Microsoft is dropping these Office Mobile app features

The Microsoft Office Mobile apps for Android and iOS are shedding file-sharing features as Microsoft transitions to its Microsoft 365 rebrand on mobile. 

Microsoft is dropping the Transfer Files feature from Office Mobile but says that transferring files will become easier. Transfer Files will be replaced by the OneDrive integration in the Office app. 

Users will be able to continue using Transfer Files as a legacy feature on Android and iOS until December 31, 2022, after which using the OneDrive app will become the only option. 

“Rest assured that files that have been sent and received using the Transfer Files feature will remain in the Office app and will be unaffected by this change,” Microsoft notes.

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It has instructions for using OneDrive for file sharing on Android and iOS. 

Microsoft is also ditching Share Nearby from Office Mobile after finding it met “some but not all needs”. 

This change affects the Office app on Android and will also be effective from December 31. As it is currently, Office users can tap Share Nearby in the app to share files between two Android phones over a wireless connection. 

Files that have been shared with the feature will not be affected but the feature will be removed after December 31.

“We made this decision as we continue to reassess the value our users derive from the Office app, and we aim to offer experiences that are consistent, reliable and allow our users to be productive across their devices. It is in this pursuit of streamlining our solutions that we have decided to sunset this feature,” Microsoft explains. 

Microsoft in October at its Ignite conference announced it would rebrand its unified Office app under Microsoft 365. That's happening from November. Microsoft hopes the Microsoft 365 app will highlight how Office has evolved. Microsoft plans to release the Microsoft 365 app at some point in November and will start with the web version.