhances security and aligns with modern identity standards, providing a more robust and compliant experience for actionable messages.

When this will happen

This change takes effect on March 31, 2026. After this date, external access tokens will no longer be supported.

How this affects your organization

Who is affected:

Organizations using actionable messages that currently rely on external access tokens.

What will happen:

  • Actionable messages that depend on external access tokens will fail after March 31, 2026.
  • All integrations and workflows using actionable messages must adopt Microsoft Entra authentication.
  • This change improves security posture by leveraging Entra’s identity and access management capabilities.
What you can do to prepare
  • Review all actionable message implementations in your organization.
  • Update integrations to use Microsoft Entra authentication before March 31, 2026.

Learn more:

Compliance considerations

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.