Update Channel

ComputerNeeds changes for IntuneL_UpdateBranch

Supported on SUPPORTED_Windows7 (defined in the Windows templates)

5568.1000

What it does

This policy setting controls which update channel Office gets updates from. If you enable this policy setting, Office gets updates from the update channel that you select. If you disable or don't configure this policy setting, Office gets updates from its default channel, or by the update channel specified by the Office Deployment Tool. The default channel is determined by which Office product that is installed. Note: This policy setting only applies to subscription versions of Office, such as Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, and to subscription versions of Project and Visio.

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
Channel NameDefault: Current Channel	Drop-down list	`updatebranch`	Current Channel`Current` Current Channel (Preview)`FirstReleaseCurrent` Monthly Enterprise Channel`MonthlyEnterprise` Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel`Deferred` Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview)`FirstReleaseDeferred` Beta Channel`InsiderFast`

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]
"updatebranch"="Current"

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: Update Channel
# Name: L_UpdateBranch
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: office16.admx

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

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.

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

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

ADMX SyncML candidate

<SyncML xmlns="SYNCML:SYNCML1.2">
  <SyncBody>
    <Replace>
      <CmdID>1</CmdID>
      <Item>
        <Meta>
          <Format>chr</Format>
          <Type>text/plain</Type>
        </Meta>
        <Target>
          <LocURI>./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_office16/L_UpdateBranch</LocURI>
        </Target>
        <Data>&lt;enabled/&gt;
&lt;data id="L_UpdateBranchID" value="Current"/&gt;</Data>
      </Item>
    </Replace>
    <Final/>
  </SyncBody>
</SyncML>

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: Update Channel
# Name: L_UpdateBranch
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: office16.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate' -Name 'updatebranch' -Kind 'String' -Expected 'Current'
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate\updatebranch') | 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: Update Channel
# Name: L_UpdateBranch
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: office16.admx

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

History 1 retained release

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

Template

Internal name: L_UpdateBranch
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="$(string.L_UpdateBranch)" explainText="$(string.L_UpdateBranchExplain)" key="software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate" name="L_UpdateBranch" presentation="$(presentation.L_UpdateBranch)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Updates" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7" />
      <elements>
        <enum id="L_UpdateBranchID" required="false" valueName="updatebranch">
          <item displayName="$(string.L_UpdateBranch_Current)">
            <value>
              <string>Current</string>
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.L_UpdateBranch_CurrentPreview)">
            <value>
              <string>FirstReleaseCurrent</string>
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.L_UpdateBranch_MonthlyEnterprise)">
            <value>
              <string>MonthlyEnterprise</string>
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.L_UpdateBranch_SemiAnnual)">
            <value>
              <string>Deferred</string>
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.L_UpdateBranch_SemiAnnualPreview)">
            <value>
              <string>FirstReleaseDeferred</string>
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.L_UpdateBranch_Beta)">
            <value>
              <string>InsiderFast</string>
            </value>
          </item>
        </enum>
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="L_UpdateBranch" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <dropdownList defaultItem="0" noSort="true" refId="L_UpdateBranchID">Channel Name:</dropdownList>
      </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>