Microsoft is killing its ‘Companion’ taskbar mini-apps in December
Microsoft is retiring its People, Files, and Calendar companion mini-apps on December 16, 2026, without providing a specific reason for the discontinuation. Users are advised to transition to established alternatives such as Outlook, Teams, and Copilot to maintain similar functionality. The removal will not result in data loss or impact other existing Microsoft 365 features.
- ▪The People, Files, and Calendar companion apps will be retired on December 16, 2026.
- ▪Microsoft recommends using Outlook, Teams, and Copilot as replacements for the discontinued mini-apps.
- ▪Users will not lose any data during the transition, and other Microsoft 365 features remain unaffected.
- ▪Individual users must manually remove the apps via Windows Settings, while organization administrators may handle the removal automatically.
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| Original publisher | PCWorld |
| Canonical URL | https://www.pcworld.com/article/3243331/microsoft-is-killing-its-companion-taskbar-mini-apps-in-december.html |
| Publication time | Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:42:14 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-24T13:45:27.720Z |
| Last seen | 2026-09-24T13:45:27.720Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | 2-SaQoahMuK8 · 1 stories |
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| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
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| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
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Microsoft's People, Files, and Calendar companion apps are being retired. Recommended replacements include Outlook, Teams, and Copilot. Credit: Microsoft Summary created by Smart Answers AIIn summary:PCWorld reports that Microsoft is retiring its Companion taskbar mini-apps, specifically the People, Files, and Calendar apps, on December 16th, 2026.Users who rely on these tools can switch to alternatives like Outlook, Teams, or Copilot for similar functionality.No data will be lost during the transition, and existing Microsoft 365 features remain unaffected by the change.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at PCWorld.
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