Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced it will retire Amazon WorkMail, ending its managed business email and calendaring service on March 31, 2027.
The service stopped accepting new customers on April 30, 2026, and existing customers have until the end-of-support date to migrate their email infrastructure before Amazon WorkMail becomes unavailable.
While the announcement is unlikely to affect most organisations, those still relying on WorkMail now have a clear deadline to plan their transition to another email platform.
Key Dates
AWS has published the following timeline:
- April 30, 2026 – Amazon WorkMail stopped accepting new customers.
- March 31, 2027 – Amazon WorkMail reaches end of support. Customers will lose access to the service and the WorkMail administration console after this date.
Existing customers can continue using WorkMail until March 31, 2027, but AWS recommends beginning migration planning well in advance.
Migration Options
In its official End of Support documentation, AWS recommends migrating to another hosted email platform before WorkMail is retired.
The documentation specifically identifies:
- Kopano Cloud
- Zoho Mail
- Zoom Mail
Organisations may also choose another email provider based on their operational, security, compliance, and collaboration requirements.
AWS has also published guidance explaining how administrators can export mailbox data before the service reaches end of support.
What IT Teams Should Know
Although AWS has not published a detailed migration guide beyond mailbox export documentation, administrators should review how Amazon WorkMail is used across their environment before making changes.
Beyond migrating user mailboxes, organisations may need to update DNS records, reconfigure desktop and mobile email clients, verify email authentication settings such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and test mail flow after migration.
One important consideration is Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES). AWS has announced no changes to SES, which continues as the company’s transactional and application email service. Organisations using WorkMail and SES with the same domain should review DNS changes carefully, as modifying or removing shared email authentication records could unintentionally affect application-generated email.
Recent Security Research
The retirement announcement also comes months after cybersecurity researchers at Rapid7 reported that attackers had used compromised AWS accounts to create Amazon WorkMail organisations as part of phishing campaigns.
According to Rapid7, the attacks relied on stolen AWS credentials rather than a vulnerability in Amazon WorkMail itself. While unrelated to AWS’s decision to retire the service, the research serves as a reminder that organisations should continue following AWS security best practices until their migration is complete.
Looking Ahead
AWS has not provided a detailed explanation for retiring Amazon WorkMail beyond stating that the decision followed “careful consideration.”
The announcement nevertheless gives remaining customers a clear timeline to complete their migration before the service reaches end of support on March 31, 2027. For IT teams, the focus now shifts to planning the transition, validating configurations, and ensuring business email continues operating without disruption.
Related: Earlier this year, AWS also made headlines after an internal email referencing planned layoffs was accidentally distributed before the announcement was officially communicated. While unrelated to Amazon WorkMail, the incident highlighted the continued importance of email in enterprise operations and communications.
Read our coverage: AWS Accidentally Sends Layoff Email Before Official Announcement
Sources
- AWS – Amazon WorkMail End of Support
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/workmail/latest/adminguide/workmail-end-of-support.html - Rapid7 – Threat Actors Use AWS WorkMail in Phishing Campaigns
https://www.rapid7.com/blog/post/dr-threat-actors-aws-workmail-phishing-campaigns/ - InfoQ – AWS Ends WorkMail and Moves App Runner to Maintenance Mode
https://www.infoq.com/news/2026/04/aws-deprecates-workmail-apprunne/ - ADMIN Magazine – Amazon Ending Support for WorkMail
https://www.admin-magazine.com/News/Amazon-Ending-Support-for-WorkMail
