Export Microsoft Whiteboard boards before deletion on 16 October 2026
Microsoft's support page states that on 16 October 2026 the remaining Azure-based whiteboards are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. Until that day those boards can still be viewed and exported. This page gives the short answer for free: who is affected, the dates, and the export steps Microsoft documents.
The short answer
- What is deleted: whiteboards still stored in Azure, the older storage. Microsoft's wording: "October 16, 2026: Remaining Azure-based Whiteboards are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered."
- What also happens that day: the standalone Microsoft Whiteboard apps for Windows, iOS and Android retire, for work or school accounts and for personal Microsoft accounts. After that date an installed app shows a retirement screen instead of the board gallery.
- What is not happening: this is not a shutdown of Microsoft Whiteboard as a whole. Microsoft states that for work or school accounts Whiteboard is not retiring, that those users can keep using it in Microsoft Teams and on the web, and that retiring the apps does not remove OneDrive-backed whiteboards.
- What to do: open every board you want to keep and export it before 16 October 2026. The migration tool is gone, so export is the route that is left for a board still in Azure.
Who is affected
Microsoft keeps whiteboard content in two places, OneDrive and Azure. OneDrive is the default for all new whiteboards. The boards at risk are the ones in Azure. According to Microsoft's data management article, these are:
- whiteboards that were originally created in Azure, and
- whiteboards that were started on a Surface Hub or a Microsoft Teams Rooms device.
For commercial customers, Microsoft says new Whiteboard files have been stored in OneDrive since 2022, so boards created since then are generally not in Azure. Older boards and meeting-room boards are the ones to check first.
OneDrive-backed boards are ordinary .whiteboard files in the creator's OneDrive and are not part of the deletion.
Tenant admins: Microsoft says administrators can check whether their tenant has Azure whiteboards with Get-WhiteboardsForTenant in the WhiteboardAdmin PowerShell module. Microsoft did not run a tenant-wide migration; migration was started by each board's owner, which matters for boards owned by people who have left.
Personal Microsoft accounts: Microsoft's retirement page confirms that the standalone apps retire for personal accounts on 16 October 2026. The Microsoft pages read for this guide do not say what happens to the boards of personal accounts, or whether those accounts keep web access. That is not confirmed, so the cautious step is to export anything you want to keep before 16 October 2026.
The dates Microsoft gives
| Date | What Microsoft states |
|---|---|
| 25 September 2026 | Migration from Azure to OneDrive ended. The migration tool is no longer available. Boards still in Azure became read-only and can no longer be migrated. |
| Until 16 October 2026 | Users can still view and export the remaining Azure-based boards. |
| 16 October 2026 | Remaining Azure-based whiteboards are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. The standalone apps for Windows, iOS and Android retire. |
| 30 November 2026 | The Azure Whiteboard service shuts down. |
How to export a board: the basic steps
These are the steps on Microsoft's support pages for exporting one board as an image.
- Open the whiteboard you want to keep.
- Select the Settings icon in the upper-right corner.
- Select Export image.
- Choose standard or high image resolution.
- Find the exported image in your Downloads folder, then move it somewhere safe.
Repeat for each board. Do it before 16 October 2026.
Two limits to know. First, the result is an image: it is our inference, not a Microsoft statement, that sticky notes, ink and shapes in it can no longer be edited. Second, Microsoft also lists a bulk export cmdlet, Export-WhiteboardHtml, but its documentation describes reading whiteboard files in OneDrive. Whether it reaches a board still stored in Azure is not confirmed, so treat Export image as the documented route for an Azure board.
What the paid pack adds
The steps above are enough to save one board. The Microsoft Whiteboard rescue pack is for people with many boards, a team or a tenant to cover, and a decision to make about where to work next. It is 3 files, the same for every buyer; nothing is customized or written per order.
- whiteboard-rescue-runbook.html: the runbook, as one self-contained HTML file. Open it in any browser; it loads nothing from the internet and contains no scripts. It can be printed from the browser; the file carries a print stylesheet set to A4. Eight sections: who is affected and by when; a 15-minute triage to list your boards, flag the ones at risk and decide keep or drop; the export routes Microsoft documents (Export image, one board at a time, and the Export-WhiteboardHtml cmdlet), with what is and is not confirmed about each; a section for tenant admins that names only the cmdlets Microsoft lists; a printable checklist; notes on re-importing into Miro, FigJam, Mural and Lucidspark, or staying in Microsoft 365; a list of what the guide could not confirm; every source address, clickable.
- alternatives-matrix.csv: 5 rows, one per option (Miro, FigJam, Mural, Lucidspark, and staying in Microsoft 365), and 7 columns: option, import formats accepted, what survives from a Whiteboard export, free tier limits, price per editor, source URL, date checked. Opens in any spreadsheet program.
- alternatives-matrix.md: the same 5 rows and 7 columns as a Markdown table, readable in any text editor.
File formats: HTML, CSV and Markdown, and nothing else. The download holds exactly these three files.
What the pack does not do
- It does not export anything for you and contains no software. You follow the steps yourself in Microsoft Whiteboard.
- It does not recover a board that has already been deleted.
- None of the four vendors documents a direct importer for Microsoft Whiteboard on the pages read. The route described is uploading the exported image, which arrives as one flat picture.
- It does not reproduce PowerShell command syntax. It names the cmdlets Microsoft lists and points to Microsoft's reference page.
- What happens to the boards of personal Microsoft accounts is not confirmed on the Microsoft pages read. The guide says so and advises exporting before 16 October 2026.
- Not every cell is filled with a vendor figure. Where a vendor page gave no answer or refused an automated read (for example, the list of file types Mural accepts), the matrix and the runbook both say "Not verified as of 2026-10-04, check the vendor page". The runbook and the matrix state the same facts from the same vendor pages.
Price: $12 (USD), one-time payment, no subscription.
Get the rescue pack on Gumroad for $12
The three files are digital downloads delivered by Gumroad right after payment; nothing is shipped. Gumroad shows the total, with any applicable taxes, before you confirm. Refunds follow the refund policy shown on the Gumroad page.
About this page
- Information as of 2026-10-04, verify with Microsoft: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/whiteboard/migration-of-whiteboards-from-azure-to-onedrive
- Independent guide, not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft or any vendor named. Product names are used only to describe the products.
- AI-generated from the public sources cited. The source pages were retrieved with an automated fetch tool on 2026-10-04 and the guide was generated from the statements recorded from them. It was not written by an IT professional.
- Unsponsored: no affiliate or referral links. This page, the guide and the matrix give every address as the plain public address.
- Informational only. It is not legal, compliance or data-retention advice. Dates, prices and limits can change.
Microsoft sources used on this page
The addresses are given as plain text. Copy one into your browser to read the original.
- Migration of whiteboards from Azure to OneDrive (dates, export step, admin cmdlets): https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/whiteboard/migration-of-whiteboards-from-azure-to-onedrive
- Retirement of the standalone Microsoft Whiteboard apps: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/whiteboard/retirement-standalone-microsoft-whiteboard-apps
- Export a whiteboard (resolution, Downloads folder): https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/whiteboard/export-a-whiteboard
- Manage data for Microsoft Whiteboard (OneDrive and Azure storage): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/whiteboard/manage-data-organizations?view=o365-worldwide
- Export-WhiteboardHtml reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/whiteboardadmin/export-whiteboardhtml?view=whiteboard-ps
Many boards and little time?
The runbook with its printable checklist (one HTML file) and the alternatives matrix (CSV and Markdown) are in the pack: 3 files, $12, one-time payment.