How to Deploy Microsoft Office Proofing Tools with Intune (Step-by-Step)

How to Deploy Microsoft Office Proofing Tools with Intune (Step-by-Step)

Managing multilingual environments is a common challenge in modern organizations. Users expect Microsoft Office to automatically support their local language for spelling, grammar, and proofing, without IT having to maintain dozens of custom Office packages

This article walks through a clean, scalable, and supportable approach to deploying Microsoft Office Proofing Tools using Microsoft Intune, suitable for both SMB and enterprise environments.

Why Proofing Tools Matter

Microsoft Office Proofing Tools enable:

• Language-specific spelling and grammar

• Hyphenation and thesaurus support

• Localized authoring experience without changing the Office UI language

In global organizations, proofing tools are often required, not optional. However, deploying them incorrectly can result in:

• Endless installation loops in Company Portal

• Failed detections

• Bloated Office packages

• Poor user experience

Key Design Principle (Read This First)

Do not try to bundle all proofing tools into the main Office deployment.

Instead:

1. Deploy Office normally (Current Channel or Monthly Enterprise Channel)

2. Deploy proofing tools as a separate Intune Win32 app

3. Assign proofing tools dynamically based on user or device targeting

This keeps deployments modular, debuggable, and easy to extend.

Step 1: Download the Office Deployment Tool (ODT)

1. Download the latest Office Deployment Tool from Microsoft

2. Extract the files to a working directory, for example:

C:\ODT\

├── setup.exe

├── configuration.xml

You will reuse setup.exe for all proofing tool deployments.

Step 2: Create a Proofing Tools Configuration XML

Each language should have its own XML file. Example for Spanish (es-es):

<Configuration>

<Add>

<Product ID="ProofingTools">

<Language ID="es-es" />

</Product>

</Add>

<Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />

</Configuration>

Examples:

• es.xml – Spanish

• fr.xml – French

• sv.xml – Swedish

This approach keeps each language independent and easy to troubleshoot.

Step 3: Package as an Intune Win32 App

Create a folder per language:

Office-Proofing-ES\

├── setup.exe

├── es.xml

Then package using IntuneWinAppUtil.exe:

IntuneWinAppUtil.exe -c Office-Proofing-ES -s setup.exe -o Output

Upload the resulting .intunewin file to Intune.

Step 4: Configure Install & Uninstall Commands

Install command:

setup.exe /configure es.xml

Uninstall command:

setup.exe /configure es.xml

(Proofing tools uninstall automatically when the language is removed or Office is removed.)

Step 5: Detection Rule (Critical)

Most deployment failures happen here. Use a registry-based detection rule that checks for the installed proofing language.

Example PowerShell script to detect Spanish proofing tools:

# Detection script for Spanish proofing tools

$LanguageKey = "O365ProPlusRetail - es-es

$UninstallPath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall"

$found = Test-Path -Path (Join-Path $UninstallPath $LanguageKey)

if ($found) {

Write-Host "Proofing tools es-es installed"

exit 0

}

else {

Write-Host "Proofing tools es-es NOT installed"

exit 1

}

Detection method:

Add the custom PowerShell script

This ensures Intune correctly detects successful installation.

Step 6: Assignment Strategy:

Option A – Entra ID Dynamic User Groups

• Assign Spanish proofing tools to users located in Spain

• Use attributes like usageLocation or department

Option B – Entra ID Dynamic Device Groups

• Useful for shared or kiosk devices

Option C – Manual Assignment (Not Recommended at Scale)

Dynamic targeting keeps administration effort close to zero over time

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• ❌ Bundling proofing tools into the main Office package

• ❌ Using file-based detection rules

• ❌ Deploying multiple languages in one XML

• ❌ Mixing user-based and device-based Office installs

Following the modular approach above avoids all of these.

Final Result

With this design:

• Office installs once

• Proofing tools install silently per language

• Intune detection works reliably

• Languages can be added or removed without touching Office itself

This is the same model used successfully in large enterprise Intune environments.

Go 4 IT ! 😀