Microsoft has begun shipping native arm64 builds of Microsoft 365 Apps for Windows. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook are the first apps to receive native arm64 binaries, replacing the previous x64 emulation layer on ARM-based Windows devices. Users on Copilot+ PCs and other arm64 hardware will see meaningful performance and battery improvements.
Native arm64 builds are rolling out via Current Channel starting this month.
Apps Receiving Native arm64 Builds
- Word, Excel, PowerPoint
- Outlook (New Outlook)
- Teams (separate update track)
No action needed for end users — the native builds will install automatically through the standard Microsoft 365 Apps update mechanism.
Our Take
This is the right call, but Microsoft is underselling how disruptive it'll be. Users have built years of muscle memory around that Chat / Teams split — expect a wave of support tickets the week it lands. Get ahead of it with a quick communication to your users before it shows up, not after.
