On the 11^th of April SharePoint 2013 reaches the end of support. If you haven’t already moved to the cloud or upgraded to a newer on-premises version, time is running short. Here are a few things you should know.

Upgrade options

Migrating to SharePoint Online is the choice many people make, but it does take time and effort. The SharePoint Migration Tool (and tools from ShareGate, Metalogix and AvePoint) can copy sites and content from SharePoint 2013 into SharePoint Online, but it isn’t always perfect and some items are unsupported.

There is no in-place upgrade option if you need to move to a newer (supported) version of Windows Server and SQL Server. Microsoft supports Content Database migrations using the Detach/Attach method between SP2013 and SP2016 only. This involves building a new SharePoint Farm and upgrading the service application and content databases. If you have large content databases, this process can be lengthy (many hours or even days on a big farm).

You cannot do a direct hop from SP2019 (or Subscription Edition). How to upgrade from SP2013 to SP2016.

Challenges

Sites running in SharePoint 2010 mode (we still see a few of these) are not supported in SharePoint Online or later on-premises versions. You will need to create modern versions of pages and migrate over content.

SharePoint Designer 2010 Workflows are not supported. These will need to be recreated in a more modern workflow engine. If you are going to spend the effort, choose Power Automate over SharePoint Designer 2013 workflows.

Some webparts are no-longer supported and there may not be a modern equivalent e.g. Data View webparts.

Custom page layouts and master pages can also be a challenge. This is a good time to simplify branding.

Migrated content with static URL’s may also be a problem. Navigation, links between pages and documents with links are all potential issues. You may also have external systems linked to content.

If you have left it to the last minute and are worried, then remember that SharePoint 2013 won’t stop working, it just isn’t supported. The best you can do is download the last CU to ensure your farm is right up to date before the 11^th of April 2023.

#SharePint!

Once you have upgrade, I suggest heading out for a #SharePint to toast your trusty old SharePoint 2013 server for the many years of service it has given you. Farewell old friend!