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LukaszSkorupski-0928 avatar image
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LukaszSkorupski-0928 asked emilyhua-msft commented

"Apps & features" reporting incorrect MS Office version

This was previously raised by someone here, but no resolution was provided:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-other_settings/why-does-programs-and-features-show-the-wrong/6e47470d-f084-4e06-bda3-a041f6d3ed8f

I'm in similar situation. I noticed MS Office version reported in "Apps & features" is incorrect and shows the version that was originally installed (16.0.4266.1001) not the one that is currently installed after updates (16.0.5149.1000 in my case) and can be checked directly in Office apps. This issue follows all 3rd party solutions for software inventory as well. They all report the same, incorrect version, as in "Apps & features". Old applet "Programs and Features" in Control Panel also reports the same.

Affected machines are in a domain. We don't have any GP rules defined for MS Office. Deployment is done manually during first setup. Updates are then distributed via Windows Updates. Pretty standard setup.

Is there anyone else struggling with this? Do you have any ideas what could be the problem?

office-deployment
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1 Answer

emilyhua-msft avatar image
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emilyhua-msft answered emilyhua-msft commented

@LukaszSkorupski-0928

Please go to Start menu > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, View update history, check the latest updates for Office installed on your machines.

If the updates installed recently are April 2021 updates for Office 2016, I would suggest you download and install the latest updates, such as June 2021 updates manually on test computers to check the version number in Control Panel.

For MSI versions of Office, sometimes the version numbers are different in Office and Contral Panel.
Here is a similar thread, "Version number displayed in control panel different than version number displayed in Project", you may refer to Ismet Kocaman's answer.
"Not all updates change the version number that is listed in the About Microsoft Program_Name dialog box. Therefore, you must verify the properties for the program's executable file."

Any updates, please let me know.


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Hi @emilyhua-msft, thanks for your response. Appreciated. It's unfortunate it works this way. Checking .exe properties on 100+ machines is not feasible. Is there a better way to tackle this in business environment, or should I start working on a custom script? All I need is accurate visibility of MS Office version installed on all endpoints.

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@LukaszSkorupski-0928 ·
On my test environment, I found the WMI command-line (WMIC) utility could help us check some information of Office program's executable file.
I installed the 6 April 2021 updates for Microsoft Office 2016, then I get the version number of "Excel.exe" via wmic datafile where "name='C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office16\\EXCEL.EXE'" get version command.
106891-capture42.png

Hope this information could help you writing the script.

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capture42.png (97.8 KiB)

@LukaszSkorupski-0928
I am checking this thread, is there any update?
If yes, you may post back.

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