Microsoft is officially killing off Windows Maps. The desktop app, which dates back to 2014, will become nonfunctional in July 2025. This change does not affect Bing Maps.
Windows Maps initially launched during Microsoft’s “Metro” era, when the company was trying to push into smartphone and tablet markets. And, as someone who owned a Windows Phone, I can confirm that Windows Maps was a pretty solid app. But it kind of became useless after the death of Windows Phone. Microsoft stopped putting in the effort but continued bundling Windows Maps with the Windows operating system (and Xbox, oddly enough).
So, Microsoft slowly dismantled Windows Maps. It killed off key app functionality, such as offline support, and stopped bundling Windows Maps with the Windows 11 operating system during the 24H2 rollout late last year. The death of this app has been a long time coming, and in all honesty, I’m surprised that it wasn’t killed off sooner.
“Maps is deprecated and will be removed from the Microsoft Store by July 2025. At this time, there will also be a final update to the app from the Store that makes it nonfunctional. If you remove the app before July 2025, you can still reinstall it from the Store, but past July 2025 you won’t be able to reinstall it. You’ll be able to uninstall the app at any time. Any personal data or files you have saved, such as guided navigation or URLs to maps, won’t be removed, but they’ll no longer function in the Maps app past July 2025. If you wish to still use maps powered by the Bing service, please visit https://www.bing.com/maps. Maps is no longer preinstalled with Windows starting with the Windows 11, version 24H2 release.”
Microsoft says that Windows Maps will become “nonfunctional” in July 2025. Personal data, addresses, and routes that you’ve saved to Windows Maps can still be accessed after July, but you won’t be able to use the app for navigation. For reference, there doesn’t seem to be a way to migrate saved data out of Windows Maps. If you’re moving to a new navigation app, you may need to manually copy over addresses and other info.
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As for which navigation app you should use—well, Bing Maps is the closest you’ll get to a true Windows Maps replacement. There’s also Google Maps and Apple Maps, of course. All of these services are web-based, but you can add them to your Windows desktop for a more native app-like experience. These three apps are also available on mobile, meaning that you can sync navigation data between your desktop PC and your phone after logging into an account.
Microsoft has killed off several Windows apps in the last year or so, including the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) and Paint 3D. The death of Windows Maps, while unsurprising, leaves yet another gap in the Windows operating system. Still, I doubt that too many people will mourn Windows Maps, as there are plenty of good alternatives.
