Microsoft 365 Updates Channel

Companies who subscribe to Microsoft 365 should subscribe all SalesDoc Architect users to the Semi-Annual Enterprise Updates Channel and NOT the Current Updates Channel, which is Microsoft’s default channel.  According to Microsoft, the Semi-Annual Enterprise Updates Channel is best for organizations that “have a significant number of line-of-business applications, add-ins, or macros”.  SalesDoc Architect is an Office add-in.  The Semi-Annual Enterprise Updates Channel delays the release of new features by at least 4 months, allowing early users to test and report any problems to Microsoft so that (hopefully) they are resolved by the time they are released to Semi-Annual Enterprise Updates Channel users.

Recently, Microsoft introduced a new feature that negatively impacted SalesDoc Architect and, in fact, many Excel add-ins.  Users on the Semi-Annual Enterprise Updates Channel were not impacted by this issue, but those on the Current Updates Channel users were.  Please make sure that all users are on the Semi-Annual Enterprise Updates Channel so that they are not “guinea pigs” for testing Microsoft’s new features.

Please note that users on the Semi-Annual Enterprise Updates Channel will continue to receive security updates on a monthly basis.

Changing the Microsoft 365 Updates Channel

To set your company to the Semi-Annual Enterprise Updates Channel, sign into the Microsoft 365 admin center and go to Show all >> Settings >> Org settings >> Office software download settings and choose the “Every six months” option, then click “Save changes”.

Unfortunately, if you are changing your Office updates channel, it will only impact NEW Office installations.  For existing Office installations, you will need to change the updates channel as follows:

• In any Office application, go to File >> Account to determine if you need to change the updates channel.  You can find the update channel listed within the “About” section.
• Launch a Command Prompt as an Administrator.
• Navigate to “C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun”.
• To change your updates channel to semi-annual, type “OfficeC2RClient.exe /changesetting Channel=Deferred” and press Enter.
• To implement the change and start the channel switch process, type “OfficeC2RClient.exe /update user” and press Enter. This will initiate the Office updates download based on the channel you are switching to.

Alternatively, you can run the following from within a batch (BAT) file via the elevated (“as administrator”) command prompt:

• cd %programfiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun
• officec2rclient.exe /changesetting Channel=Deferred
• officec2rclient.exe /update user

Finally, Microsoft provides instructions for changing the Office updates channel with group policy or the Office Deployment Tool (ODT) or Configuration Manager.