Project Online is retired: what to do with your .mpp schedules?
Since September 30, 2026, Project Online is no longer available. Your schedules, however, often still exist as .mpp files. Here is how to read them, sort them and decide what comes next.
In the browser, without Microsoft Project
When a tool shuts down, the first worry is the data. For many teams, the schedules still exist: exports made before the retirement, backup copies, versions sent by e-mail, files dropped on a shared drive. They are in .mpp format, Microsoft Project's format.
Read them without Microsoft Project
The first obstacle is simple: not everyone has Microsoft Project installed. Yet a browser is all you need to read a file. Our free tool redraws an .mpp file as a clear Gantt chart, with no account and nothing to install. It is useful to find a date, check a milestone or show a schedule to someone.
Sort before migrating
Not every schedule deserves a migration. Three questions help sort them:
- is the project finished? Keep the file as an archive; being able to read it is enough;
- is the project ongoing? It must be taken over in the next tool, with its actual dates;
- is the file used as a template? It is worth cleaning before being reused.
Choose the next step
Three paths are possible: stay on desktop Microsoft Project, move to Project Server installed on your premises or hosted, or start again with another application. The right choice depends on your teams, not only on the tool. We describe these three paths on our Project Server page.
Key points
- your .mpp files remain readable, even without Microsoft Project;
- sort archives, ongoing projects and templates before any migration;
- only migrate what is still in use.