How to Change the Update Channels for Microsoft 365 Apps

Provided by the FMS Development Team

Having Microsoft 365 allows users to receive new and updated features to keep Office apps like Access, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Word current.

There are several Update Channel options that send new features, security updates and non-security updates at different periods of time. In this article, we go over each Update Channel and how to change from one channel to another.

Comparison of the Update Channels for Microsoft 365

Current Channel - Provides users with the latest features as soon as Microsoft releases them.

Monthly Enterprise Channel - Provides users with new or updated features on a monthly schedule.

Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel - Updates only occur in January and July that were vetted for half a year. Increases stability and reliability but delays receiving new features.

Visit our page, Microsoft 365 Access Update Version Releases to see a full list of all the updates that were released for Microsoft 365.

	Current Channel	Monthly Enterprise Channel	Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel
Feature Updates	There is no set schedule and users can see possibly multiple updates per month but at least one update a month.	Released on the second Tuesday of the month.	Released on the second Tuesday of the month in January and July.
Security Updates	Released on the second Tuesday of the month.	Released on the second Tuesday of the month.	Released on the second Tuesday of the month.
Non-Security Updates	There is no set schedule and users can see at least one update a month.	Released on the second Tuesday of the month.	Released on the second Tuesday of the month.
Support Duration	The Version is supported until the next Version is released.	Any version is supported for two months.	Any version is supported for fourteen months.

For more information on Microsoft 365 Update Channels, visit Overview of Update Channels for Microsoft 365 Apps.

How to Change the Microsoft 365 Update Channel

The Current Channel is the default update channel for Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise (previously referred to as Office 365 ProPlus) and for Business (previously referred to as Office 365 Business).

There are multiple ways to change the Update Channel:

Change with Microsoft 365 Admin Center
Change with Group Policy
Change with the Office Deployment Tool (ODT)
Change with Command Prompt

When changing the Update Channel, there are considerations to be made, visit Microsoft's Considerations when changing channels for more information.

Change with Microsoft 365 Admin Center

If the user installed Office for themselves, they can specify which Update Channel they want to install.

Sign in to the Microsoft Admin Center with the admin credentials.
Click [Show All] located in the right hand section.
Click the drop-down option called [Settings] and select [Org settings].
Under the [Services] tab, scroll down and select [Office installation options].
Choose one of the following Update Channels.

Change with Group Policy

Verify the scheduled task "Office Automatic Update 2.0" is enabled on the device. This task is a required part of managing updates for Microsoft 365 Apps.
Download the Administrative Template Files (ADMX/ADML) for Office Customization Tool for Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, Office 2019 and Office 2016.
In the Group Policy Management Tool, enable the Update Channel policy setting and choose the new Channel from the drop-down list.
The policy setting can be located under: Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office 2016 (Machine)\Updates
The Group Policy refreshes in the background every 90 minutes. To refresh the policy assignment immediately, you can use the gpupdate command. For more information, visit Microsoft's page on gpupdate.
After the Office Deployment Tool (ODT) has executed, the Office Automatic Update 2.0 task must run. The task will detect change and update channel. The device will not show the updated channel until a build of Office from the new channel is installed.

Change with the Office Deployment Tool (ODT)

Verify the scheduled task "Office Automatic Update 2.0" is enabled on the device. This task is a required part of managing updates for Microsoft 365 Apps.
Download the latest version of Office Deployment Tool.
Create a configuration file that specifies the new channel name.

Example
```
<Configuration>
	<Updates Channel="MonthlyEnterprise" />
</Configuration>
```
Allowed values
- Channel="CurrentPreview"
- Channel="Current"
- Channel="MonthlyEnterprise"
- Channel="SemiAnnualPreview"
- Channel="SemiAnnual"
Deploy the configuration file using your standard processes.
After the Office Deployment Tool (ODT) has executed, the Office Automatic Update 2.0 task must run. The task will detect change and update channel. The device will not show the updated channel until a build of Office from the new channel is installed.

Change with Command Prompt

Close all Office programs.
In the Windows Search Bar, type cmd or Command Prompt.
Launch Command Prompt to open its window.
Type: cd C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun

and press the [Enter] key.
To change to MonthlyEnterprise, type: OfficeC2RClient.exe /changesetting Channel=MonthlyEnterprise
(or whatever channel you prefer such as SemiAnnualPreview, SemiAnnual or the other channels listed earlier)

and press the [Enter] key.
Type: OfficeC2RClient.exe /update user

and press the [Enter] key.
You'll see a window about updating Office which may take several minutes. Wait until it is complete.
This window appears when the updates are installed.
In any Office program (Access, Excel, Word), click [Account].
In the "About Access" section, the Channel should now have your new channel like "Monthly Enterprise Channel".