Microsoft dumps docs.com cloud file locker, sets December death-date

Microsoft's decided that Docs.com has to die in December.

Docs.com is a file-sharing site that allows users to post files in the various Microsoft Office formats to the web, where they can be viewed by anyone.

That feature set will be rather familiar to users of SlideShare, the file-sharing site owned by LinkedIn. With Microsoft now owning LinkedIn it's been decided that it makes no sense to operate two more-or-less identical sites, leaving Docs.com users with a little over six months to move their stuff elsewhere before the lights go off for the last time on December 15th, 2017.

The decision to shutter the service is a sign that Microsoft only wants to operate one platform and perhaps also a sign the company is tiring of running cloud storage that doesn't have an obvious route to paid subscriptions.

We make that assertion because Micrsoft's migration path for Docs.com users will see their stuff automatically move to a OneDrive account, even a new one if needed.

Microsoft's posted migration instructions for those with different combinations of Office and OneDrive subscriptions.

The document we've linked to above also mentions various milestones on the way to Docs.com's doom, with August 1, 2017 significant as it's the day on which it will no longer be possible to publish or edit content on the site. ®