Azure AD B2C P2 retired 15 March 2026; P1 tenants stay until at least May 2030

What happened

Microsoft's Azure AD B2C timeline, as of 19 August 2026:

• 1 May 2025, End-of-sale to new customers. No new B2C licenses.
• 15 March 2026, Azure AD B2C Premium P2 (Identity Protection) retired for all customers. That is not a full tenant shutdown.
• At least May 2030, Remaining Azure AD B2C P1 tenants stay supported. The platform is frozen. No new features.

The successor product is Microsoft Entra External ID, generally available since September 2024. High Scale Compatibility mode exists for large B2C-to-External-ID migrations, with documented feature gaps (some passkey and social-IdP cases).

Why it matters

A large Microsoft-shop B2C install base heard "15 March 2026" as "the service dies that day." That reading is wrong, and it caused rushed RFPs. P2 is gone. P1 is on life support until at least 2030. New work still belongs on Entra External ID, because a frozen platform is a migration, just not an emergency cutover.

Custom B2C policies do not port. Plan 3 to 9 months for a typical mid-market move, whether you stay on Microsoft or leave.

Correction (19 August 2026)

An earlier version of this entry, and of the Entra GA changelog, stated that existing tenants retired on 15 March 2026. That overstated Microsoft's FAQ. Compass's Entra External ID profile, Cognito vs Entra comparison, and this page now match the FAQ: P2 retired that day; P1 is supported until at least May 2030.

Deepak's take

The B2C freeze is still the right call. Microsoft should have shipped External ID years earlier. The wrong call is telling every P1 customer they have weeks. They have years, and they should use them. Frozen identity platforms do not get passkey orchestration, agent tokens, or WebAuthn Level 3. They get CVE patches and a support clock.

If you are a Microsoft shop, migrate to External ID on a planned program, not a fire drill. If you are not, this is a reasonable moment to evaluate Auth0, Cognito, Ping, or Keycloak. Do not pick a destination because a blog post said the lights go out in March.

What to do

If you are on Azure AD B2C P1:

1. Confirm you were never on P2, or that Identity Protection already moved.
2. Inventory custom policies. They will not auto-migrate.
3. Put Entra External ID on the shortlist if Microsoft 365 and Azure are the rest of the stack.
4. Re-read the Entra External ID profile before you brief the board.

If you are evaluating CIAM in 2026 from a Microsoft-aligned organization:

• Entra External ID is on the shortlist next to Auth0 and, for B2B-only, WorkOS.
• FedRAMP High or Conditional Access as a hard requirement usually keeps you on Microsoft.
• Otherwise evaluate the developer-first tier on velocity, not on a fake shutdown date.

Related: Microsoft Entra alternatives, Cognito vs Entra External ID.