For years, Intune Discovered Apps has been the go-to place to check what’s installed on your managed devices. It works, but it’s limited: a seven-day refresh cycle (24 hours for Win32 via the IME), barely any metadata beyond name and version, and zero admin control over what gets collected. Microsoft’s answer is Intune App Inventory, the long-term replacement for Discovered Apps on Windows. Same idea, but with richer data (install paths, sizes, uninstall commands, install dates, architectures), multiple syncs per day instead of weekly, and proper multi-user support. The catch: it doesn’t just turn on. You configure what you want to collect through a Properties catalog policy and assign it like any other device configuration. In this post, I’ll walk through what the Intune App Inventory actually does, how to set it up in your tenant, how the collection works under the hood, and where you’ll find the data once devices start reporting. If you’ve been relying on Discovered Apps for software inventory, this is the upgrade path and it’s worth getting familiar with before Microsoft starts deprecating the old experience.
How Intune app inventory works
The Intune App Inventory feature is critical for organizations looking to maintain comprehensive oversight of application management across their devices.
Under the hood, App Inventory piggybacks on the device inventory agent that’s already running on your Windows endpoints. Once a policy is assigned, that same agent starts gathering application data alongside the device data it was already reporting, and ships it back to Intune.
Here’s what the agent actually does:
- Reads Win32 apps from the registry uninstall keys, both the system-wide hive (HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall) and the per-user keys. 32-bit apps installed on 64-bit Windows are picked up too, so nothing slips through the WOW6432Node gap.
- Pulls Windows Store apps via the package manager API rather than the registry, since Store apps don’t live there.
- Surfaces everything on the device’s All Apps page in the Intune admin center, where you can browse it per device.
Here’s the catch: App Inventory is opt-in. Discovered Apps collected data the moment a device enrolled, App Inventory sits dormant until you build a Properties catalog policy and assign it. Until that policy lands on a device, you’ll see exactly nothing in the All Apps tab, more on this later on in this blog.
To fully leverage the capabilities of Intune App Inventory, make sure you understand how to configure the Properties catalog policy effectively.
If you want to check out the details on the new device view check out my post on this topic here.
How to create the Intune app inventory policy
Utilizing the Intune App Inventory policy can significantly enhance your organization’s application management strategy.
Go to the Intune portal – Devices – Windows – Configuration – Create – New Policy – Platform: Windows 10 and later – Proifile type: Properties Catalog – Create – Name your policy – Check the box ApplicationProperties
Assign this policy to a (dynamic) device group. Inventory is about the device, not the user. You want to know what’s installed on every endpoint regardless of who’s signed in. User group assignment introduces weird gaps: shared devices, kiosks, or devices where the assigned user hasn’t logged in yet just won’t report.
Multi-user collection works better with device targeting. One of the headline improvements of App Inventory over Discovered Apps is that it captures apps installed under all user profiles on a device, not just the last logged-in user. To take advantage of that, you want the policy on the device itself.
With the Intune App Inventory, users can gain insights into all applications, regardless of the user signed in.
The following properties are required and selected by default:
- App Name
- App Version
- Publisher
- Architectures
- Install Scope
- Install Scope Platform User Id
- Install Scope User Id
In the table below you see all other properties:
| Properties catalog setting | Report column name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Install location | Install location | The path where the application is installed on the device. |
| Estimated size | Estimated size | The estimated size of the application, in bytes. |
| Install date | Install date | The date the application was installed. |
| Platform-specific app ID | Package Name | An identifier specific to the platform. For Win32 apps, this value is the MSI product code. For Store apps, this value is the package full name. |
| Platform Specific App ID Type | Platform Specific App ID Type | The type of platform-specific identifier (for example, MSI product code or package name). |
| Uninstall command | Uninstall command | The command used to uninstall the application. |
| Modify command | Modify command | The command used to modify the application. |
| Languages | Languages | The languages the application supports. |
| Install Scope User Name | User Name | The user name associated with the app installation. Best-effort resolution for non-Entra users on the device. |
The following properties also appear in the app inventory report but aren’t configurable in the Properties catalog:
| Report column | Description |
|---|---|
| MSI Product Code | The MSI product code for Win32 apps, when available. |
| Installed For | Indicates whether the app is installed at the device level or for a specific user. |
| Last updated | The date the app record was last updated. |
| Last checked | The date the device last reported app inventory data. |
- Two separate policies, one for App Inventory and one for device inventory, both assigned to the same group. Cleaner separation, easier to disable or troubleshoot one without touching the other.
- One combined policy with both app and device inventory settings inside it. Fewer objects to manage, simpler assignment story.
- Multiple policies with different property sets targeted at different device groups — for example, collecting the full property set on your corporate fleet but a leaner set on kiosks or shared devices where you don’t need install dates or uninstall commands.
If multiple Properties catalog policies hit the same device, Intune merges the settings rather than picking a winner. On conflict, collect wins over don’t-collect for any given property, so if one policy says “collect install location” and another says “don’t,” the device will collect it. Good to know if you’re layering policies across customer tenants or device categories.
View the Intune app inventory policy data
The data provided by Intune App Inventory can help streamline application management processes across your organization.
Like i stated in the beginning of this post, you need to enable the new device view first. Go to the Intune portal – Devices – Windows – pick a device where the policy has landed on – Tools and reports – All apps.
From here you can see all the details in regards to the properties you have selected in your policy.
Also make sure you check out the extra columns that are available for you to choose, these contain other usefull information in regards to your applications.
Closing thoughts
Embracing the power of Intune App Inventory is a step forward in optimizing your device management capabilities.
App Inventory is one of those Intune updates that doesn’t feel revolutionary until you actually use it side-by-side with Discovered Apps. Same device, same machine, suddenly you’re seeing install paths, sizes, uninstall commands, and per-user install scope, data that previously required custom scripts, a third-party tool, or a remote session to the device.
The setup overhead is minimal: one Properties catalog policy, assigned to a Windows device group, and you’re done. The bigger lift is mental, getting used to the new device view, training your helpdesk on where the All Apps tab lives, and updating any runbooks that still point to Discovered Apps for software inventory questions.
Microsoft hasn’t given Discovered Apps a kill date yet, but the direction is clear. The deprecation banner is already showing on the old report, and macOS, iOS/iPadOS, and Android support for App Inventory is on the roadmap. If you manage Windows endpoints in Intune, enable it now, even if you’re not ready to fully retire Discovered Apps, having both running in parallel costs nothing and gives you a head start before the cutover becomes mandatory.
Don’t underestimate the importance of the Intune App Inventory in your management toolkit.
Transitioning to the Intune App Inventory can enhance your operational efficiency by providing crucial insights into application usage.
And as always if you feel there is something in error or you want to add some stuff from your own experience, don’t hesitate to contact me!
Thank you for helping me staying up to date with the latest features!
Always a pleasure!