News
Windows 365 Reserve, Microsoft's Cloud PC Rental Service, Hits Preview
- By Chris Paoli
- August 13, 2025
Microsoft has launched a limited public preview of its new "Windows 365 Reserve" service, which lets organizations rent cloud PC instances in the event their Windows devices are stolen, lost or damaged.
The company first detailed Windows 365 Reserve in June as part of a broader announcement related to its Windows Resiliency Initiative (WRI). Windows 365 Reserve gives customers access to preconfigured cloud PCs via the Windows app or a Web browser until their normal device access is restored. Users get up to 10 days of access per year to secure cloud PCs preloaded with Microsoft 365 applications, organizational configurations and Intune-enforced security policies.
The Reserve PCs are provisioned only when needed. Administrators configure licensing and deployment policies through Microsoft Intune. This on-demand approach is intended to avoid unnecessary resource use while ensuring that a backup computing environment can be made available quickly. Per Microsoft:
The Windows 365 Reserve provisioning policy is a simplified version of the Windows 365 Enterprise and Windows 365 Frontline provisioning policy, and determines:
- Which geography the Cloud PCs will be created in
- Which Microsoft Entra user groups will get reserve coverage
- (Optional) Which major gallery image version, language pack, and scope tags will be applied to the Cloud PC when provisioned
The service applies zero trust security measures -- for instance allowing administrators to revoke access to specific users when required.
Notifications are sent to users when their temporary access period nears its end. Reserve PCs can also be "returned" before the 10 days are up, and any remaining days can be used at a later time; the Windows 365 Reserve PC interface shows the number of access days left.
Microsoft positions the service as an alternative to maintaining physical loaner devices or legacy virtual desktop infrastructure, as well as a way to minimize downtime by enabling employees to continue working in a secure environment while their primary device issue is addressed.
The limited public preview is currently available on a gated basis. Organizations interested in testing the service can submit a request through Microsoft's sign-up form or work with their account team. Details on general availability and pricing have not yet been announced.