When you are installing an Exchange 2013 server, or upgrading it with a cumulative update, you may encounter a warning message regarding the Office Filter Pack not being installed.

exchange-2013-setup-office-filter-pack

This computer requires the Microsoft Office Filter Packs – Version 2.0. Please install the software from…

This computer requires the Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Packs – Version 2.0 – Service Pack 1. Please install the software from…

These are warning messages and do not block the installation or upgrade of Exchange 2013. The Office Filter Pack is not a mandatory Exchange 2013 pre-requisite.

The Exchange 2013 pre-requisites page on TechNet, at the time of this writing, does include the Office Filter Packs as a step in the preparation of a server for Exchange 2013. What it doesn’t make clear is that they are not required.

The new Exchange Search already has support for indexing/searching Office file types, as well as a series of other file types including some third party formats such as PDF. You can see a full list here.

So should you install the Office Filter Pack? If you want to stop seeing that warning message, then yes. If you want to take the approach of only installing required software on your servers, then no. Consider also that installing it means potentially having to update it later on if there is a bug fix or a security issue.

About the Author

Paul Cunningham

Paul is a former Microsoft MVP for Office Apps and Services. He works as a consultant, writer, and trainer specializing in Office 365 and Exchange Server. Paul no longer writes for Practical365.com.

Comments

  1. Kranthi

    Hi Paul,

    Hope you are doing well.

    Though you have closed the forum just wanted to ask you a question.

    Our organization has exchange 2007 servers and they are planning to upgrade filter pack from 1.0 to 2.0 on few servers first and later on others. Is it okay if there is a mismatch in filter pack version???

  2. Keith K.

    Does the version of the Office filter pack on Exchange 2010 have to match your Office version? Example, I’m running Exchange 2010 with Office 2010 filter pack 2 but on my desktop PC I’m running Office 2010 SP1.

  3. shaptoni

    It appears that though it is required:

    Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check

    Configuring Prerequisites COMPLETED
    Prerequisite Analysis FAILED
    This computer requires the Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Packs – Version 2.0. Pl
    ease install the software from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=191548.
    For more information, visit: http://technet.microsoft.com/library(EXCHG.150)/ms
    .exch.setupreadiness.MSFilterPackV2NotInstalled.aspx

    This computer requires the Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Packs – Version 2.0 – S
    ervice Pack 1. Please install the software from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?
    LinkId=262358.
    For more information, visit: http://technet.microsoft.com/library(EXCHG.150)/ms
    .exch.setupreadiness.MSFilterPackV2SP1NotInstalled.aspx

      1. shaptoni

        CU1 – setup would not let me proceed (via GUI either) so installed these and the Unified Communications Managed API

        Thanks for all your articles though – can you write one concerning the Monitoring mailboxes?
        After moving all mailboxes including the Arbitration mailboxes off the first database, I deleted the database. But then running “Get-Mailbox -Monitoring” produced errors saying the Health Mailbox “has been corrupted”
        They can be removed in ADUC but I cant find any articles on this

        Cheers!

        1. Mike

          Got the same issue with the healthmonitoring mailboxes after deleting the default database. Any clue to why this is happening?

  4. Rajith

    Hi Paul,

    Looks like the onenote and publisher file type has been included in CU1.

    Rajith.

    1. Avatar photo

      Hi Rajith,

      I have multiple CU1 servers in my lab. Comparing the Get-SearchDocumentFormat output from one with the filter pack, and one without, both have Onenote and Publisher listed. Also the Technet document here includes Onenote and Publisher in the list:

      http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee633485(v=exchg.150).aspx

      Perhaps the situation has changed between RTM and CU1.

  5. JungoTaimed

    microsoft are such a bunch of clueless groups sometimes
    head tech writer said its not required still from beta and on its on technet and 99% of people think it is:)

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