Unable to uninstall Project or Visio from Office 365 Click-to-run using XML

Question

I have been deploying Office 365 Click-to-run using SCCM over several years and always have had a base install without Visio Pro or Project Pro. I have been using a configuration.xml to allow users to add or remove Project/Visio where required. With the current semi-annual version of Office I am struggling to Un-install these (although they successfully add just fine).

For both adding Project/Visio I use the command:

• setup.exe /configure configuration.xml

I roughly use the same technique as the following article:

• https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/office-365-blog/excluding-and-re-including-applications-within-the-office-365/ba-p/1250367

Here is my XML for adding Project which successfully adds Project Pro (in addition with Word,Excel,Publisher,Outlook):

<Configuration>  
 <Add OfficeClientEdition="32" Channel="SemiAnnual" OfficeMgmtCOM="TRUE" Version="MatchInstalled">  
	<Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">  
		 <Language ID="en-us" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Access" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Bing" />  
	</Product>  
	<Product ID="ProjectProRetail">  
		 <Language ID="en-us" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Access" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Bing" />  
	 </Product>  
 </Add>  
 <Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />  
</Configuration>  

Here is my XML for removing Project - which completes without Error, however Project Pro remains:

<Configuration>  
 <Add OfficeClientEdition="32" Channel="SemiAnnual" OfficeMgmtCOM="TRUE" Version="MatchInstalled">  
	 <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">  
		 <Language ID="en-us" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Access" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Bing" />  
	 </Product>  
 </Add>  
 <Remove>  
	<Product ID="ProjectProRetail">  
		 <Language ID="en-us" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Access" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />  
		 <ExcludeApp ID="Bing" />  
	 </Product>  
 </Remove>  
 <Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />  
</Configuration>  

So I am really struggling with using the logs which now only get kept in Windows\temp* and dont appear to assist me in identify whats going wrong (as I said the uninstall process completes without error). I would be happy with an explanation of how to read the logs here, but essentially I am hoping to identify what I may have wrong with my XLM?

Answer 1

Hi @Stephen Mattern

As you use SCCM to deploy Office, to narrow down, could you please choose one client machine to do a test as following?
Download the ODT, and run it with following configuration file:

<Configuration>  
  <Remove>  
     <Product ID="ProjectProRetail">  
     <Language ID="en-us" />  
     </Product>  
  </Remove>  
 </Configuration>  

Based on my test, I can uninstall Project successfully.

If you can use the .xml file above remove Project, then you can try to distribute it to clients via SCCM.

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