Dealing with ISV Extension Updates in Business Central: A Practical Guide

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Introduction

As of August 2025, the number of third-party apps available for Dynamics 365 Business Central on Microsoft AppSource is estimated to be between 4,000 and 6,500.

Microsoft regularly publishes marketplace updates, with 200–300 new offers added monthly across all product lines, a significant portion of which are Business Central extensions. 

It's clear that the Business Central ecosystem is rapidly growing, making extension update management increasingly critical.

The majority of clients we've worked with use third-party modules to enhance their business processes, making the management of extension updates a critical part of our environment health checklist.

References

Configuration

If you don’t have access to the Business Central Admin Center, your only option is to uninstall the extension and then reinstall it from AppSource.


However, if you do have access to the Admin Center and prefer to manage app updates manually.
Navigate to your environment and click on Apps.


Here, you can - 
  • Update individual applications
  • Uninstall extensions
  • Manage AppSource (global), PTE (per-tenant), and dev extensions



For those looking to automate this process, Microsoft offers the "Appa Update Cadence" setting, which controls how and when apps are updated alongside Business Central.


There are three available settings:
  • Default – Apps are currently updated with each major update, though Microsoft may increase the update frequency in the future.
  • With minor and major updates – Apps update with both monthly and wave releases.
  • With major updates only – Updates occur only during the biannual major releases.

Conclusion

Managing third-party extension updates in D365 Business Central is essential to maintaining a stable and reliable environment. 
Whether updates are handled manually through the Admin Center or automated using the App Update Cadence feature, having a clear process helps minimize disruptions. 
With the growing number of extensions in AppSource, proactively testing updates, monitoring changes, and coordinating with ISV partners ensures your Business Central environment stays healthy and future-ready.

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