How to extend retiring SharePoint 2010 Workflows and continue with Office 365

Microsoft recently announced that they would be retiring the SharePoint 2010 workflows from November 01, 2020. That's the end of life.

Though they say "migrate your legacy workflows by then", there is no direct migration available, you will have to redesign workflows using Power Automate (formerly Microsoft FLOW).

How to migrate classic SharePoint Designer 2010 workflows to Power Automate FLOW?

An extract stating how this will affect your organization.

"If your organization still uses SharePoint 2010 workflows, they will no longer function after November 1st, 2020. SharePoint 2013 workflows will remain supported, although turned off by default for new tenants starting November 1st, 2020. We recommend customers to move to Power Automate or other supported solutions."

Procedure to request extension from Microsoft

This year has not been so good due to the Covid-19 situation and most organizations have cost optimizations and budget restrictions to look after. If you feel you are not ready yet, hurry as you don't have much time!

1. Install SharePoint Modernization Scanner tool to scan and generate a report of how many active 2010 Workflows are running in your environment
2. Analyse the report to get count of legacy workflows and possibility of direct migration
3. Open a case with Microsoft support team requesting an extension by providing a justification on why the extension is required (like you need more time to migrate the workflows), attach the scanner report with the ticket
4. Microsoft product team will analyze and may consider an extension for your tenant based on the number of legacy 2010 workflows

All said it's recommended you start planning a redesign of SharePoint 2010 workflows (and 2013 too) using Power Automate which is very powerful and Microsoft's best solution for workflows.

What will be impacted ?

1. Post August 01, 2020, SharePoint 2010 workflows will be turned off for new Microsoft Office 365 tenants.
2. Post-November 01, 2020, SharePoint 2010 workflow service will be removed for existing tenants. New and existing SharePoint 2010 workflows will not run.
3. Out Of the Box Approval workflow.
4. Out Of the Box Collect feedback workflow.
5. Out Of the Box Collect signatures workflow.
6. Classic pages publishing approval workflow.
7. Three state workflow.
8. Custom SharePoint Designer-based 2010 workflow.
9. SharePoint Designer 2010 will not work, already deprecated.

What will not be impacted ?

1. SharePoint 2013 workflows. They will be turned off by default for new tenants but can be enabled using PowerShell script.
2. SharePoint on-premise 2016 and 2019 versions will have support till the year 2026.
3. SharePoint Designer 2013 for on-premise and Online versions till 2026.

SharePoint User Voice

If you are not ready yet and want Microsoft to hear your plea, vote and give feedback here.

MC222628 - New reminder banner in workflow pages

Microsoft will add a new banner that will be displayed on multiple workflow pages to remind users about the upcoming retirement. The banner will read like the below, the date will vary for individual Tenants.

Starting November 1, 2020, at 6:00:00 AM, SharePoint 2010 workflows will be retired and users 
will no longer have the ability to run or create 2010 Workflows. The date displayed in 
the banner applies to your specific organization. For general dates and information about 
retirement, visit https://aka.ms/sp-workflows-support

Useful links

1. General dates and information about retirement
2. SharePoint Modernization Scanner tool to scan your tenants for legacy workflow usage
3. Guidance for migrating from classic workflows to Power Automate flows
4. Power Automate resources as a solution to legacy workflows
5. Support article with additional resources

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