Windows Live Writer
A discontinued Microsoft desktop application for composing and publishing blog posts to multiple blogging platforms.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
Windows Live Writer was a Microsoft desktop blogging application distributed through the Windows Live family of consumer internet and productivity services. It was designed to let users compose, format, preview, and publish blog posts from Windows rather than working exclusively inside a web-based blogging dashboard. The application combined a visual, WYSIWYG-style editor with tools for inserting and editing images, publishing photographs and maps, checking spelling, managing links, assigning categories or labels, and synchronizing local drafts with content already stored on a supported blog service. The product originated from Onfolio Writer, which Microsoft obtained through its acquisition of Onfolio. Microsoft subsequently developed the application as Windows Live Writer and used it to support a broad range of blogging destinations. Compatibility included Windows Live Spaces, SharePoint blogs, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress, Telligent Community, PBlogs.gr, JournalHome, BlogEngine and other services that implemented relevant blogging APIs or discovery mechanisms. Its support for the MetaWeblog and Movable Type APIs, together with Really Simple Discovery, helped it work across a fragmented blogging ecosystem. The Provider Customization API also allowed blogging services to add specialized behavior and controls to the standard Writer experience; WordPress, TypePad, and Windows Live Spaces used this capability for service-specific integration. The application developed through several Windows Live and Windows Essentials releases. Windows Live Writer 2008, released in November 2007, added or improved features such as inline spell checking, table editing, categories, WordPress and TypePad page authoring, excerpts, extended entries, hyperlinking, image insertion, and a specialized paste function. It also improved SharePoint integration, synchronization between local and online edits, Windows Live Gallery integration, Blogger labels, and extension support for blog providers. The 2009 edition became part of Windows Live Essentials, while the 2011 edition adopted the Ribbon interface used by other Microsoft desktop applications. Windows Live Writer 2012 was released in August 2012 within Windows Essentials 2012. It was the final major version of both the Writer application and the Windows Essentials product family. Microsoft ended support for Windows Essentials 2012, including Windows Live Writer, on January 10, 2017. After that date, the software no longer received feature updates, bug fixes, or security updates, and Microsoft no longer offered it for download. The original application is therefore defunct, although its underlying concept and code lineage continued through Open Live Writer, a free and open-source fork released on GitHub in December 2015. At its peak, Windows Live Writer was localized into 48 languages and served as a notable bridge between traditional desktop publishing workflows and the expanding web-blogging platform market.
History
Windows Live Writer emerged from Onfolio Writer, a desktop blogging product associated with Onfolio, which Microsoft acquired. Microsoft developed the software into a broader blogging client under the Windows Live brand. Its purpose was to make blog publishing feel more like working in a desktop word processor: users could write posts offline, apply formatting, insert photographs and maps, preview content using a blog's design, and then publish to a remote service. The application was significant because blogging platforms differed widely in their interfaces and technical capabilities. Writer supported Windows Live Spaces and SharePoint blogs as well as third-party services including Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress, Telligent Community, PBlogs.gr, JournalHome, BlogEngine, and other systems compatible with recognized blogging APIs or Really Simple Discovery. Support for the MetaWeblog and Movable Type APIs gave the application a common publishing foundation. Microsoft also created the Provider Customization API, enabling individual blog providers to expose additional commands and service-specific functionality. Windows Live Spaces, WordPress, and TypePad used this extensibility model. The 2008 edition, released on November 6, 2007, expanded the application beyond basic post composition. It included inline spell checking, table editing, categories, page authoring for WordPress and TypePad, excerpts and extended entries, improved hyperlink and image workflows, and a new Paste Special function. The release also strengthened SharePoint 2007 integration, added mechanisms for provider extensions, synchronized local and online edits, connected with Windows Live Gallery, and supported Blogger labels. On December 15, 2008, Writer 2009 was released within Windows Live Essentials. This positioned the application alongside other Microsoft desktop services and helped maintain it as part of a larger consumer software bundle. Writer 2011 followed on September 30, 2010, adopting the Ribbon interface that Microsoft had introduced across many of its desktop products. On August 7, 2012, Microsoft released Writer 2012 as part of Windows Essentials 2012. That version was the final major release of the application and the suite. The product's later history was shaped by the industry's movement toward browser-based publishing and the gradual retirement of Windows Essentials. Open Live Writer, a free and open-source fork, was released on GitHub on December 9, 2015, before Microsoft formally ended support for the original product. Windows Essentials 2012, including Windows Live Writer, reached end of support on January 10, 2017. Microsoft discontinued the application, stopped providing updates and security fixes, and no longer made it available for download. The original Windows Live Writer brand is therefore defunct, while Open Live Writer represents its continuing open-source successor lineage.
- 2017
Product support ended
[1]Windows Essentials 2012 and Windows Live Writer reached end of support on January 10, 2017.
- 2015
Open Live Writer fork released
[1]Open Live Writer was released as a free and open-source fork on GitHub.
- 2012
Final major release
[1]Windows Live Writer 2012 was released as part of Windows Essentials 2012 and became the product's last major version.
- 2010
Ribbon interface introduced
[1]Windows Live Writer 2011 adopted Microsoft's Ribbon user-interface design.
- 2008
Writer 2009 included in Windows Live Essentials
[1]Windows Live Writer 2009 became part of Microsoft's Windows Live Essentials desktop software suite.
- 2007
Windows Live Writer 2008 released
[1]The 2008 release added substantial editing, publishing, synchronization, SharePoint, Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, and extension capabilities.
Products and positioning
A cross-platform blogging client for Windows users who wanted rich desktop composition, media insertion, local drafting, and direct publishing to multiple blogging services.
Desktop blogging software · 2007
Windows Live Writer 2008
The 2008 generation expanded Writer's authoring and publishing functions with inline spell checking, table editing, categories, page authoring for WordPress and TypePad, excerpts, extended entries, improved image and hyperlink insertion, and Paste Special. It also improved SharePoint support, synchronization between local and online edits, Blogger labels, Windows Live Gallery integration, and provider-specific extension APIs.
Desktop blogging software · 2008
Windows Live Writer 2009
Writer 2009 continued the desktop blogging workflow and was distributed as part of Windows Live Essentials. It provided a unified Microsoft suite context for composing and publishing posts to Windows Live and third-party blogging services.
Desktop blogging software · 2010
Windows Live Writer 2011
The 2011 edition updated the application's visual design with Microsoft's Ribbon interface. It retained Writer's core role as a Windows desktop client for rich blog composition, media insertion, previewing, and direct publication.
Desktop blogging software · 2012
Windows Live Writer 2012
Released within Windows Essentials 2012, Writer 2012 was the final major version of Windows Live Writer. It represented the last Microsoft-branded release before the Windows Essentials suite and its applications reached end of support.
Open-source blogging software · 2015
Open Live Writer
Open Live Writer is a free and open-source fork of Windows Live Writer released on GitHub. It is not an active Windows Live product, but it continues the original application's desktop blogging-client lineage outside Microsoft's discontinued Windows Essentials distribution.
Brand decisions
2017
Microsoft ended Windows Live Writer supportStrategyBackground
Windows Live Writer was distributed as part of Windows Essentials 2012, whose desktop application suite was being retired.
Action taken
Microsoft ended support for Windows Essentials 2012 and Windows Live Writer on January 10, 2017, ending new features, bug fixes, and security updates and removing the software from Microsoft's download availability.
Aftermath
The original Windows Live Writer product became defunct, with Open Live Writer remaining as its open-source fork.
2015
Open-source continuation through a forkStrategyBackground
Windows Live Writer's development had effectively reached its final major release with the 2012 edition, while the desktop blogging market was increasingly moving toward web-based publishing.
Action taken
A free and open-source fork named Open Live Writer was released on GitHub, preserving the desktop publishing model independently of Microsoft's Windows Essentials distribution.
Aftermath
The fork provided a continuation path for users after the original Microsoft application was discontinued.
Sources1 sources
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