Microsoft 365 Installation Problems

How to Fix Microsoft 365 Office Deployment Tool Exclusions Not Persisting

Guest Writer Oct 12, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to prevent specific Microsoft 365 applications from reinstalling after being explicitly excluded during the initial Office Deployment Tool (ODT) setup.

How to Fix Microsoft 365 Office Deployment Tool Exclusions Not Persisting

Product: Microsoft 365 / Office Deployment Tool
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Deploying Microsoft 365 across devices with specific applications (like Access or Publisher) excluded via the ODT configuration.
Observed behavior: Excluded applications are unexpectedly installed a few days later because the original deployment configuration and registry entries get overwritten.

Before you start

Ensure you have administrative privileges on the affected Windows machine and access to your original Office Deployment Tool configuration.xml file.

Solution 1Recommended

Verify Registry and Rerun the Office Deployment Tool

Check if the exclusion registry keys are missing and reapply your original deployment configuration to restore the intended setup.

Often, background management processes or conflicting updates overwrite the local deployment configuration. When this happens, the 'excluded-apps' registry entry is removed, causing Office to reinstall the omitted applications.

Check the registry for the excluded-apps entry

Press the Windows key, type 'regedit', and press Enter to open the Registry Editor. Navigate to the Office configuration keys (typically under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office) to verify if the 'excluded-apps' entry is still present.

Locate your ODT configuration file

Find your original 'configuration.xml' file used for the deployment. Ensure it still contains the correct <ExcludeApp ID="AppName" /> tags for the applications you want to block.

Rerun the ODT command

Open Command Prompt as an Administrator. Navigate to the folder containing the Office Deployment Tool and run the command: 'setup.exe /configure configuration.xml' to reapply the exclusions.

Verify Registry and Rerun the Office Deployment Tool

Prevent Future Overwrites: If you are using configuration management software like SCCM or Intune, ensure that subsequent compliance policies or application deployments do not push a standard Office installation that lacks your specific exclusions.

Solution 2

Investigate via Microsoft 365 Admin Center

Escalate the issue to your IT department or Microsoft Support to trace the root cause of the configuration overwrite.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why do excluded Microsoft 365 apps get installed automatically?

This happens when a secondary deployment process, an automatic feature update, or a conflicting endpoint management policy (like Intune or SCCM) overwrites your initial Office Deployment Tool configuration, stripping away the exclusions.

How do I exclude an app in the Office Deployment Tool configuration.xml?

Inside your configuration.xml file, you must add an <ExcludeApp> element within the <Product> node. For example, to exclude Microsoft Access, you would add <ExcludeApp ID="Access" />.

How can I tell if my ODT exclusions were overwritten?

You can verify this by checking the Windows Registry. If the 'excluded-apps' entry is missing from the Office configuration keys, or if you suddenly see the excluded apps appearing in your Windows Start menu, the configuration has been overwritten.

Installation & Activation