MC1249427 - Retirement of the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel option in the Office Customization Tool

Updated April 9, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

Introduction

We’re retiring the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel option from the Office Customization Tool in the Microsoft 365 apps admin center and in the Microsoft Office 365 Client Management experience in Configuration Manager. This retirement supports our ongoing efforts to simplify update channel management for Microsoft 365 Apps and ensure customers benefit from the most secure, up-to-date experience. We will continue to invest in the Monthly Enterprise Channel and Current Channel, which offer more frequent security and feature updates.

When this will happen

We will begin retiring this option on April 15, 2026 (previously April 6), and expect to complete the retirement by April 20, 2026 (previously April 11).

How this affects your organization

Who is affected

• Organizations that use the Office Customization Tool in the Microsoft 365 apps admin center to create deployment configurations for Microsoft 365 Apps.
• Organizations that use the Microsoft Office 365 Client Management experience in Configuration Manager.

What will happen

• The Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel will be removed from the list of available update channel options when creating new deployment configurations.
• Deployment configurations you have already created that use Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel will continue to retain that value when viewed or edited; however, it will not be available as a selectable option for new configurations.
• Only Current Channel and Monthly Enterprise Channel will be available for new configuration creation.
• There is no impact to devices currently configured for Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel.

What you can do to prepare

No admin action is required for this retirement. You may choose to:

• Notify relevant admins or deployment teams of this upcoming change.
• Update internal documentation if it references the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel as a selectable option.
• Review your existing configurations in the Office Customization Tool if you plan to transition to a different update channel going forward.
• If desired, use this Microsoft Learn resource to plan channel migration: Change the Microsoft 365 Apps update channel for devices in your organization | Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn.

Compliance considerations

No compliance considerations identified. Review as appropriate for your organization.