Workplace from Meta is shutting down.
You have until June 1.

1. What's happening and why

Workplace from Meta, the enterprise social network and internal communications platform launched in 2016, is shutting down permanently on June 1, 2026. Meta began notifying customers in 2023, giving organizations a multi-year wind-down period — but that window is now almost closed.

The rationale Meta has given is strategic refocus. After years of competition against Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Google Chat — all of which have substantially larger enterprise footprints and deeper integrations with productivity suites — Meta decided Workplace was not a core business and stopped new customer sign-ups in 2023. The shutdown date of June 1, 2026 is firm and not expected to change.

What this means for Workplace customers:

• On June 1, 2026, all access to Workplace ends — no grace period, no read-only mode
• All data — posts, comments, files, videos, member lists, chat messages — will be permanently deleted
• All integrations — SSO, SCIM, bots, third-party apps via Workplace API — will stop functioning
• Meta has a migration partnership with Workvivo by Zoom for customers who want the closest feature equivalent

2. The timeline you need to know

3. How to export your Workplace data (step-by-step)

Workplace offers a comprehensive data export via the Admin Panel. Here's exactly what you can export and how to get it.

Starting a full organization export

1. Log in to Workplace as a System Administrator
2. Go to the Admin Panel (admin.workplace.com)
3. Navigate to Settings → Data Export (also sometimes under "Company Information")
4. Click Request Export and select what to include (see list below)
5. Workplace will email the System Admin when the export is ready — this can take 24–72 hours for large organizations
6. Download the export package (provided as a ZIP file with JSON and media files)

What you can export

• Posts and comments — all content from groups, the news feed, and profiles (JSON format)
• Files and documents — all files uploaded to groups (original formats preserved)
• Videos — all videos uploaded to Workplace Live or groups (original quality)
• Member list — all users, their email addresses, departments, titles, and account status
• Group list — all groups with membership, privacy settings, and group admins
• Workplace Chat messages — direct messages and group chat history (JSON)
• Account activity log — login events, admin changes, and audit logs
• Integrations list — all connected apps and bots (so you know what to replace)

What cannot be exported

• Live video recordings from past Workplace Live broadcasts (if not separately saved)
• Analytics and engagement data — post reach, group activity metrics, survey results from Knowledge Library
• Reactions and reaction counts are not exported as structured data — they appear only in the JSON post objects
• Third-party integration data — any data that third-party apps stored in their own systems (not in Workplace itself)

Exporting Workplace Chat (separate process)

Direct messages and group chats in Workplace Chat are exported separately from group/post content:

1. In the Admin Panel, go to Settings → Data Export → Messages
2. Select the date range and request the export
3. Chat exports are in JSON format with participant IDs, timestamps, and message content
4. Note: Personal chat messages between individual users require explicit consent in some jurisdictions (GDPR, CCPA). Check with your legal team before exporting message history

4. What to save before June 1

A complete Workplace data inventory checklist — go through this systematically:

• Full data export (Admin Panel export — all posts, files, videos, members, groups)
• Chat message history (separate export from Admin Panel → Messages)
• Member directory — emails, departments, titles (CSV is the most portable format)
• Group inventory — list every group, its purpose, its admin, and its member count
• Pinned posts and important announcements — manually copy or screenshot key reference content you'll want to migrate forward
• Company videos — all-hands recordings, training videos, leadership updates (download originals, not just thumbnails)
• Policy documents and knowledge base content stored in Workplace groups
• Integration inventory — list every connected app (SSO provider, SCIM setup, bots, Zapier connections, API integrations)
• Custom bot configurations — document all Workplace bots' functionality before they go offline
• Workplace Live past broadcasts — if you have recordings of live events, download them now

5. Alternative comparison: 5 platforms

We evaluated the leading Workplace from Meta alternatives on feature parity with Workplace, ease of migration, pricing, and fit for different organization types.

6. Head-to-head: Workplace vs. each alternative

7. Our recommendation by organization type

8. Migration walkthrough (45-day plan)

With 79 days left as of mid-March, this is your practical execution plan to hit the May 15 recommended cutover date.

Week 1–2: Export and audit

• Start the Admin Panel data export today — it takes 24–72 hours
• Download and verify the export (don't assume it's complete until you've spot-checked the files)
• Audit your Workplace usage: list every group, every active integration, every bot, every regular communication format
• Identify the 5–10 most important groups (by activity) — these are your migration priorities
• Document every SSO and SCIM integration with credentials and configuration notes
• Pull your member list and verify it matches your current HR directory

Week 2–3: Choose your platform

• Based on the recommendation section above, identify your top 1–2 candidates
• Start free trials or request demos — mention the June 1 deadline, vendors will expedite
• Contact your existing vendors (Microsoft, Google, Zoom) — ask specifically about migration support and pricing adjustments
• Run a pilot with 10–20 volunteers from different departments — test the mobile experience, the notification settings, and the content format
• Make the final decision by end of Week 3 — you cannot afford a prolonged evaluation

Week 3–5: Provision and configure

• Provision the new organization workspace
• Configure SSO (redirect from your identity provider to the new platform)
• Set up SCIM provisioning to keep user lists synchronized
• Create the equivalent of your most important Workplace groups as channels/spaces/communities
• Migrate key reference content: pin important posts, upload documents, import the member directory
• Configure the mobile app and test push notifications
• Brief IT helpdesk on what's changing and expected support tickets

Week 5–7: Communication and parallel running

• Post a company-wide announcement in Workplace explaining the migration, the timeline, and what's changing
• Run the new platform and Workplace simultaneously — encourage teams to post in both
• Send a weekly "migration update" post in Workplace with countdown and instructions
• Hold short department briefings or training sessions for non-technical users
• Track adoption: are people logging in to the new platform? Identify and personally assist stragglers

Week 7 (May 15): Cutover

• Post a final message in Workplace: "Workplace shuts down in 17 days. The new home is [platform]. All future posts go there."
• Deactivate Workplace-connected bots and integrations (don't wait for them to break on June 1)
• Remove Workplace app from managed device MDM profiles
• Confirm every team member has logged into and tested the new platform
• Archive the data export in your document management system
• Notify your IT team that Workplace API tokens and SSO connections should be revoked

9. FAQ