SharePoint Designer for Office 365: Features, Compatibility & Modern Alternatives

Last updated: 2026-10-13

SharePoint Designer 2013 is the final version — learn about its compatibility with SharePoint 2016, 2019, and Microsoft 365, plus the best modern alternatives including Power Automate, Power Apps, and SPFx.

SharePoint Designer (SPD) was once the go-to tool for customizing SharePoint sites, building workflows, and managing business applications without code. With Microsoft confirming that SharePoint Designer 2013 is the final version, administrators and developers need to understand what still works, what doesn't, and which modern alternatives to adopt.

This guide covers SharePoint Designer's compatibility with SharePoint 2016, 2019, and Microsoft 365, its key features, and the best alternatives available today.

The History of SharePoint Designer

SharePoint Designer started as an HTML editor bundled with Office 2007 and was made available as free software in 2009 (SPD 2007 SP2). It inherited many features from Microsoft FrontPage and could initially function as a standalone HTML editor.

Key milestones in SharePoint Designer's history:

• SPD 2007 — Standalone HTML editor with SharePoint integration
• SPD 2010 — Required SharePoint Server or Foundation; no longer a generic editor
• SPD 2013 — The final version, confirmed by Microsoft alongside the SharePoint Server 2016 release
• SPD 2016+ — Does not exist. Microsoft has discontinued the product line

Key takeaway: SharePoint Designer 2013 remains supported and continues to work with SharePoint 2016, SharePoint 2019, and SharePoint Online (Microsoft 365). However, no new versions will be released.

SharePoint Designer 2013 Compatibility

SharePoint 2016 and Microsoft 365

SharePoint Designer 2013 remains fully compatible with both SharePoint 2016 on-premises and SharePoint Online (Microsoft 365). When connected to a SharePoint 2016 or Microsoft 365 site, all standard SPD functionality works as expected, including:

• Opening and editing SharePoint sites
• Managing lists, libraries, and content types
• Creating and editing workflows
• Managing data sources and connections
• Editing master pages and page layouts
• Creating custom views and forms

When creating workflows in SharePoint 2016, the system still directs users to the SharePoint Designer 2013 download page.

Installation Requirements

To use SharePoint Designer 2013 with SharePoint 2016 or Microsoft 365:

1. Download and install SharePoint Designer 2013 from the Microsoft Download Center
2. Install Service Pack 1 for SharePoint Designer 2013
3. Ensure your SharePoint site allows SPD connections (this can be controlled by site administrators)

SharePoint 2019 Compatibility

SharePoint Designer 2013 also works with SharePoint Server 2019, though Microsoft increasingly encourages the use of modern alternatives like Power Automate for workflow scenarios and the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) for customization.

Key Features of SharePoint Designer 2013

Despite being discontinued, SharePoint Designer 2013 remains a powerful tool with capabilities that are still relevant today:

Site Information and Management

• View general site information including SharePoint build/version number
• See total storage space used by the site
• View all users and groups with direct access
• Browse all subsites within the connected site
• Access hidden items, folders, and List GUIDs

List and Library Management

• View and edit all site lists, libraries, and content types
• Create and manage internal and external data sources
• Copy list items and export site content
• Access metadata and properties not visible through the web browser

Views and Forms

• Create highly customized data entry forms
• Build custom views for different data sources
• Connect forms to database connections, XML documents, and SharePoint lists

Workflows

• Build automated business processes without writing code
• Automate document review, approval, and archiving workflows
• Create reusable workflow templates
• Support for both SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint 2013 workflow platforms

Branding and Customization

• Customize site appearance and master pages
• Edit CSS, JavaScript, and ASPX pages directly
• Modify page layouts and styles
• Accessible to users without deep programming experience

⚠️ Caution: Directly editing master pages through SharePoint Designer is not recommended by Microsoft, as patches or updates can break customizations. Use Design Manager instead for branding work.

Modern Alternatives to SharePoint Designer

Since SharePoint Designer will not receive future updates, it's important to adopt modern tools that will be supported long-term. Here are the recommended alternatives:

1. Power Automate (Replaces SPD Workflows)

Best for: Workflow automation — the direct successor to SPD workflows.

• Build automated flows without code using a visual designer
• Connect to hundreds of services (SharePoint, Outlook, Teams, third-party apps)
• Supports approvals, notifications, data processing, and scheduled tasks
• Available as part of Microsoft 365 licensing
• Significantly more powerful than SPD workflows with cross-platform support

Learn more about Power Automate →

2. Power Apps (Replaces SPD Forms)

Best for: Building custom business applications and forms without code.

• Create forms-like applications that connect to SharePoint, Microsoft 365, and third-party services
• Use Excel-like expressions for business logic
• Built-in templates for rapid development
• Mobile-friendly applications out of the box
• Integrates natively with Power Automate for workflow automation

Learn more about Power Apps →

3. SharePoint Framework (SPFx) — Technical

Best for: Developers building custom web parts and extensions.

• Modern client-side development framework for SharePoint
• Uses TypeScript, React, and other modern web technologies
• Works with both SharePoint Online and SharePoint 2019
• Supports custom web parts, extensions, and library components
• Full integration with Microsoft Graph API

4. Visual Studio / VS Code — Technical

Best for: Professional developers building complex SharePoint solutions.

• Built-in SharePoint project templates
• Create custom lists, content types, web parts, and workflows
• Much more powerful than SPD but requires programming knowledge
• VS Code with SPFx extensions provides a lighter-weight alternative

5. PowerShell — Technical

Best for: Administrators automating bulk operations and site management.

• Retrieve site and list GUIDs, create sites, lists, and content types
• Script repetitive tasks across multiple sites in a loop
• SharePoint Online Management Shell for cloud environments
• PnP PowerShell provides additional community-supported cmdlets

6. Design Manager (Replaces SPD Branding)

Best for: Customizing SharePoint site branding without code risks.

• Convert static HTML templates into SharePoint master pages and page layouts
• Microsoft-recommended approach for branding customization
• Available in SharePoint 2013, 2016, and 2019
• Safer than editing master pages directly in SPD

7. Text Editors (Notepad++, VS Code)

Best for: Editing CSS, JavaScript, HTML, and ASPX files.

• Lightweight alternative for markup-level changes
• Cannot perform SharePoint-specific tasks (creating lists, workflows)
• Best used in combination with other tools on this list

Quick Comparison: SPD vs Modern Alternatives

Why the Change Is a Good Thing

While SharePoint Designer was an effective tool, it came with well-known challenges:

• Difficult deployment — Workflows created in SPD were hard to deploy across multiple sites
• Master page risks — Direct edits could be overwritten by patches or other users' changes
• Permission limitations — Copying permissions between sites was cumbersome
• Fragile customizations — Service packs could break JavaScript or CSS tied to specific control IDs

The modern alternatives — particularly Power Automate, Power Apps, and SPFx — address these limitations with cloud-first, version-controlled, and more maintainable approaches.

The SharePoint Essentials Toolkit: A Comprehensive Alternative

If you're looking for a client application that helps manage SharePoint sites with the ease of SharePoint Designer but with far greater capability, the SharePoint Essentials Toolkit by Cognillo is worth exploring.

The toolkit provides:

• ✅ Site and list management with full metadata support
• ✅ Bulk copy and migration with version history preservation
• ✅ Permission auditing and management
• ✅ Broken link detection and repair
• ✅ Scheduled tasks for recurring operations
• ✅ Works with SharePoint Online, 2019, 2016, and 2013

See why organisations like Microsoft, NASA, DARPA, and the US Army trust the SharePoint Essentials Toolkit for their SharePoint content management needs.

Learn more about the SharePoint Essentials Toolkit →

Conclusion

SharePoint Designer 2013 remains a functional tool for SharePoint 2016, 2019, and Microsoft 365, but its days are numbered. Microsoft's investment is firmly in Power Automate, Power Apps, and the SharePoint Framework. Start transitioning your workflows to Power Automate, your forms to Power Apps, and your customizations to SPFx to ensure long-term supportability and take advantage of modern cloud-first capabilities.