How to Customise Office Apps in Microsoft 365

Andy Malone [MVP] delightfully explores how to deploy and customise Microsoft Office Apps within Microsoft 365 in his recent YouTube video. The focus is on how users can enjoy customised versions of Word, Excel and other apps once configured. Malone robustly argues that this is a laudable feature of Microsoft 365, promising to elevate users from zero to hero swiftly.

The tutorial begins with introductions and then dives into important settings that users should know. It then introduces the Microsoft 365 Apps Admin Centre and covers how to create custom Office policies. It goes on to show users how to edit policy settings and change a policy's priority order, before elaborating on how to work with device configuration files and monitor Office deployments.

• The Microsoft 365 Apps Admin Centre is a critical tool when modifying Office policies and settings.
• Creating custom Office policies and editing these as needed allows you to tailor the Office experience to your specifics.
• You can change the priority order of policies, allowing you to emphasise certain settings over others.
• Understanding device configuration files can unlock additional customisation potential.
• An important part of managing Office deployments is monitoring them thereafter, something the Admin Centre allows you to do.

The video also takes an in-depth look at Microsoft's Cloud Policy service, a renamed version of the Office cloud policy service. The service empowers users to enforce policy settings for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, on any given device, even if the device is not part of a domain or otherwise managed. The policy settings can also roam from device to device, making them universally accessible for users across multiple devices.

A Broader Perspective on Microsoft's Cloud Policy Service

The Cloud Policy offers a vast range of user-based policy settings, similar to those already available in Group Policy. These policies can be enforced not only on Windows devices but also on macOS, iOS, and Android devices as well. This ability to stretch across different platforms is one of the service's biggest draws. Equally, it's worth noting that Cloud Policy supports Microsoft 365 Groups and Azure AD Security Groups, enabling dynamic or assigned membership types.

Microsoft's Cloud Policy service can also be used directly in the Microsoft Intune admin center, which is located under Apps > Policy > Policies for Office apps. Furthermore, the service persistently updates and adds new user-based policy settings, thereby eliminating the need for the constant download of updated Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML). This process automation is a key aspect of the service's design that appeals to IT Professionals.

However, while Cloud Policy is considered an excellent tool for most Microsoft 365 users, it isn't available to customers who have the Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, Office 365 GCC, or Office 365 GCC High and DoD plans. Furthermore, it's important to note that a policy configuration can't be applied to volume licensed versions of Office which use Click-to-Run, such as Office LTSC Professional Plus 2021 or Office Standard 2019.

In conclusion, Microsoft's Cloud Policy service offers a rich tapestry of user-based policy settings for Microsoft 365 Apps and provides users with a unique blend of customizable control and platform-wide consistency. As such, it is a valuable tool in any IT Professional's toolkit.

 

Read the full article How to Customise Office Apps in Microsoft 365

Learn about How to Customise Office Apps in Microsoft 365

 

Mastering Microsoft 365 and its extensive feature set can be quite the task. It is a comprehensive cloud solution that integrates apps like Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and more, and learning how to fully optimise its productivity tools can significantly enhance your workflow and efficiency.

With that said, one crucial feature you may want to learn more about is the personalisation of Office apps through Microsoft 365. As the referenced video highlights, Microsoft 365 can be configured to automatically deploy customised versions of applications such as Word, Excel, etc to its users. This tutorial walks you through from basic to advanced setup, equipping you with the know-how to fully customise your Office experience.

The video begins with an introduction before moving on to talk about important settings you need to be aware of. It then introduces the Microsoft 365 Apps Admin Centre, where a great deal of your customisation will be done. The tutorial covers how to create custom Office policies, edit these policies, reorder the policies and work with device configuration files, home to a wealth of customisation options. It also covers monitoring Office deployments, a beneficial feature to ensure everything runs smoothly.

The text also introduces the subject of “Cloud Policy,” formerly known as "Office cloud policy service"; a service that allows you to enforce policy settings for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise across different devices, be they Windows, macOS, or mobile devices. Cloud Policy is now available via the Microsoft 365 Apps admin centre, marking a rebranding and broadening of its scope.

Using the Cloud Policy service requires a supported version of Microsoft 365, user accounts created in or synchronised to Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), and specific roles in Azure AD such as Global Administrator, Security Administrator, or Office Apps Admin. A note is mentioned about the lack of support for authenticated proxies.

The resource then outlines how to create a policy configuration before discussing how to manage policy configurations. It explains how the policy configurations are applied and underlines the use of priority settings.

 

Keywords

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