Microsoft Publisher 365 Silent Install (How-To Guide)

Microsoft Publisher is a desktop publishing application from Microsoft, differing from Microsoft Word in that the emphasis is placed on page layout and design rather than text composition and proofing. This article will serve as an informative guide and give you a clear understanding of how to perform a silent installation of Microsoft Publisher 365 from the command line using the EXE installer.

How to Install Microsoft Publisher 365 Silently

Microsoft Publisher 365 Silent Install (EXE)

  1. Download the Office 365 Deployment Tool:
  2. Download the officedeploymenttool_x-y.exe to a folder created at (C:\Downloads)
  3. Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
  4. Navigate to the C:\Downloads folder
  5. Enter the following command to extract the ODT files:
    • officedeploymenttool_x-y.exe /extract:C:\Downloads\Publisher365
  6. Press Enter
  7. Select the checkbox to accept the Microsoft Software License Terms
  8. Click Continue
  9. Navigate to C:\Downloads\Publisher365
  10. Delete the 3 existing .xml files as we will be creating our own
    • configuration-Office365-x64.xml
    • configuration-Office365-x86.xml
    • configuration-Office2019Enterprise.xml
  11. Navigate to https://config.office.com/deploymentsettings to Configure XML File
  12. Select the Architecture you want to deploy
    • 32-bit or
    • 64-bit
  13. Select Products and Apps you want to deploy
    • Office Suites
      • Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise or
      • Microsoft 365 App for Business
    • Visio
      • None
    • Project
      • None
    • Additional Products
      • None
    • Update Channel
      • Current Channel
      • Current Channel (Preview)
      • Monthly Enterprise Channel
      • Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel
      • Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview)
    • Select Version
      • Latest
      • 20XX
      • 20XX
    • Turn Apps On or Off to include or exclude them from being deployed
      • Access (Off)
      • Excel (Off)
      • OneDrive (Groove) (Off)
      • Skype for Business (Off)
      • OneDrive Desktop (Off)
      • OneNote (Off)
      • Outlook (Off)
      • PowerPoint (Off)
      • Publisher (On)
      • Teams (Off)
      • Word (Off)
    • Features
      • Enable or Disable background service for Microsoft Search in Bing
  14. Click Next
    • Select Primary Language
      • Match Operating System
      • Arabic (Saudi Arabia)
      • Bulgarian (Bulgaria)
      • Chinese (Simplified, China)
      • Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan)
      • Croatian (Croatia)
      • Czech (Czech Republic)
      • Danish (Denmark)
      • Dutch (Netherlands)
      • English (United States)
      • Estonian (Estonia)
      • Finnish (Finland)
      • French (France)
      • German (Germany)
      • Greek (Greece)
      • Hebrew (Israel)
      • Hindi (India)
      • Hungarian (Hungary)
      • Indonesian (Indonesia)
      • Italian (Italy)
      • Japanese (Japan)
      • Kazakh (Kazakhstan)
      • Korean (Korea)
      • Latvian (Latvia)
      • Lithuanian (Lithuania)
      • Malay (Malaysia)
      • Norwegian Bokmal (Norway)
      • Polish (Poland)
      • Portuguese (Brazil)
      • Portuguese (Portugal)
      • Romanian (Romania)
      • Russian (Russia)
      • Serbian (Latin, Serbia)
      • Slovak (Slovakia)
      • Slovenian (Slovenia)
      • Spanish (Spain, International Sort)
      • Swedish (Sweden)
      • Thai (Thailand)
      • Turkish (Turkey)
      • Ukrainian (Ukraine)
      • Vietnamese (Vietnam)
    • Select Additional Languages (If Any)
    • Select Additional Proofing Tools (If Any)
  15. Click Next
    • Installation Options
      • Office Content Delivery Network (CDN)
      • Local Source
      • Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager
    • Show Installation to User (Off)
    • Shut down running applications (On)
  16. Click Next
    • Update and Upgrade Options
      • Uninstall any MSI versions of Office, including Visio and Project (Off)
      • Uninstall Visio (Off)
      • Uninstall Project (Off)
      • Uninstall SharePoint Designer (Off)
      • Uninstall InfoPath (Off)
    • For uninstalled MSI versions of Office, install the same languages (Off)
    • Automatically upgrade to the selected architecture (On|Off)
  17. Click Next
    • Licensing and Activation
      • Automatically accept the EULA (On)
    • Product Key
      • KMS Client Key
      • Multiple Activation Key (MAK)
    • Product Activation
      • User Based
      • Shared Computer
      • Device Based
    • General Info
      • Provide your organization name to set the Company property on Office documents
      • Provide a description for this configuration for documentation purposes
  18. Click Next
    • Application Preferences (Examples)
      • Disable First Run Movie (True)
      • Disable Office First Run on Application Boot (True)
      • Disable Opt-in Wizard on First Run (True)
      • Enable Customer Experience Improvement Program (False)
      • Automatically Receive Small Updates to Improve Reliability (False)
      • Send Office Feedback (False)
      • Turn on Telemetry Data Collection (False)
  19. Click Finish
  20. Click Export Button
    • Select Default File Format Option
      • Keep Current Option
      • Office Open XML Formats
      • OpenDocument Formats
  21. Click OK
  22. Accept the terms in the license agreement on the Export Configuration to XML screen
  23. Set the File Name to Publisher365
  24. Click Export
  25. Copy the Publisher365.xml file to C:\Downloads\Publisher365
  26. Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
  27. Navigate to the C:\Downloads\Publisher365 folder
  28. Run the following command to download the installation files:
    • setup.exe /download Publisher365.xml

Note: The download can take several minutes to complete so please be patient. You can monitor the download progress by checking out the log file in the %LocalAppData%\Temp directory.

Once the download has completed, you are finally ready to install Microsoft Publisher 365.

  • Run the following command: setup.exe /configure Publisher365.xml

After several minutes you will find Microsoft Publisher 365 entries in the Start Menu, Installation Directory, and Programs and Features in the Control Panel.

Software Title:Microsoft Publisher 365
Vendor:Microsoft Corporation
Architecture:x86_x64
Installer Type:EXE
Silent Install Switch:setup.exe /configure Publisher365.xml
Silent Uninstall Switch:setup.exe /configure Publisher365_Uninstall.xml
Download Link:https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49117
PowerShell Script:https://silentinstallhq.com/microsoft-publisher-365-install-and-uninstall-powershell/

The information above provides a quick overview of the software title, vendor, silent install, and silent uninstall switches. The download links provided take you directly to the vendors website. Continue reading if you are interested in additional details and configurations.


How to Uninstall Microsoft Publisher 365 Silently

Check out the Microsoft Publisher 365 Install and Uninstall (PowerShell) post for a scripted solution.

Note: This uninstall will remove all standard Office 365 components since there is currently not a good way to selectively remove individual Office 365 components using the command line.

  • Open Notepad or your favorite text editor
  • Add the following lines:
<Configuration>
<Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />
<Property Name="FORCEAPPSHUTDOWN" Value="TRUE" />
<Remove>
<Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">
</Product>
<Product ID="O365BusinessRetail">
</Product>
</Remove>
</Configuration>
  • Save the file to C:\Downloads\Publisher365 and name it: Publisher365_Uninstall.xml
  • Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
  • Navigate to C:\Downloads\Publisher365
  • Enter the following command:

Microsoft Publisher 365 Silent Uninstall (EXE)

setup.exe /configure Publisher365_Uninstall.xml

Always make sure to test everything in a development environment prior to implementing anything into production. The information in this article is provided “As Is” without warranty of any kind.