End of Life

Windows Server 2022 end of life: dates and what to upgrade to

Windows Server 2022 extended support ends October 14, 2031. See every date, how to check one server and what to upgrade to.

TL;DR

End date: extended support for Windows Server 2022 ends on October 14, 2031, according to both endoflife.date and Microsoft's lifecycle page.
Already ended: mainstream support ended on October 13, 2026, so the product is now in its extended phase.
After the end date: no more security updates for newly found vulnerabilities, and more friction with auditors and application vendors.
Upgrade to: Windows Server 2025, which is supported until November 14, 2034.
Do now: list every Windows Server 2022 machine and start planning the move, even though the deadline is years away.

What reaches end of life and when

Windows Server 2022 was released on August 18, 2021. Microsoft's lifecycle page says it follows the Fixed Lifecycle Policy, which gives each release a mainstream phase followed by an extended phase, each with a fixed end date. The page lists the editions Datacenter, Datacenter: Azure Edition, Essentials and Standard, and adds that its container images share these dates.

Mainstream support ended on October 13, 2026. This is the phase in which a release receives new features and design changes as well as fixes. It is over, which is the reason this guide is being read now.
Extended support ends on October 14, 2031. In this phase the release receives security fixes but no new features. This is the date that matters, because it is the day the product stops being supported.

The two sources agree on every date above. Microsoft shows its dates in Pacific Time, so a server in another time zone may cross the line a few hours earlier or later.

What end of life means

Nothing breaks on the day mainstream support ends: security updates keep arriving until the extended phase is over. When extended support ends, the operating system stops receiving security updates for vulnerabilities found afterwards. An unsupported server becomes a stable target, because each new flaw in the operating system or its components stays open for good.

Security: new vulnerabilities are not fixed, so the only protection left is isolation and monitoring.
Compliance and audits: an unsupported operating system is a common audit finding, and it can block a certification or a cyber insurance renewal.
Application vendors: software vendors drop support for operating systems that Microsoft no longer supports, so a database or line-of-business product may refuse to run, or refuse to give you help, on an unsupported server.

What to upgrade to

The release to move to is Windows Server 2025. It was released on November 1, 2024, its mainstream support runs until November 13, 2029 and its extended support until November 14, 2034, which gives it the longest runway of any supported Windows Server.

The move does not have to happen this year. Because Windows Server 2022 stays supported until October 14, 2031, you can schedule it with the application owners, but the work is easier when it starts early. Follow these steps:

Inventory every Windows Server 2022 machine, including virtual machines, test systems and servers that host only one forgotten application. Record the roles and applications on each one.
Check that each application and driver supports Windows Server 2025, and decide between an in-place upgrade and, better, a clean installation on a new server with the data migrated.
Build and test the new server, move the workload during a maintenance window, and keep the old machine offline but intact until the new one has proved itself.
Retire the Windows Server 2022 machine, remove it from your inventory, and confirm that no end-of-life finding remains for it.

How to check one server by hand

On the server, open a PowerShell window and read the operating system name and version:

Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object WindowsProductName, OsVersion
(Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem).Caption
systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"
winver

The first three commands print the product name and version in the console, and winver opens a small window with the same information. A server that reports Windows Server 2022 in its name is in scope for this deadline. To check the whole estate, run the same command remotely or through your management tool, and do not forget machines in cloud accounts and lab networks.

How Stackurity flags it

Stackurity keeps one live inventory of your servers, deployed applications, repositories and container images. Its agent also inventories Windows hosts and raises end-of-life findings for the Windows Server or Windows release they run. End-of-life data is synced and matched against that inventory every day, and each finding goes onto a short list of upgrades, most urgent first.

To be plain about what Windows coverage means: the operating system is checked for end of life and for missing monthly cumulative updates, and installed programs outside a curated catalogue are listed as coverage gaps. Windows servers get end-of-life findings and cumulative update checks, not full vulnerability matching of everything installed. The compatibility guide lists what each platform supports. The core is open source, and Stackurity Cloud has a 14-day free trial without a card: start a free trial.

For the same approach on an older release, see our guide to the previous Windows Server release.

FAQ

When does Windows Server 2022 reach end of life?

Extended support for Windows Server 2022 ends on October 14, 2031. Mainstream support ended on October 13, 2026, so the product is in its extended phase today.

Is Windows Server 2022 still getting security updates?

Yes, until the extended support end date of October 14, 2031. After that date Microsoft's lifecycle page lists no further support, so new vulnerabilities will not be fixed.

What should I upgrade Windows Server 2022 to?

Windows Server 2025 has the longest support, with mainstream support until November 13, 2029 and extended support until November 14, 2034.

What is the Windows Server 2022 mainstream support end date?

Mainstream support for Windows Server 2022 ended on October 13, 2026. The release is now in extended support, which receives security fixes but no new features.

Does Stackurity check Windows Server 2022 for end of life?

Yes. Stackurity's agent inventories Windows hosts and raises an end-of-life finding for the Windows Server release they run. End-of-life data is matched against your inventory every day. Windows servers are checked for end of life and missing cumulative updates, not for program vulnerabilities.