Deployment and installation

Deploy the Grunt PowerPoint add-in with the right install model for your environment

Use this guide when you deploy Grunt in a managed environment.

The current Grunt release is a self-contained .NET 9 COM add-in. It bundles its own runtime and has no external runtime prerequisites.

Installation models

Grunt supports two main Windows deployment models:

• Per-user installation in the user’s local profile
• Per-machine installation in Program Files

For Intune deployments, we recommend per-machine installation in most cases. Choose the model based on how you want to manage updates:

Update ownership	Recommended installation model
You manage the initial deployment and all updates through Intune.	Per-machine. Grunt auto-updates are disabled, so you deploy each update through Intune.
You use Intune for the initial deployment and want Grunt to handle updates automatically.	Per-user. Run the installation in the user’s Windows context and leave automatic updates enabled.

For users installing Grunt themselves, the default per-user install is the standard choice. It does not usually require admin rights and enables auto-updates by default.

Recommended baseline

• Windows 10 or Windows 11
• PowerPoint 2016 or later (Microsoft 365 recommended)
• The default x64 installer for most environments, or arm64 for Windows on ARM devices

Default per-user installation

The standard installer from app.grunt.pro/download installs Grunt to:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Programs\Grunt\

This mode:

• Writes user-level registry entries under HKEY_CURRENT_USER
• Does not normally require elevated privileges
• Registers the Grunt COM add-in with PowerPoint
• Enables automatic updates by default unless your organization disables them centrally

To keep this install model but disable automatic installation, set the per-user updateStrategy registry value. See Update management.

Command-line installation

Use per-machine installation when your environment blocks per-user installs or when IT wants to control updates through deployment tooling.

Grunt installs per machine to:

C:\Program Files\Grunt

Example command:

msiexec /i grunt-<version>-x64.msi MSIINSTALLPERUSER=0 /qn

This mode:

• Requires admin rights
• Writes machine-level registry entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
• Disables Grunt auto-updates by design
• Fits SCCM, Intune, and similar software deployment systems

Managed deployment tools

You can deploy Grunt with common software distribution platforms such as Intune, SCCM, or similar tooling. Use the per-machine model for a fully managed rollout where you distribute both the initial installation and subsequent updates.

If you want Grunt to handle updates after the initial deployment, deploy the default per-user installer through Intune or another MDM tool in the user’s Windows context. This keeps Grunt under %LOCALAPPDATA% and writes settings to HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Leave automatic updates enabled so Grunt can install subsequent updates.

Prerequisites

Grunt is self-contained and bundles its own .NET runtime. There are no external runtime prerequisites to install on the target machine.

Common blockers

If deployment fails during install or first launch:

• Check whether Office add-ins are blocked by policy.
• Check whether endpoint protection is blocking Grunt binaries. The primary binary to allowlist is Grunt.PowerPoint.ComAddinNE.dll in the Grunt install directory.
• If Windows reports a certificate trust issue, install the signer certificate into Trusted Publishers or incorporate that trust step into your deployment process.

Validate deployment

After rollout:

1. Open PowerPoint on a test machine.
2. Confirm the Grunt tab appears.
3. Confirm users can open Grunt > Settings > License.
4. Confirm the expected update behavior matches the install model you selected.