Microsoft Closes The Garage, Its 17-Year-Old Employee Maker Space Program
Microsoft is winding down The Garage, with some of its roughly 15 global locations closing as soon as Oct. 23, 2026. The program spawned Seeing AI, Mouse Without Borders, and Xbox Adaptive Controller; its annual hackathon’s future is unclear.
Microsoft is shutting down The Garage, its internal maker space program where employees developed experimental apps, hardware, and accessibility tools over the past 17 years. Some locations are set to close as soon as October 23, 2026, with the rest to follow as the program winds down.
“We’re winding down The Garage program as a centralized function,” Microsoft said in an internal FAQ seen by The Verge’s Notepad newsletter. The closure was first reported by GeekWire.
The Garage operated roughly 15 locations across the US, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, with its main hub on Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington campus. CEO Satya Nadella regularly attended its annual hackathon events, giving employees direct access to senior leadership for their projects.
Several well-known Microsoft products originated in The Garage. The Seeing AI app, which describes objects and text to people who are blind or have low vision, grew out of a 2015 hackathon. Mouse Without Borders, which lets a single mouse and keyboard control up to four PCs, was built by employee Tuong Do during evenings and weekends. The Xbox Adaptive Controller also traces its origins to a Garage hackathon, eventually involving more than 80 employees and becoming the centerpiece of Microsoft’s 2019 Super Bowl commercial.
The Garage’s annual hackathon event may also disappear as a result. Microsoft’s FAQ states the hackathon team is “reimagining the program” but offered no specifics, saying only that more details would come later.
Internally, Microsoft has framed the closure by telling employees that “the spirit of experimentation that once lived primarily in dedicated programs is now reflected in how teams work every day.” Employees who spoke to The Verge described the move as part of a broader pattern of cutbacks, which earlier in 2026 included the closure of Microsoft’s employee library.
Microsoft has also removed The Garage’s public hall of fame website, eliminating a record of the program’s projects.