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Supported Upgrade Paths to Dynamics 365 Business Central Releases

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Business Central on-premises is available in several release versions. You can upgrade an existing Dynamics NAV or Business Central solution to any of these releases. Depending on your solution's current version, it might not be possible to upgrade directly to a particular release. You might have to upgrade indirectly through an intermediate release, before upgrading to the target release.

The following sections provide the supported upgrade paths to the different Business Central releases.

Note

  • Minor updates are regularly made available for each release wave. Not all minor updates between two releases are compatible. Make sure you upgrade to a release update that's compatible with your current version. Otherwise, you might encounter problems upgrading the application. For more information, see Dynamics 365 Business Central Upgrade Compatibility Matrix.
  • Starting in 2025 release wave 1 (v26), the direct upgrade from Business Central 2019 (v14) to the latest release will no longer be supported. The supported upgrade path will be through 2024 release wave 2 (v25).

Upgrade to Business Central 2024 Release Wave 1 (v24)

Source version Path
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015 (version 8)
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 (version 9)
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017 (version 10)
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018 (version 11)
  • Business Central October 2018 (version 13)
  1. Business Central Spring 2019 (version 14)
  2. Business Central 2024 Release Wave 1 (version 24)
This path requires you convert your application from C/AL to AL.
  • Business Central Spring 2019 (version 14)
  • Business Central 2019 Release Wave 2 (version 15)
  • Business Central 2020 release wave 1 (version 16)
  • Business Central 2020 release wave 2 (version 17)
  • Business Central 2021 release wave 1 (version 18)
  • Business Central 2021 release wave 2 (version 19)
  • Business Central 2022 release wave 1 (version 20)
  • Business Central 2022 release wave 2 (version 21)
  • Business Central 2023 release wave 1 (version 22)
  • Business Central 2023 release wave 2 (version 23)
 Direct to version 24

Upgrade to Business Central 2023 Release Wave 2 (v23)

Source version Path
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015 (version 8)
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 (version 9)
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017 (version 10)
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018 (version 11)
  • Business Central October 2018 (version 13)
  1. Business Central Spring 2019 (version 14)
  2. Business Central 2023 Release Wave 2 (version 23)
This path requires you convert your application from C/AL to AL.
  • Business Central Spring 2019 (version 14)
  • Business Central 2019 Release Wave 2 (version 15)
  • Business Central 2020 release wave 1 (version 16)
  • Business Central 2020 release wave 2 (version 17)
  • Business Central 2021 release wave 1 (version 18)
  • Business Central 2021 release wave 2 (version 19)
  • Business Central 2022 release wave 1 (version 20)
  • Business Central 2022 release wave 2 (version 21)
  • Business Central 2023 release wave 1 (version 22)
 Direct to version 23

Upgrade to Business Central 2023 Release Wave 1 (v22)

Source version Path
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018
  • Business Central v13
 Indirect. Upgrade to Business Central v14 first.
  • Business Central v14
  • Business Central v15
  • Business Central v16
  • Business Central v17
  • Business Central v18
  • Business Central v19
  • Business Central v20
  • Business Central v21
 Direct

Upgrade to Business Central 2022 Release Wave 2 (v21)

Source version Path
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018
  • Business Central v13
 Indirect. Upgrade to Business Central v14 first.
  • Business Central v14
  • Business Central v15
  • Business Central v16
  • Business Central v17
  • Business Central v18
  • Business Central v19
  • Business Central v20
 Direct

Upgrade to Business Central 2022 Release Wave 1 (v20)

Source version Path
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018
  • Business Central v13
 Indirect. Upgrade to Business Central v14 first.
  • Business Central v14
  • Business Central v15
  • Business Central v16
  • Business Central v17
  • Business Central v18
  • Business Central v19
 Direct

Upgrade to Business Central 2021 Release Wave 2 (v19)

Source version Upgrade path
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018
  • Business Central v13
 Indirect. Upgrade to Business Central v14 first.
  • Business Central v14
  • Business Central v15
  • Business Central v16
  • Business Central v17
  • Business Central v18
 Direct

Upgrade to Business Central 2021 Release Wave 1 (v18)

Source version Upgrade path
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018
  • Business Central v13
 Indirect. Upgrade to Business Central v14 first.
  • Business Central v14
  • Business Central v15
  • Business Central v16
  • Business Central v17
 Direct

Upgrade to Business Central 2020 Release Wave 2 (v17)

Source version Upgrade path
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018
  • Business Central v13
 Indirect. Upgrade to Business Central v14 first.
  • Business Central v14
  • Business Central v15
  • Business Central v16
 Direct

Upgrade to Business Central 2020 Release Wave 1 (v16)

Source version Upgrade path
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018
  • Business Central v13
 Indirect. Upgrade to Business Central v14 first.
  • Business Central v14
  • Business Central v15
 Direct

Note

Version 16.17 (published October 2021) is the last update for Business Central 2020 release wave 1.

All version 16 updates are compatible for upgrade with Business Central 2022 release wave 1 (version 20) and later release waves.

Upgrade to Business Central 2019 Release Wave 2 (v15)

Source version Upgrade path
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018
  • Business Central v13
 Indirect. Upgrade to Business Central v14 first.
  • Business Central v14
 Direct

Note

Version 15.18 (published in April 2021) is the last update for Business Central 2019 release wave 2.

All version 15 updates are compatible for upgrade with Business Central 2021 release wave 2 (version 19) and later release waves.

Upgrade to Business Central Spring 2019 (v14)

Note

  • If you're coming from version 13 or earlier, Business Central Spring 2019 (v14) is a required step to upgrade to the latest version of Business Central. However, mainstream support for version 14 ends in October 2023, and minor updates to the version are no longer available. New customers can't use version 14 in production, but only as a path for upgrading to latest version. Existing customers on version 14 remain supported by Microsoft as defined in the Fixed Lifecycle Policy.

  • All version 14 updates are compatible with any update version of Business Central 2024 release wave 1 and later release waves.

Source version Upgrade path
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018
  • Business Central v13
 Direct

See Also

Upgrading to Business Central 2022 Release Wave 2
Upgrading to Business Central 2022 Release Wave 1
Upgrading to Business Central 2021 Release Wave 2
Upgrading to Business Central 2021 Release Wave 1
Upgrading to Business Central Spring 2019
Migrate to Business Central Online from Business Central On-premises
Migrating On-Premises Data to Business Central Online