How to Prepare Win32 App Installation source for Intune Using Intune WinAppUtil

Microsoft Intune Win32 apps give IT administrators greater control over application deployment across Windows devices. With Intune, you can package and deploy both 32‑bit and 64‑bit applications using the Win32 app model. Before adding a Win32 app to Microsoft Intune, the installation source must be prepared with the Microsoft Win32 Content Prep Tool (IntuneWinAppUtil.exe).

The Intune Win32 content prep tool allows you to wrap multiple files into a single .intunewin package, including MSI installers with MST transforms, configuration files, or dependencies. It also supports converting traditional .EXE installers into the Intune‑ready .intunewin format, ensuring smooth deployment through Intune. By using the IntuneWin wrapper (IntuneWinAppUtil), administrators can streamline packaging, simplify app distribution, and enforce consistent installation across managed devices.

In short, the Intune Win32 Content Prep Tool is essential for preparing Win32 app installation sources and creating reliable deployment packages for Microsoft Intune.

Prerequisites

• Microsoft Intune allows the deployment of up to 30 GB-sized apps. If your package size is more than 30 GB, then perform the cleanup to reduce the size, and then create an Intune wrapper.
• Windows 10 1607+ versions are supported for Intune Win32 app deployment.

Step 1: Download the Intune Win32 Content Prep Tool

Get the official IntuneWinAppUtil.exe utility to package your Win32 applications for Microsoft Intune deployment.

👉 Download before you proceed: Grab the IntuneWinAppUtil.exe tool now to follow along with this guide.

Step 2: Prepare Source File

1. Create a folder structure to copy installation files in a folder. The intuneWinAppUtil.exe must be located outside the app folder to avoid package contamination. See the example below
   • D:\Source\Notepad++ 7.9.1\<Installation Files>
   • D:\Source\intuneWinAppUtil.exe
2. Copy all the installation files and other supported files (if any) inside the single source folder (Notepad++ 7.9.1 in this case)
3. Copy the intuneWinAppUtil.exe outside of the installation source folder (D:\Source, in this case). The Intune Win32 prep tool zips all files and folders when it creates the .intunewin file. Hence, it’s important not to keep the tool in the application installation source folder. Otherwise, the tool will also be included in the application installation package.

Let’s understand how to use the Intune Prep Tool intuneWinAppUtil to create an Intunewin package for Win32 app deployment.

Follow the steps below to create a wrapper using IntuneWinAppUtil.

• Open the command prompt and change the directory to the root of the folder you created.
• Run IntuneWinAppUtil.exe and provide the following details.
  • Source folder: Provide the complete path for the application source
  • Setup file: Provide the name of the main setup file that needs to be executed to start the installation of the application.
  • Output folder: Provide the name of the output folder where the resulting intunewim file will be created
  • Catalog folder: Yes or No, based on whether you want to use the catalog or not.

You can also use the command below to skip the prompts.

IntuneWinAppUtil.exe -c "D:\source\Notepad++7_9_1" -s setup.exe -o "d:\Source" -q

Syntax:

IntuneWinAppUtil.exe -c C:\Source -s setup.msi -o C:\Output

Here, -c specifies source folder, -s is the setup file, and -o defines output location.

As you see in the folder below, the intunewin file is created in the root folder with the .intunewin extension. You need to upload the Intune.win file to Intune when creating the Win32 app for the respective application.

Please check out this post if you would like to know the steps to deploy a Win32 app in Intune: Deploy Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 19.02 through Intune

The Win32 app can also be deployed directly from the Microsoft Store: Deploy Win32 App using Microsoft Store app (new) | Intune

The recent addition is the Enterprise App Catalog, which streamlines the deployment using an app catalog maintained by app vendors: Deploy Win32 App Using Intune Enterprise App Catalog

For full details, see Microsoft’s official guide on preparing Win32 app content for Intune. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/intune/intune-service/apps/apps-win32-prepare?utm_source=chatgpt.com

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