Inventory every MSI Office product before enabling Remove MSI

Source facts

For Intune’s Microsoft 365 Apps deployment, existing Office MSI installations must be removed for installation to succeed. The removal option affects all Office MSI apps on the device, not just apps selected for the new suite. Microsoft also warns that open Office applications can cause installation failure and loss of unsaved work. Microsoft Learn.

Applicability

Use this review for a device moving from an MSI-based Office installation to the documented Microsoft 365 Apps deployment. Identify every existing Office product and the intended replacement suite before enabling removal.

DSE recommendation

Have the application owner compare the complete removal population with the replacement plan. Resolve required products or workflows that would otherwise disappear, and obtain approval for that broader change. Schedule the migration with users, ask them to save and close work, and keep a supported recovery plan. Do not infer authorization to remove an installed product solely because it was omitted from the new suite.

Verification

Rehearse on a representative device with the same starting Office inventory. Compare installed products before and after, then exercise the business documents, add-ins, and integrations the owner identified. Investigate any missing required application before extending deployment. Preserve the selected removal setting, source inventory, target suite, and user-workflow results. A successful new installation should not close the change if it silently removed a product the organization still needs.

Official references

Microsoft Learn: Add Microsoft 365 Apps to Windows Devices Using Microsoft Intune.