Microsoft plans to deprecate Windows Deployment Services

Microsoft plans to deprecate the Windows Deployment Services (WDS) server role starting with the next Windows Server release. The role will remain available on currently supported Windows Server versions, including Windows Server 2025 and earlier, under their published servicing lifecycles.

WDS lets IT administrators install Windows over a network on dozens or hundreds of computers. Microsoft says that after deprecation it will stop active development, with plans to retire and remove the role in a future operating system version. Deprecated products remain supported until removal.

Microsoft has already curtailed WDS features. It removed support for boot.wim in 2021 and disabled hands-free deployment by default in January 2026 for customers who installed the April 2026 Windows updates or later. Since Windows 11, Microsoft has also stopped officially supporting deployment of standard desktop operating systems through WDS's native setup engine, limiting it to Windows Server deployment and booting custom deployment environments.

The change does not affect non-Microsoft deployment products or independent PXE implementations that do not rely on WDS. Microsoft Configuration Manager operating system deployment is also unaffected, but Microsoft advised customers using WDS-backed PXE or WDS-dependent multicast with Configuration Manager to plan a migration away from those dependencies. Microsoft suggested Configuration Manager as one alternative.