Dataverse for Teams Deprecation: What to Do Before 2027

Somewhere in your Microsoft 365 tenant there is probably a small app that nobody in IT has ever looked at. An inspection checklist. A form for reporting broken equipment. A list of holiday requests that one helpful colleague built in Teams a few years ago.

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Many of these apps run on Dataverse for Teams, and the Dataverse for Teams deprecation is now official. Microsoft has set three dates:

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15 November 2026: no new Dataverse for Teams environments.
15 September 2027: every environment that has not been upgraded is suspended.
30 October 2027: the data is deleted.

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This guide explains what is changing, who is affected, what upgrading really costs and which options you have. At the end you will find a 5-step plan to get through the next 12 months without a last-minute scramble.

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What is changing with the Dataverse for Teams deprecation?

What Dataverse for Teams is

Dataverse for Teams is a built-in data platform inside Microsoft Teams. Each team could get its own environment and use it to build apps with Power Apps, flows with Power Automate and bots with Copilot Studio, all without leaving Teams.

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The big attraction was the price. Dataverse for Teams is included in most Microsoft 365 licences that include Teams. Business teams could build small apps without buying anything extra and without waiting for IT.

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It also came with clear limits: 2 GB of storage per environment, no direct API access, no custom connectors, no desktop flows and no AI Builder. Microsoft names exactly these limits as one reason for the change.

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The three dates you need to know

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Until 15 September 2027, existing apps keep working as they do today. That gives you almost a year. It sounds like a lot of time. If you remember how many organisations were still looking for an InfoPath replacement in the final months before support ended in July 2026, you know it is not.

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What Microsoft wants you to do

Microsoft's recommended path is to upgrade each environment you want to keep to full Dataverse before 30 October 2027. The upgrade keeps your apps, flows, agents and data. But it changes the licensing completely, which we look at below.

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Who is affected by the Dataverse for Teams deprecation?

Typical Dataverse for Teams apps

Microsoft shipped a set of ready-made Teams apps that many organisations installed: Inspection, Issue reporting, Employee ideas, Bulletins and others. On top of those came countless self-built apps:

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• Holiday and absence lists
• Checklists for audits, shifts or site visits
• Simple request and approval forms
• Equipment and material orders
• Small trackers for projects, tickets or ideas

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All of these run on Dataverse for Teams if they were created inside a team.

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Why nobody knows how many there are

Dataverse for Teams was designed so that business teams could build apps on their own. That was the point. The downside shows now: in many tenants nobody has a list. The person who built the app may have changed roles or left the company, and there is rarely any documentation.

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How to find them

Open the Power Platform admin center and go to Environments. Filter by type: every environment of the type "Microsoft Teams" is a Dataverse for Teams environment. For each one you can see the team it belongs to, its size and the apps and flows it contains.

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That list is your starting point. Export it, and you already know more than most organisations do today.

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Is Dataverse for Teams still free after the deprecation?

No. This is the question people search for most, so here is the short answer: there is no free way to keep an app on Dataverse after September 2027. Every environment that has not been upgraded is suspended, regardless of its size or how active it is. The 2 GB limit is the old ceiling of Dataverse for Teams, not a free tier that survives the change.

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What the upgrade requires

• Available Dataverse capacity in your tenant, at least as much as the size of the environment. After the upgrade, it counts towards your capacity.
• A Power Apps, Power Automate or Copilot Studio licence for every person who uses the apps, flows and agents in the environment.

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After the upgrade, team owners become system administrators of the environment, and it is no longer tied to the lifecycle of the team.

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What that means in money

Microsoft's list price for Power Apps Premium is 20 US dollars per user per month, paid annually. From 1 January 2027, it goes up to 22 US dollars for new purchases, renewals and co-terminations, as Microsoft announced on 9 September 2026. Take a simple example: an issue reporting app that 200 employees use.

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Not every organisation needs a Premium licence for every user, and enterprise agreements may differ. But the direction is clear: an app that cost nothing becomes a line in next year's budget. For organisations with several Teams apps, it is worth doing this calculation before choosing a path.

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Licences are only part of the bill. Other costs add up as well, as our overview of 9 Power Platform costs nobody warns you about shows.

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Your three options for Dataverse for Teams apps

1. Upgrade to Dataverse

This is the fastest route. The app stays as it is, users notice little, and the upgrade itself is a guided process in the admin center.

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It makes sense when the app is business-critical, already uses Dataverse features you need (complex relationships, business rules, security roles) and when you are already licensing Power Apps Premium for the people who use it. It makes less sense for simple apps used by many people, because the licence cost grows with every user.

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2. Rebuild in Power Apps on SharePoint lists

Canvas apps that only use standard connectors, such as SharePoint, Outlook or Teams, run with the Power Apps rights included in Microsoft 365. If you move the data from Dataverse into SharePoint lists and rebuild the app on top of them, you avoid the per-user Premium licence.

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The catch is effort and skills. Someone has to rebuild the app, the formulas (Power Fx) and the flows. And as soon as an app needs a premium connector, the licence question is back. We compare Dataverse for Teams and SharePoint lists in detail in our migration guide.

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3. Rebuild with a SharePoint-native platform like skybow

The third option is a platform that builds forms, workflows and business logic directly on SharePoint lists and libraries. The data stays in SharePoint, which is already part of Microsoft 365, and there is no separate database to license.

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skybow Studio is built for exactly this. Business apps are built without code, approvals and notifications are part of the same tool, and the data stays in your SharePoint lists. You pay one skybow licence per user, which covers forms, workflows and automation. If you want to see how that compares in features and cost, read our skybow vs Power Apps comparison.

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Which option fits which app?

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Not sure which option fits which of your apps? We can go through your list together and tell you honestly where an upgrade makes more sense than a rebuild.

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Compare your options →

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A 5-step plan for the next 12 months

Step 1: Take stock (by end of 2026)

Export the list of Dataverse for Teams environments from the admin center. For each one, note the team, the apps and flows, the owner and roughly how many people use it.

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Step 2: Sort into keep, rebuild and retire

Ask each owner one question: would anyone miss this app if it disappeared tomorrow? Many old apps are no longer used. Those can be retired. Export their data first.

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Step 3: Do the maths

For every app you want to keep, multiply the number of users by the licence cost of an upgrade. Compare that with the effort of a rebuild. This calculation usually decides the path for you.

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Step 4: Choose a path per app

You do not need one answer for everything. A critical app with complex data may go to Dataverse. A dozen simple request forms may be better off as SharePoint lists.

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Step 5: Move, test and switch off

Migrate the most important apps first, run old and new side by side for a short time, then switch off the old version. Aim to be finished well before September 2027, not in the last weeks.

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Dataverse for Teams: frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Dataverse and Dataverse for Teams?

Dataverse for Teams is a reduced version of Dataverse that lives inside a single team. It was included in Microsoft 365, but limited to 2 GB per environment and without direct API access, custom connectors, desktop flows or AI Builder. Full Dataverse has none of these limits, but it needs its own capacity and every user needs a Power Apps, Power Automate or Copilot Studio licence.

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What are the limitations of Dataverse for Teams?

Besides the 2 GB storage limit, Dataverse for Teams environments are tied to the lifecycle of their team. If the team is deleted, the environment goes with it. Apps are only available inside Teams, and access follows team membership, which makes sharing with people outside the team difficult.

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Can I still create new Dataverse for Teams apps?

Until 15 November 2026, yes. After that, you can no longer create new environments, and a team that does not have one yet cannot get one. Teams that already have an environment can keep adding apps to it until the suspension in September 2027, but there is little reason to invest in something that is being switched off.

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What happens to Power Automate flows and Copilot Studio agents?

They are part of the environment and share its fate. When an environment is suspended, its flows stop running and its agents are no longer available. When it is decommissioned, they are deleted together with the apps and data. Include them in your inventory.

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Is Microsoft discontinuing Teams or Power Automate?

No. This change only affects the Dataverse for Teams environments. Microsoft Teams, Power Apps and Power Automate continue to exist. Apps and flows simply have to live somewhere else: in full Dataverse, on SharePoint, or on another platform.

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Do I have to upgrade every environment?

No. You only need to act on the environments you want to keep. Environments you do not need can be left to expire, but export their data first if there is any chance someone will need it later.

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Key takeaways

• Dataverse for Teams environments are suspended on 15 September 2027 and deleted on 30 October 2027.
• There is no free way to stay on Dataverse. Upgrading means Dataverse capacity and a licence for every user.
• You have three options: upgrade, rebuild in Power Apps on SharePoint, or rebuild with a SharePoint-native platform like skybow.

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The most useful thing you can do this year is take stock. Once you know which apps you have and who uses them, the decision is mostly arithmetic. If you have been through an InfoPath or Nintex migration, you know the pattern: the earlier you start, the more choice you have. Our guide on replacing InfoPath shows how that played out last time.

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Need help with the inventory or the migration itself? We support you from the first list of Teams apps to the rebuilt solution in SharePoint, and the first call is free.

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Book a free initial call →