Prevent Office from being updated to a specific version

ComputerNeeds changes for IntuneL_UpdateBlockVersion

Supported on SUPPORTED_Windows7 (defined in the Windows templates)

5568.1000

What it does

This policy setting allows you to prevent Office from being updated to a specific version, and instead have Office be updated to a different version that you specify. If you enable this policy setting, you need to specify both the version to block and the version to update Office to. You list the version to block first and separate the two versions with a colon. You can specify more than one version to block by separating the entries with a vertical bar. For example, if you want to block versions 16.0.10326.10000 and 16.0.10326.20000 and have Office updated to version 16.0.10328.10000 instead, you would enter 16.0.10326.10000:16.0.10328.10000|16.0.10326.20000:16.0.10328.10000. If the blocked version is already installed, Office will be updated to the other version you've specified. Note: if you make a mistake entering the versions, the update won't be blocked. Also, be sure that the installation files for the version that you want to update Office to are available on the update location. If you disable or don't configure this policy setting, Office will be updated to whichever more current version is available in the location where Office is configured to get updates from, unless youve specified a version to block by using the Office Deployment Tool. Note: This policy setting only applies to Office products that are installed by using Click-to-Run. It doesn't apply to Office products that use Windows Installer (MSI).

What it writes

Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Registry key: software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate

Why it needs changes for Intune

Policy references a Windows supportedOn definition.
ADMX-INTUNE-WINDOWS-SUPPORTEDON-REFERENCE

Options

Option	Type	Registry value	Allowed values
Block version	Text	`blockversion`	Up to 255 characters

Configure and deploy

Choose a state and the option values; the output below is generated from the template for exactly that.

Enabled · Computer · template defaults

Registry file (.reg)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate]
"blockversion"=""

PowerShell

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: Prevent Office from being updated to a specific version
# Name: L_UpdateBlockVersion
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: office16.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate' -Name 'blockversion' -PropertyType 'String' -Value ''

The OMA-URI is an inferred ADMX-backed Policy CSP candidate derived from the source ADMX file name and policy name.
Some Microsoft policies use built-in Policy CSP pages whose area names don't match the ADMX file name, so verify the candidate against Microsoft Learn before deployment.
The generated payload is incomplete because one or more ADMX element values were not supplied: L_UpdateBlockVersionID

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_office16/L_UpdateBlockVersion

Intune remediation scripts

Detection

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$reasons = [System.Collections.Generic.List[string]]::new()

function Test-RegistryValueExists {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    return $null -ne (Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)
}

function Test-RegistryValueEquals {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Kind,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Expected
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    $valueObject = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if ($null -eq $valueObject) {
        return $false
    }

    $actual = $valueObject.$Name
    switch ($Kind) {
        'String' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'ExpandString' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'DWord' { return [uint32]$actual -eq [uint32]$Expected }
        'QWord' { return [uint64]$actual -eq [uint64]$Expected }
        'MultiString' {
            $actualArray = @($actual)
            $expectedArray = @($Expected)
            if ($actualArray.Count -ne $expectedArray.Count) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Count; $index++) {
                if ([string]$actualArray[$index] -cne [string]$expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        'Binary' {
            $actualArray = [byte[]]$actual
            $expectedArray = [byte[]]$Expected
            if ($actualArray.Length -ne $expectedArray.Length) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Length; $index++) {
                if ($actualArray[$index] -ne $expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        default { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
    }
}

# Policy: Prevent Office from being updated to a specific version
# Name: L_UpdateBlockVersion
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: office16.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate' -Name 'blockversion' -Kind 'String' -Expected ''
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate\blockversion') | Out-Null
}

if ($reasons.Count -eq 0) {
    Write-Output 'Compliant'
    exit 0
}

$reasons | ForEach-Object { Write-Output $_ }
exit 1

Remediation

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: Prevent Office from being updated to a specific version
# Name: L_UpdateBlockVersion
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: office16.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate' -Name 'blockversion' -PropertyType 'String' -Value ''

History 1 retained release

5568.100010 Aug 2026
- Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.

Template

Internal name: L_UpdateBlockVersion
Namespace: office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows
Template file: office16.admx
Release: Microsoft 365 Apps 5568.1000 · file set 8be05d876aae137d…

Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="Machine" displayName="$(string.L_UpdateBlockVersion)" explainText="$(string.L_UpdateBlockVersionExplain)" key="software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate" name="L_UpdateBlockVersion" presentation="$(presentation.L_UpdateBlockVersion)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Updates" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7" />
      <elements>
        <text id="L_UpdateBlockVersionID" required="false" valueName="blockversion" />
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="L_UpdateBlockVersion" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <textBox refId="L_UpdateBlockVersionID">
          <label>Block version:</label>
        </textBox>
      </presentation>

Supported platforms and category

office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_MicrosoftOfficemachine
<category displayName="$(string.L_MicrosoftOfficemachine)" name="L_MicrosoftOfficemachine" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_Updates
<category displayName="$(string.L_Updates)" name="L_Updates" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficemachine" />
    </category>
office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:unresolved:Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7
<unresolved reference="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7" />
office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_MicrosoftOfficemachine
<category displayName="$(string.L_MicrosoftOfficemachine)" name="L_MicrosoftOfficemachine" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficemachine">Microsoft Office 2016 (Machine)</string></strings>
office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_Updates
<category displayName="$(string.L_Updates)" name="L_Updates" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficemachine" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Updates">Updates</string></strings>