Microsoft has officially announced a multi-phase plan to deprecate VBScript in Windows, a move that signals a significant shift for developers, particularly those working with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).
The change, first detailed in May 2024, will gradually phase out the legacy scripting language, requiring developers to adapt their projects to ensure future compatibility.
This decision primarily impacts VBA applications that rely on VBScript for functionalities like executing external scripts or utilizing reference libraries, such as the widely used VBScript.RegExp for handling regular expressions.
As Windows evolves, developers are being urged to prepare for a future without VBScript.
The Three-Phase Deprecation Timeline
Microsoft has outlined a clear, three-stage process for retiring VBScript. The first phase, currently active and expected to last until at least 2026, treats VBScript as a “Feature on Demand” (FOD), meaning it remains enabled by default, and existing VBA projects will continue to function without interruption.
In the second phase, projected to begin around 2027, the VBScript FOD will be disabled by default. While administrators will still have the option to re-enable it, this marks a critical point where un-updated applications may begin to fail.
The final phase, with a yet-to-be-determined date, will see VBScript completely removed from all future Windows releases, making any remaining dependencies obsolete.
The deprecation will affect VBA projects in two primary ways. First, any code that calls and executes external .vbs files will no longer be supported once VBScript is disabled or removed.
Second, and more critically for many, references to the VBScript type library for regular expressions will break.
This has been a common method for developers to implement pattern matching and text manipulation within Office applications like Excel, Word, and Access.
Without proactive changes, these essential functions will cease to operate in newer Windows environments, potentially crippling complex macros and automated workflows that depend on them.
Future-Proofing With Integrated RegExp
To address this, Microsoft has integrated RegExp classes directly into the VBA runtime library, starting with Microsoft 365 Version 2508 (Build 19127.20154).
This update allows developers to use regular expressions natively without referencing the external vbscript.dll.
The new implementation supports both early binding (Dim regEx As RegExp) and late binding (CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")), ensuring that updated Office versions can run scripts seamlessly, even on future Windows versions where VBScript is absent.
Microsoft strongly recommends that developers upgrade to the latest Office build, begin using the new integrated RegExp classes in their macros, and thoroughly test existing projects to identify and resolve any lingering VBScript dependencies.
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