How to Join Microsoft Office Insider Program

If you are using Office 365 subscription, you get a chance to join the Microsoft Office Insider Program!

Just like Windows, Office also has an Insider program that allows you to test new features before anyone else. Doesn’t that sound exciting?

In this article, we will cover the following in details:

• What is Office Insider Program
• Choose an Insider Level
• Install Microsoft Office Insider Program
• Opt out of the Office Insider Program
• Send Feedback

What is Office Insider Program

The insider program provides you with an opportunity to explore the early builds of Office, interact with the insider community and provide feedback directly to Office.

Be a part of this program to help shape the future of Office for users worldwide!

The main requirement to join this program is to have an Office 365 subscription – Home, Personal, or University. It is available in Windows and macOS both.

Choose an Insider Level

There are two levels that you can choose from when you aim at joining the Insider Microsoft Program:

• Beta Channel
• Current Channel

Let’s understand how these two are different from each other and help you choose one wisely!

Beta Channel

This Channel delivers fast but less stable updates of Office. It is made for users who want to gain first-hand access to all new features and Microsoft office updates.

It is best for testers who can try out features that are still in the development phase and don’t mind the risk of performance or stability issues.

It is advisable to use this channel on your test machine rather than your work computer.

Current Channel

This Channel delivers slow but stable builds of Office. The updates provided in this channel are once or twice a month and are relevantly better developed and creates lesser performance or stability issues.

It is for fans and early adopters who wish to try out new but supported features and updates.

If you are still unsure as to which channel is best suited for you, don’t worry. You can also switch between the two whenever you like!

Install Microsoft Office Insider Program

Follow the step-by-step tutorial below to learn how to jo join Office Insider in Windows:

STEP 1: Go to File Tab.

STEP 2: Select Account in the left panel.

STEP 3: Click on the Office Insider button.

STEP 4: From the dropdown, select Join Office Insider.

STEP 5: In the dialog box, check Sign me up for early access to new releases of Office option.

STEP 6: Select the channel you wish to join.

STEP 7: Select the box to agree to the terms and conditions.

STEP 8: Click OK.

Once you enroll in this Current Channel of the Office Insider Program, you will receive new updates automatically that you want to test and provide feedback.

In the dialog box, select Beta Channel from the list and click OK.

You are now a part of the Beta Level of the Microsoft Office Insider Program!

Opt out of Office Insider Program

If you wish to opt out of the Office Insider Program and return to the stable version, follow the steps the same steps as you did when to wanted to install it.

In the dialog box, uncheck the Sign me up for early access to new releases of Office option. Click OK.

You will now be removed from the Insider Program!

Send Feedback

To send feedback to Microsoft regarding the latest release, follow the steps below:

STEP 1: Go to File Tab.

Read more:

• [FIXED] Zoom Crashing on Windows 11/10 – 2023 Tips
• Windows Could Not Start Audio Service on Local Computer: Fix
• How to Clear Cortana’s Search History in Windows 10
• Online Tools for Teaching & Learning
• 6 windows event log IDs to monitor now

STEP 2: Select Feedback from the left panel.

STEP 2: Click one of the following buttons as per your requirement:

Article post on: us.suanoncolosence.com

• Send a smile – If you wish to report a positive change and complement it.
• Send a frown – If you wish to report something that’s not right and you want it fixed.
• Send a suggestion – To simply report a suggestion from your end.

STEP 3: In the feedback section, write a compliment, complaint, or suggestion, attach a screenshot and press Submit button.

After joining the Insider Program, don’t forget to connect with the Office Community and keep in touch to send feedback or ask questions!

HELPFUL RESOURCE:

Make sure to download our FREE PDF on the 333 Excel keyboard Shortcuts here:

You can learn more about how to use Excel by viewing our FREE Excel webinar training on Formulas, Pivot Tables, Power Query, and Macros & VBA!

---

— Update: 12-01-2023 — us.suanoncolosence.com found an additional article How to join the Office Insider program and try tomorrow’s features today from the website www.pcworld.com for the keyword office insider fast level.

Microsoft is all about showing its work these days. You probably know Microsoft shares preview builds of Windows 10 and 11 leading up to major releases. But did you know Microsoft offers an Insider program for Microsoft Office as well?

If your heart starts racing at the thought of trying out new Excel power features, enhanced editing techniques in Word, or getting a first glimpse at the unified “One Office” client of the future, then the Office Insider program is for you.

Microsoft offers two levels for Insiders. There’s the Beta Channel (formerly the Insider Channel, or “Insider Fast”) level for those who want the earliest possible access to new features. The downside of this level is that it’s more prone to bugs and other issues that could make using Office a frustrating experience. Then there’s the Current Channel (Preview) level, which offers substantially less risk. Both options are available for Windows PCs and Macs, while other platforms may offer just one of those options. Here’s a look at how to join the Office Insider program whether you’re on a PC, Mac, an Android phone, or an iOS device.

How to join the Office Insider program on a Windows 10 or 11 PC

Joining the Office Insider program for Windows requires a Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365) Family or Personal subscription plan, or a business or education license. (Here’s how to get Microsoft 365 for cheap.) If your Microsoft 365 license was provided by your university, you’ll need to ask the university’s administrator to allow you access. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn’t allow Insider access to so-called “perpetual” versions of Office, such as Office 2016.

Microsoft

Microsoft

You’ll then see a rather involved few paragraphs of legalese informing you of what data Microsoft will collect about your usage as part pf the program. Then select your desired Insider level—Beta or Current Channel (Preview)—and click OK.

Windows 11 may then put up a User Account Control (UAC) window. Click Yes, and when you return to your program you should see confirmation that you’ve joined the Office Insider program. You may need to restart your PC.

How to join the Office Insider program on a Mac

Microsoft

You’ll be asked to review the license agreement. After you do so, you’ll probably want to click the checkbox to Automatically download and install any updates that are available, now and in the future. Then click Accept and then Check for Updates to download the necessary files.

Source: us.suanoncolosence.com

Microsoft

How to join the Office Insider program on Android or iOS

Android:

Joining the Office Insider program on Android requires different steps to join either the Current Channel (Preview) program or the Beta Channel. The latter channel is reserved for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint only, at present.

To join the Current Channel (Preview) program, you’ll need to manually download and install the individual apps using the links below:

• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• OneNote
• Office Lens

Doing so will automatically join your phone to the Insider program, though you can also opt out by clicking the button on the installation page. To receive further Current Channel (Preview) builds, you’ll have to wait a few hours until your membership is approved within the Insider community.

Microsoft

To join the Beta Channel, you’ll need to join the Beta WXP group, a rather sparse Google Group. Click the button to join the group. Wait a few hours, and you should start receiving Beta Channel builds.

Microsoft

iOS:

On iOS, you have only one channel to choose from, called Beta in Apple TestFlight.

To join, download the respective apps on your iPhone. You’ll be asked to join TestFlight if you haven’t already, after you review the terms of service and agree to install it.

• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• OneNote
• Office

Microsoft does impose some limitations on iOS users. For one, builds are only valid for 90 days, and after that you’ll be asked to upgrade them. If you don’t upgrade them, you risk being booted out of the program, as there are limited seats. You can always re-apply, however.

This story was updated on May 18, 2022 with additional, updated details, including support for Windows 11.

---

— Update: 13-01-2023 — us.suanoncolosence.com found an additional article Switching between Microsoft 365 Apps for Business/Enterprise, Current, Preview and Beta Channel (Office Insider) without re-installing from the website www.msoutlook.info for the keyword office insider fast level.

As I test the various Office release channels, I prefer not to reinstall but to simply update; Go from the oldest release channel and switch to a newer each time.

Is there any way to still be able to switch between Microsoft 365 Apps for Business channel releases by using Group Policy or editing the Registry?

By default, within Microsoft 365 Apps for Business and Enterprise, you indeed can’t change between the Office Insider levels from within an Office application as you can with Microsoft 365 for Home.

Via @: us.suanoncolosence.com

Read more:

• What are super cookies and how to remove them
• JDiskReport is a cool Free Disk Analyzer – but it requires Java to work
• How to Make Group Video Calls on Telegram
• How to fix Windows update error 0x800f0805?
• Fix uTorrent Connection Error 10047 on Windows PC

The main reason for this, is because the Office Insider Beta Channel (previously known as Office Insider Fast) is not a supported build of Office and that is not a state to be in as a company.

However, if you have a specific need to test out the Beta Channel release as a business or enterprise user, Microsoft offers the following methods;

• Registry or Group Policy setting: Show the option for Office Insider
  This will reveal the Office Insider button just like in Microsoft 365 for Home.
  Useful when you need to switch between Channels or want to give the user control over which Channel they use.
• Registry or Group Policy setting: Show the option for the Office Update Channel experience
  This will allow a (local) administrator to switch between selected Update Channels.
  Useful when you need to switch between more than just the Current and Insider Channels.
• Registry or Group Policy setting: Update Channel
  Useful when you don’t regularly change between Channels and don’t want to create custom installers.
• Create custom installers to switch to Office Insider builds.
  Useful for larger deployments and when you need to make additional changes such as which Office applications are installed and which language packs.

The Group Policy and Registry methods are detailed below.

Note: These methods can also be used to quickly switch over a certain user when you want to deploy a certain fix that he or she really needs but is not yet available in your default/corporate release channel.

Method 1: Group Policy setting: Show the option for Office Insider

Once you’ve added the Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, Office 2019, and Office 2016 to you computer’s PolicyDefinitions folder you can set the following policy;

• Local Computer Policy-> User Configuration-> Administrative Templates-> Microsoft Office 2016-> Miscellaneous-> Show the option for Office Insider

Enabling the Office Insider button for Microsoft 365 Apps for Business and Enterprise.

Note: When enabling this policy, make sure the Update Channel and Update Path policies aren’t enabled or the Office Insider button will show but the selected Insider settings will not apply.

Simply set the preferred value in the Group Policy editor and then close all your Office applications and wait a few minutes.

Method 2: Registry: InsidersLabBehavior

If you can’t set Group Policies, you can achieve the same results as method 1 by setting (or creating) the InsidersLabBehavior Registry value on your computer.

Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftoffice16.0common
Value name: insiderslabbehavior
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

Setting your preferred Office channel release via the Registry. (click on image to enlarge)

You can also download the file below to set a preferred release channel by importing the corresponding reg-file.

Download: showinsiderbutton.zip

After implementing the Registry value, the same instructions as for the Group Policy method apply to update or downgrade your Microsoft 365 Apps installation.

Method 3: Show the Update Channel option

This method is similar to the ones mentioned above but allow you to select which Update Channels you want to be on. This can be any of the Update Channels and not just the Current (Preview) and Beta Channels.

The implementation via Group Policy or the Registry is explained in more detail here; Let users decide their Microsoft 365 Apps (Office 365) Release Channel.

Switching between Office update channels from within Outlook.

Method 4: Group Policy setting: Update Channel

When you have Microsoft 365 Apps for Business or Enterprise installed on a Professional or Enterprise edition of Windows, then you can use a (local) Group Policy to switch between the release channels including the Beta Channel.

Once you’ve added the Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, Office 2019, and Office 2016 to you computer’s PolicyDefinitions folder you can set the following policy;

• Local Computer Policy-> Computer Configuration-> Administrative Templates-> Microsoft Office 2016 (Machine)-> Updates-> Update Channel

Setting your Office 365 channel release via a local Group Policy.

Valid values, from the newest channel release to the oldest build, with their corresponding update channel name are;

• InsiderFast
  Beta Channel
  (aka: Office Insider Fast)
• FirstReleaseCurrent
  Current Channel (Preview)
  (aka: First Release for Current Channel or Office Insider Slow)
• MonthlyEnterprise
  Monthly Enterprise
• Current
  Current Channel
• FirstReleaseDeferred
  Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview)
• Deferred
  Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel

Simply set the preferred value in the Group Policy editor and then close all your Office applications and wait a few minutes.

Note: Your Microsoft 365 administrator must have enrolled you in the proper release channel for some builds to be available to you. However, if the Microsoft 365 Apps Current Channel (Preview) release is available to you, the Beta Channel (Office Insider Fast) release is available to you as well.

Method 5: Registry: Updatebranch

If you can’t set Group Policies, you can achieve the same results as method 4 by setting (or creating) the Updatebranch Registry value on your computer.

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftoffice16.0commonofficeupdate
Value name: updatebranch
Value type: REG_SZ

Just like the Group Policy values, you can set the following strings (from newest release channel to the oldest build);

• InsiderFast
• FirstReleaseCurrent 
• Current
• MonthlyEnterprise 
• FirstReleaseDeferred 
• Deferred

Setting your preferred Office channel release via the Registry. (click on image to enlarge)

You can also download the file below to set a preferred release channel by importing the corresponding reg-file.

Download: office365updatebranch.zip

After implementing the Registry value, the same instructions as for the Group Policy method apply to update or downgrade your Microsoft 365 Apps installation.

Source: https://www.myexcelonline.com/blog/how-to-join-microsoft-office-insider-program/

Article post on: us.suanoncolosence.com