Windows Movie Maker Silent Installation: Deploying via SCCM

Microsoft officially discontinued Windows Essentials (which included Windows Movie Maker) and pulled it from official download entirely back in January 2017. Microsoft’s own guidance at the time specifically warned against downloading copies from third-party sites, since unofficial mirrors of the installer have been a known vector for bundled malware.

If You Need It for Legacy Reasons

If you have a genuine business need to deploy Movie Maker (for example, supporting an existing process built around it), the safest options are:

• Using an installer you already have on file from before the 2017 discontinuation, verified against a known-good checksum if you have one.
• Checking with Microsoft directly (via a support contact, if you have an enterprise agreement) about currently supported legacy software provisions.

For SCCM/Group Policy silent deployment, the historical silent install switch for the Windows Essentials offline installer was /AppSelect:MovieMaker /Log:"C:\install.log" /NoWebSiteRelaunch /qn, but given the software’s discontinued and unsupported status, we’d strongly encourage evaluating a current, actively-maintained video editing tool instead for any new deployment — Movie Maker receives no updates or security fixes at all at this point.

The Current Built-In Alternative: Clipchamp

If you’re only after Movie Maker’s core job — a straightforward, no-cost video editor for basic cuts, transitions, and text overlays — Microsoft’s current answer is Clipchamp, bundled directly into Windows 11 and also available on Windows 10 via the Microsoft Store or the web. As of 2026 it covers considerably more ground than Movie Maker ever did: a proper multi-track timeline, text overlays, transitions and filters, picture-in-picture, built-in screen and webcam recording, a large royalty-free stock library, and a set of AI-assisted features (auto-captions in 90+ languages, background removal, and Copilot-assisted editing suggestions). It’s worth knowing the free tier’s limits before you roll it out as a Movie Maker replacement at scale: exports are capped at 1080p and fixed to MP4 at 30fps with no manual bitrate/frame-rate control, and a Microsoft 365 subscription is required to unlock 4K export. Projects also save through OneDrive rather than purely local storage, and because it’s a browser/UWP-based app, export speed depends on the local machine’s hardware rather than a dedicated native renderer. For casual editing needs that would previously have gone to Movie Maker, though, it’s a genuinely maintained, currently-supported, zero-cost option — unlike deploying an 8-year-unpatched installer.

Resources

• Group Policy
• guide
• Download Windows Essentials 2012 Offline Installer
• Browse our General Tech Accessories picks on Amazon