Demystifying Microsoft 365 Update Channels
- Peter Doering
- Jan 27, 2024
- 4 min read
The regular updates of Microsoft 365 contain new features and other intended changes, but sometimes they also come with problems and bugs. To a certain extent, you can control the updates by choosing a suitable update channel, i.e. the interval and the "maturity" of the updates. Since selecting and changing channels is not straightforward, we want to provide the relevant information.
Current | Monthly Enterprise | |
New Features and Updates | as soon as they are available, at least once a month, usually more often, no set schedule | on 2nd Tuesday of each month |
Support | until next version, i.e. support for v2510 will end when v2511 comes out | 2 months |
Notes | This is the default channel for all Microsoft 365 plans and recommended by Microsoft. Although Microsoft classifies the Current Channel as a production channel, it is "Subject to Experimentation". Specifically, this means that Microsoft sends builds to a subset of users in the Current Channel for testing that are still listed as being in the Current Channel Preview only. This sometimes leads to confusion and bug issues that are difficult to resolve. For more details see our article Guinea Pigs on the Current Channel. | For production use, this is the most stable channel, since it is the only one that is not used for experiments. Its only drawback is that, if it is ever affected by an issue, the fix may take longer. Organizations can configure rollout waves, i.e. roll out MEC releases to a small audience, and then increase the audience size over time (up to 25 days from Patch Tuesday). |
Note: Effective July 14, 2026, Microsoft has stopped using the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel. If you are still on this channel you will receive the same updates as for Monthly Enterprise channel. More details on Goodbye Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel.
Beta | Current (Preview) | |
New Features and Updates | Includes features and updates still in development, installed on a weekly basis. | Features in final stage of development, a few times per month without set schedule. |
Support | No support by Microsoft given. | until next version, i.e. when v2510 comes out, support for v2509 ends |
Valid for all channels
Security and non-security updates (aka bug fixes) will be installed on a monthly basis, on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Severe security issues or bugs causing major problems will be fixed outside scheduled updates.
How to join a specific channel
If not assigned differently by your administrator, new Office installations will always be in Current Channel. There are various methods to change from a channel to a different one.
1. Personal and Family Subscriptions only
Personal and Family Subscriptions have the option to join the Insider channels Beta and Current Channel (Preview) by the In-App Button:
For all other versions and channels, the following methods of switching between Update Channels are available.
Following registry script will add an In-App button to your version of Office (elevated permissions required):
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\common\officechannelexposure]
"insiderfast"=dword:00000001
"firstreleasecurrent"=dword:00000001
"current"=dword:00000001
"monthlyenterprise"=dword:00000001Registry script as download:
The result after executing this script will be visible under File -> Account after Access is restarted:
Clicking the "Update Channel" button will show the channel choice, after confirming "I will manage my Microsoft 365 apps update channel":
3. Registry Command
The following command (when run from an elevated Command Line window) will prepare Office to setup the desired version next time an Office update is due, in this example "Current Channel (Preview)":
reg add HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate /v updatebranch /t REG_SZ /d CurrentPreviewThe update can be triggered manually from within Access (or other Office applications) under File -> Account -> Update -> Update Now.
For the list of channels see below.
4. Office Deployment Tool (ODT)
Download ODT and extract to a folder of your choice. You will see setup.exe and some configuration samples (XML files) for different types of installations, with choice from 32-/64-bit, channel and Office product.
Run the setup command from either a command line window or Run (Windows+R):
setup.exe /configure configuration.xmlConfiguration.xml holds instructions for ODT. It can be a valid XML file of any name.
Configuration sample for a new setup of Office Pro Plus 64-bit in Current Channel (Preview):
<Configuration>
<Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="CurrentPreview" >
<Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">
<Language ID="en-us" />
</Product>
</Add>
</Configuration>Configuration sample for updating the channel of an existing Office installation to Monthly Enterprise Channel:
<Configuration>
<Updates Channel="MonthlyEnterprise" />
</Configuration>XML sample files as download:
Microsoft also provides an Office Customization Tool (OCT) which allows you to specify a configuration and lets you generate and export the XML. The fastest channel supported by OCT is Current Channel Preview.
Note: This procedure will switch the update channel on your system temporarily until the next scheduled update, the next Patch Tuesday at the latest. To tell your system to stay in this channel you must execute the Registry Command (option 3).
Explanation of the important parameters
OfficeClientEdition The numbers "32" and "64" represent the x86 and x64 versions of Office.
Channel These are the channel IDs to use:
Current
MonthlyEnterprise
CurrentPreview
BetaChannel
Product ID There's a long list of product IDs. These are relevant for Access:
M365
O365ProPlusRetail
O365ProPlusEEANoTeamsRetail
O365BusinessRetail
AccessRuntimeRetail
Non-M365
AccessRetail
Access2019Retail
Access2021Retail
Access2024Retail
Access2019Volume
Access2021Volume
Access2024Volume
Language ID
The list of languages shows available languages/culture combinations for Office. The format of the list is ll-CC (language-CULTURE), e.g. en-US. The configuration file requires both language and culture in lower case, i.e. en-us.
5. Additional Options for Administrators
Administrators have more options to allow or disable channel updates using admin tools:
Thanks for the registry script to allow me to easily change the channel... it's a ripper!
I'd tried Powershell, BAT, ODT, OCD, and a dozen other TLAs that all failed. This make it EASY.
Thanks for the overview.
Do you have any idea why the ODT method would not persist? Everytime I used this method to install Office 365 Business, 32 bit, using the "SemiAnnual" update channel it would always automatically change to the "Current" update channel after a couple of days. Very annoying.
Also, using the XML configuration to update the existing installation with "SemiAnnual" as the channel ID simply does not change the update channel back.
So far method 2 and 3 do appear to work to update an existing installation. Going to keep an eye on the update channel the next couple of days to see if it changes back again.