Complete guide to using the Office customization tool

Nowadays, customize the installation of Microsoft Office It is a real need in business and educational environments. Thanks to the Office Customization Tool, system administrators can tailor Office installation to their organization's specific needs, optimizing time and resources and ensuring a consistent configuration across devices.

In this complete guide, you will learn How to use the Office Customization Tool Step by step, what advantages it offers, what you can modify with it, and what additional tools you need to successfully configure your setup. Whether you're an IT professional, a technician, or simply an advanced user, this information will help you master this powerful resource.

What is the Office Customization Tool?

La Office Customization Tool (OCT) is a utility provided by Microsoft that allows you to create configuration files for custom Office installations. This tool is especially useful in corporate or educational environments, where specific configuration is often required for hundreds or thousands of devices.

Not to be confused with the traditional installer, as the default installer installs all applications in their standard configurations. However, by using this tool you can:

• Select which Office applications are installed (for example, exclude Access, Publisher, or Skype).
• Set the default language or multiple languages.
• Establish update channels such as monthly, semi-annual or other.
• Automatically apply licenses and product keys.
• Set specific preferences such as save locations, default file type, macro notifications, etc.

Another great advantage is that The generated configuration is saved as an XML file, which you can then use with the Office Deployment Tool (ODT) to run the installation automatically.

Access and first steps with the tool

To begin the process, access to the Office customization tool It is done through the browser, on the official website of Microsoft 365Simply search for “Office Customization Tool” in your browser and access the first result that points to the Microsoft domain.

Once inside the wizard, you'll be guided step-by-step through the different configuration sections to create your custom file. Let's take a closer look at each section and its possibilities.

Product and version configuration

The first thing the wizard will ask you to do is select the architecture (32 or 64 bits) and the products you want to include in the installation. For example, you can choose:

• Office 365 Apps
• Office LTSC 2021
• Vision
• Project
• Access Runtime

Here is also defined the update channel you want to keep your software up to date. Common options include:

• Monthly business channel: : monthly stable updates.
• Semiannual channel: ideal for deployments with pre-testing.
• Current channel: : get new features fast.

Apps, languages, and additional options

After choosing the product, you can select the specific Office applications that you want to install or exclude. From here, you can, for example, uncheck Publisher or Skype if they're not needed by your users.

In the section language, you can choose one or more languages, and also enable the “Match operating system” option to automatically install the languages ​​configured on the user’s system.

Installation options

In this section you can decide whether you want to install Office from the cloud (Microsoft CDN) or from a local sourceFor business environments, it's most common to do this from your own server to reduce external bandwidth usage.

You can also decide whether the installation will be visible to the user, whether open Office applications will be closed, and other details such as blocking automatic restarts if important updates are released.

Updates and improvements

Within the Updates block, the tool allows you to configure how future software updates will be managed. You can specify whether updates will be downloaded directly from the cloud, from a shared local location, or through Configuration Manager.

Another advanced option is to allow the Automatic removal of previous versions of Office in MSI formatThis feature is key if you're migrating from older versions like Office 2016 or 2013.

Licensing and activation

In this section, you can configure how the installed product will be activated. Common options include:

• User-based
• Device-based
• Shared mode for remote desktops or virtual desktop environments

You can also automatically accept the terms of the license agreement and provide keys as KMS o MAK if you are using a volume license.

Application preferences

One of the most powerful elements of this tool is the ability to customize the internal settings of each Office application. From here you can set default settings for Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and others.

Common examples include:

• Disable VBA macro notifications
• Configure default file save locations
• Use formats like .docx or .xlsx as standard

These preferences can be applied both in new and existing facilities.

Export and apply settings

Once all the sections are defined, the wizard will allow you to review a summary of the configuration and then prompt you to export the file. This file is saved in XML format with a name of your choice, for example: configuration.xml.

When exporting, you can choose to save it locally or directly to the cloud if you're managing from the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Applying settings with the Office Deployment Tool

The Office Customization Tool does not directly install anything. To use the file configuration.xml, you need the Office Deployment Tool.

These are the basic steps:

1. Download the tool from the official Microsoft website.
2. Run the file as administrator to extract its contents.
3. Place the file configuration.xml in the same folder as setup.exe.
4. From the line of commands, run the following:
   setup.exe /configure configuration.xml

This will start the installation of Microsoft Office according to the preferences you previously configured. If, on the other hand, you only want to download the installation files from the internet to your local network, use:
setup.exe /download configuration.xml

Managing files in the cloud

Another advanced feature that this tool offers is the possibility of save your configuration files to the cloud, within the Microsoft 365 admin center. This is useful if, for example, you have multiple configuration profiles based on departments or teams.

From the section of Device settings In the administration panel, you can:

• Create and save new files
• Edit existing files already stored
• Duplicate files to create variations
• Download or upload configuration files

Real-world use cases: Office 2019, 2021, and Office LTSC

The tool is compatible with both traditional installations of Office 2019 or 2021 and volume licensed versions such as Office LTSC 2021.

For projects like these, it is common to prepare a shared network folder where the following are stored:

• The file setup.exe
• The file configuration.xml
• Downloaded Office files

Once the environment is complete, you can clone that folder to multiple devices for automated installations across your organization.

La Office customization tool It's an essential resource for any system administrator who wants complete control over how and what is installed on their organization's computers. From choosing which products to include, how they're updated, and in which languages, to establishing specific usage policies, everything can be precisely defined. Thanks to its integration with the deployment tool, this solution is ideal for massive, well-organized deployments. Additionally, by allowing configurations to be saved in the cloud and easily edited, it offers flexibility and productivity in dynamic environments. If you want to stop manually managing each Office installation, this is the way to go.