Ten years ago, I wrote a couple of articles - How to download the latest Office from the Microsoft website without any App-V / Habr (habr.com) and How to download Microsoft Office 16 from the Microsoft website / Habr (habr.com), using the then little-known Office Deployment Tool.
Time flies. After Office 2016 came Office 2019, Office 2021, and now it's time for Office 2024. Well, let's see what has changed in terms of downloading, installing, and activating the product over the past ten years.
First, let's talk about the versions and editions of Microsoft Office. To avoid being too meticulous in the description, I'll briefly state the most important thing: over the years, the Office lineup has evolved. There are different subscriptions and update plans, new features appear in new versions, and bug fixes and patches for found vulnerabilities are released for older versions.
Microsoft has long since switched to a system of distributing Office family products through various so-called "channels," depending on how often you want to receive new features and updates.
The key difference in the current download and installation of Office from what was relevant in the days of Office 2016 is that you must determine which distribution channel you are going to use - that is, from which channel you are going to install the product itself. For those who would like to study the different distribution channels in detail, I suggest reading the original source - Office updates - Office release notes | Microsoft Learn. For the rest, I'll summarize briefly - Microsoft now prefers to sell everyone a subscription to Microsoft 365 (what was previously called Office 365), with regularly updated features under the so-called Modern Lifecycle Policy. The consumer (boxed, retail) versions of Office 2021 are also distributed under this modern policy. Office 2021, for example, is only supported until October 13, 2026. And older versions follow the so-called Fixed Lifecycle Policy, under which Office 2016 and Office 2019 are only supported until October 14, 2025. In general, they will not stop working after that date, but they will stop receiving updates. And for those of you who use email services based on Microsoft Outlook.com or Office365, and possibly Microsoft Exchange users, with updates released after October 14, 2025, it's time to think about upgrading.
In addition to the consumer versions of the Office family and Microsoft 365 subscriptions, there are also perpetual versions of the products. We often call them corporate or LTSC. They are supported by Microsoft for a much longer time, but they do not receive feature updates, only patches for vulnerabilities and fixes for serious bugs. For the curious, I suggest looking at the comparison of build versions for consumer and corporate versions of Office 2019 (version 2405 (build 17628.20110) versus version 1808 of Office 2019 LTSC (build 10410.20026)) and for Office 2021 (version 2405 (build 17628.20110) versus version 2108 of Office 2021 LTSC (build 14332.20706)). They are all updated monthly, but the difference in functionality is significant. Significant new features in Excel and Word, primarily related to neural networks, artificial intelligence, and working with large tables, do not make it into the corporate versions.
Microsoft Office 2024 and Microsoft Office 2024 LTSC versions were recently announced. In this note, I will describe how to install the LTSC version - with the very latest innovations from Microsoft. I will also tell those who do not want new features what to do.
So, take this as a recommendation, but judge for yourself what you want - choose to install from the Current Channel (Current Channel) - as the most feature-complete of the non-Insider channels. That is, stable, but fresh. Office 2024 / 2024 LTSC with a final license (not a Preview, which will expire) is now available in it. Today, version 2405 (build 17628.20110) is available there. It is starting from version 17628 that you can activate Office 2024 LTSC without the Preview status. Build 17628 has also been available in the PerpetualVL2024 channel for a week, but the feature version there is lower than in Current - the choice is yours.
If you are happy with Office 2019 or 2021 and want to update less frequently, choose the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel. Today, version 2308 (build 16731.20674) is available in it. Feel free to download and install Office 2019/2021 from there.
If you don't want any feature updates at all, choose the PerpetualVL2019, PerpetualVL2021, or PerpetualVL2024 channel.
So, you have decided to download and install the corporate Office 2024 (or any earlier version), have chosen one of the channels described above, and are ready to begin the download and installation.
Just like ten years ago, as I wrote in the articles linked at the beginning of this post, you will need the Office Deployment Tool. Download it from the Microsoft website and unpack it (in my example, to C:\ODT). Unless you have any specific reasons not to, always take the latest version of the tool - only the latest ODT can download the latest versions of Office. (Yes, the old ODT from 2021 works without the Russia block, but it doesn't know about Office 2024)
Oh, trouble, Microsoft has blocked downloading Office with ODT from Russia, you say? :) The utility gives an error with every attempt..
No, not a problem at all. Microsoft, as usual, closes the main door but leaves us workarounds. You should set the value of the CountryCode registry key in HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\ExperimentConfigs\Ecs to "std::wstring|US" - or any other value except "std::wstring|RU"
You can do this by running the command: reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\ExperimentConfigs\Ecs" /v "CountryCode" /t REG_SZ /d "std::wstring|US" /f
Now let's edit the configuration file. By default, we'll use the provided configuration-Office2021Enterprise.xml as an example. Copy it as configuration.xml, and in it, change the channel from PerpetualVL2021 to Current (or to the channel you prefer). Select ProPlus2024Volume, VisioPro2024Volume, and ProjectPro2024Volume as the products (remove what you don't need). Change the language to "ru-ru" - you can add a second (third, fourth,...) line <Language ID="ru-ru" /> below <Language ID="en-us" />, and then you will have two (three,...) interface languages. Saved the file? Great, now from the command line (in administrator mode), navigate to the C:\ODT folder and run setup.exe /download configuration.xml
The process will start and, depending on your internet speed, will download everything to the current folder. In my case, the latest build 16.0.17628.20110 of the Current Channel was downloaded to C:\ODT\Office\Data\16.0.17628.20110.
Now I'll reveal a very interesting point - within the downloaded build 16.0.17628.20110 (or any other), I can install any of the products - a standalone retail Word 2019 (by selecting the Word2019Retail product in configuration.xml instead of ProPlus2024Volume), the corporate Office 2019 Standard by selecting Standard2019Volume, or any other product or combination, by choosing a product from the list here. The version will only depend on the build in that channel. For example, in the Current Channel, build 16.0.17628.20110 is version 2405 (May 2024) for all SKUs - from Office 2016 to LTSC 2024 or Microsoft 365 Apps. However, if you download Office from its "native" channels - for example, Office 2024 LTSC in the PerpertualVL2024 channel - the build is also 2405 (and the build number is even higher today, but the version will not increase in the future), for Office 2021 LTSC in the PerpetualVL2021 channel, the version is 2108, and for Office 2019 LTSC in the PerpetualVL2019 channel, the version is 1808. In the Insider channels, build 17730 (version 2407) and 17726 (version 2406) are already available - these builds will soon reach other channels. The build in the Current channel will increase its version, but in the PerpertualVL channels, it will not. The conclusion is - if you are not one of those who have been using the same hammer since the Stone Age, but progress with technology, install from the Current channel. Yes, there is an inconvenience in that you download with one configuration.xml and then edit it for installation (the error image on the next page confirms that Volume products refuse to install from the Current channel) - but this inconvenience is easily overcome: download from one channel, install as another. Or change the channel after installation using third-party tools and update regularly, receiving not only new builds but also new versions. Including for LTSC.
This means that the retail channel has Volume editions, and you can have build 16.0.17628.20110 version 2405 - for Office 2016, Office 2019, Office 2019 LTSC, Office 2021, Office 2021 LTSC, Office 2024, or Office 2024 LTSC. The download gets common files, and you can choose any version to install in the next step.
In my case, I have this configuration.xml file
<Configuration> <Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="Current"> <Product ID="ProPlus2024Volume"> <Language ID="en-us" /> <Language ID="ru-ru" /> <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" /> </Product> <Product ID="VisioPro2024Volume"> <Language ID="en-us" /> <Language ID="ru-ru" /> </Product> <Product ID="ProjectPro2024Volume"> <Language ID="en-us" /> <Language ID="ru-ru" /> </Product> </Add> <Remove All="True" /> <!-- <RemoveMSI All="True" /> --> <!-- <Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" /> --> <!-- <Property Name="AUTOACTIVATE" Value="1" /> --> </Configuration>
I get a bilingual version of the corporate Office 2024 LTSC from the Current Channel (i.e., with the latest new features). You can read about what's new in the Release notes.
However, although I successfully downloaded the latest version 16.0.17628.20110 of the corporate Office 2024 from the Current channel (by specifying Current as the channel and ProPlus2024Volume as the product in configuration.xml), the standard tool will not allow me to install the corporate version in the current channel. Installing the downloaded Office using ODT is done with the command setup.exe /configure configuration.xml after the download is complete.
If I downloaded a corporate version of Office (has Volume in the product name) from a non-corporate channel (does not have VL in the channel name), the installation will not proceed.
However, by simply replacing the channel name in the configuration.xml file with PerpetualVL2024 for Office 2024 LTSC (or PerpetualVL2019, PerpetualVL2021 for Office 2019 LTSC and Office 2021 LTSC respectively) and saving the file, I can successfully install the corporate edition using the binary files downloaded from the Current (non-corporate) channel. Note that after installation, you can manually change the update channel back to Current (or any other), or leave it as is. Read more here: Change the Microsoft 365 Apps update channel for devices in your organization - Deploy Office | Microsoft Learn. An easy way to change the update channel for an already installed version is offered, for example, by Office Installer from https://msfree.su, or scripts on Github.
After installation, all that's left is to activate the product. If you are a Microsoft 365 subscriber or have your own KMS server or MAK key, you can activate it yourself. Otherwise, I suggest you run the command from PowerShell (in administrator mode) irm https://get.activated.win | iex press 2 (OHook activation) and then 1 (Install Office OHook Activation). This will activate the system permanently. Not for 90 or 180 days as with KMS, but forever. Absolutely forever. With a final (not Preview) Office 2024 LTSC license, which is not currently available for KMS activations of the ProPlus2024Volume package (KMS activation of the final license is already available for Standard2024Volume).
I hope this has all been helpful. If this is all too complicated for you, and you don't want to use Microsoft's "native" utilities but are willing to install Office using a third-party method, you should look into https://msfree.su and their Office Installer utilities (not warez, just a download tool). Be prepared for antivirus software not liking third-party installation tools. I don't like them myself, which is why I offered you a more complex method based solely on Microsoft's own solutions.