Solved How to uninstall individual apps from an existing installation of Office 365?

archz2 · May 28, 2024

I want to remove individual apps from existing Ms office 365 installation on my laptop running Windows 11. I tried to do this with a configuration file containing the following code.

Code:

<Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="Current">

    <Product ID="O365BusinessRetail">

      <Language ID="MatchOS" />

      <Language ID="hi-in" />

      <ExcludeApp ID="Access" />

      <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />

      <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />

      <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />

      <ExcludeApp ID="OneNote" />

      <ExcludeApp ID="Publisher" />

      <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />

    </Product>

    <Product ID="ProofingTools">

      <Language ID="en-us" />

    </Product>

  </Add>

In a new folder folder called 'foroffice' where I saved extracted files from office deployment tool, I went to command prompt and typed the following command.

Code:

D:\foroffice>setup.exe /configure preferencesconfig.xml

But then nothing happened.

I also ran the following commands in powershell with admin privileges but still no change.

Code:

Get-AppxPackage -Name "Microsoft.Office.Desktop.Access" | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -Name "Microsoft.Office.Desktop.OneNote" | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -Name "Microsoft.Office.Desktop.Publisher" | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -Name "Microsoft.Office.Desktop.Teams" | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -Name "Microsoft.Office.Desktop.Groove" | Remove-AppxPackage

Am I supposed to do the installation again or is there a way to remove apps from my existing Office 365 installation?

OAT · May 28, 2024

archz2 said:
Code:

<Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="Current"> <Product ID="O365BusinessRetail"> <Language ID="MatchOS" /> <Language ID="hi-in" /> <ExcludeApp ID="Access" /> <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" /> <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" /> <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" /> <ExcludeApp ID="OneNote" /> <ExcludeApp ID="Publisher" /> <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" /> </Product> <Product ID="ProofingTools"> <Language ID="en-us" /> </Product> </Add>

In a new folder folder called 'foroffice' where I saved extracted files from office deployment tool, I went to command prompt and typed the following command.

Code:

D:\foroffice>setup.exe /configure preferencesconfig.xml

But then nothing happened.

Am I supposed to do the installation again or is there a way to remove apps from my existing Office 365 installation?

Hi,
Is the preferencesconfig.xml located in the same 'foroffice' directory?( with setup.exe)
If not, you need to specify the fully qualified path.
My configuration.xml has <Configuration> & </Configuration> tags.

pseymour · May 28, 2024

In addition to what @OAT said, especially the part about the Configuration tag missing.... if you excluded apps in the initial installation, you need to exclude them when you modify the installation also.

I've attached a sample XML file that I just used to remove Access, PowerPoint, and Publisher, so I know it works. Might help to compare mine to yours.

Also.... Excluding and re-including applications within the Office 365 ProPlus Suite

archz2 · May 28, 2024

Thanks, I used your edited xml file and added the software that I wanted to remove. The setup and the xml file are in the same folder.

The setup ran smoothly and after it completed, I got a confirmation message. However, access and publisher still exist on my machine. What to do now?

Tried again with the following configuration but still no success

Code:

<Configuration>
  <Add Version="MatchInstalled">
    <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">
      <Language ID="MatchOS" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Access" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Publisher" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="OneNote" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Bing" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />
    </Product>
  </Add>
</Configuration>

Berton · May 28, 2024

Haven't tried with my Microsoft 365 [Dec. '23] but on older versions of Office one could do a Repair install and choose parts to leave out.

OAT · May 28, 2024

Berton said:
Haven't tried with my Microsoft 365 [Dec. '23] but on older versions of Office one could do a Repair install and choose parts to leave out.

This no longer applies.

pseymour · May 28, 2024

You may need the AllowCdnFallback="TRUE" attribute in your Add tag. This value is false by default, and the article I linked says

Setup.exe and the configuration file will need access to the Office source files. Either from the Microsoft CDN (Recommended) or internally by including them in a Configuration Manager application.

Scott · May 28, 2024

pseymour said:
I've attached a sample XML file that I just used to remove Access, PowerPoint, and Publisher

Will this work for Office 2021 Pro Plus given:

Code:

<Product ID="2021ProPlusRetail">

Within the script?

pseymour · May 28, 2024

@Scott seems the product ID is ProPlus2021Retail.

Product IDs that are supported by the Office Deployment Tool for Click-to-Run - Microsoft 365

Lists product IDs that the Office Deployment Tool for Click-to-Run supports.

learn.microsoft.com

Scott · May 28, 2024

pseymour said:
@Scott seems the product ID is ProPlus2021Retail.

Product IDs that are supported by the Office Deployment Tool for Click-to-Run - Microsoft 365

Lists product IDs that the Office Deployment Tool for Click-to-Run supports.

learn.microsoft.com

You are correct sir

Scott · May 28, 2024

@pseymour I must be doing something wrong. Seems it ignores my xml file. They're all still installed.

archz2 · May 29, 2024

pseymour said:
You may need the AllowCdnFallback="TRUE" attribute in your Add tag. This value is false by default, and the article I linked says

Here's how the xml file looks.

Code:

<Configuration>
  <Add Version="MatchInstalled">
  <AllowCdnFallback="TRUE">
    <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">
      <Language ID="MatchOS" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Access" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Publisher" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="OneNote" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Bing" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />
    </Product>
  </Add>
</Configuration>

I am getting this error now. I'm connected to internet and my hard drive has the same amount of ample free space (51.3 GB) as before.

archz2 · May 29, 2024

Ok. I edited the xml file as below. The '>' at the end of matchinstalled was causing the issue. However, even after using this xml file I get the same outcome. The apps still remain installed.

Code:

<Configuration>
  <Add Version="MatchInstalled"
       AllowCdnFallback="TRUE">
    <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">
      <Language ID="MatchOS" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Access" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Publisher" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="OneNote" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Bing" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />
    </Product>
  </Add>
</Configuration>

pseymour · May 29, 2024

I'm not sure why, but you had a product ID of O365BusinessRetail in your original post, but now you have O365ProPlusRetail, which is what was in my XML file. I posted my file for comparison purposes; you can't just take my file and use it on your installation if we're installing different products. You should compare mine to your original file and see what the differences are.

archz2 · May 29, 2024

Sorry. My bad. I checked my installed version using registry editor by going to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration and checking the ProductReleaseID key and then edited the line in my xml accordingly to

<Product ID="O365HomePremRetail">

Now the targeted apps aren't on my system.

pseymour · May 29, 2024

Nice! And no worries. We’re all still (hopefully) learning every day. Glad it’s sorted.

Solved How to uninstall individual apps from an existing installation of Office 365?

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