Why does the Office update channel always revert to the Current channel?

Question

We used to change the Office 365 update channel by running:

cd "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun"
OfficeC2RClient.exe /changesetting Channel=SemiAnnual 
OfficeC2RClient.exe /update user

That does not seem to have any effect anymore as the update channel remains unchanged. I also can't find this method here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/updates/change-update-channels

Next I tried to use the ODT method with the below XML and running "setup.exe /configure <XML file path>". This does work initially, but after some amount of time (couple of days, maybe a week) Office automatically reverts back to the Current update channel.

<Configuration>
  <Add OfficeClientEdition="32" Channel="SemiAnnual">
    <Product ID="O365BusinessRetail">
      <Language ID="en-us" />
    </Product>
  </Add>
  <Updates Enabled="TRUE" Channel="SemiAnnual" />
</Configuration>

Why doesn't the update channel stay "SemiAnnual" after using the ODT method with the above XML?

Answer 1

Hi,

Did you want to change the update channel for Office 365?

If yes, I suggest you refer to this support article:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/updates/change-update-channels#change-the-update-channel-with-the-office-deployment-tool-odt

As the article said, please double-check these items:

Make sure the scheduled task "Office Automatic Updates 2.0" is enabled on the client devices. This task, which updates the assigned channel, is a required part of managing updates for Microsoft 365 Apps, whether you use Group Policy, the Office Deployment Tool, Configuration Manager, or Intune.

• Make sure that the update channel for the targeted device isn't set through Group Policy. Otherwise, the policy setting will take precedence over the Office Deployment Tool setting and the device will stay on the channel specified by the policy setting. In such case, either remove the policy setting from the device or use Group Policy to change the channel.

Just checking in to see if the information was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance.

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