(This post is co-authored with Aashka Damani, Program Manager, and Mayunk Jain, Product Manager, Microsoft 365)

Microsoft Intune is excited to announce the general availability of administrative templates support for Windows 10 device configuration profiles. This feature received wide adoption during the public preview because it helps Windows administrators use the settings they are familiar with in group policy editor when they transition to cloud-attached management.  In the general release, we deliver one of the most requested feedback from the public preview: support for more settings. Administrative templates will be adding an over 2500 settings to the Intune console, covering  Windows, OneDrive and Office, in a user interface that is similar to group policy editor.

Let us walkthrough creating and editing a profile.

Create an Administrative Templates profile

Administrative template profiles in Intune apply to Windows 10 devices and the process is similar to creating most other device configuration profiles. Start by creating a new profile under ‘device configuration’ and select ‘administrative templates’ under profile type.

Upon creating a profile, the administrator will have access to the master list of all 2500+ available settings. Some of the setting names may appear to be duplicates, but each of them has a different path and different end effect.

Administrator may use the Search, Sort and Filter options to identify the settings they have set and the ones they may want to configure. For instance, the drop down list of products allows administrators to view only the settings that apply to Windows, those that apply to Office, and all settings.

The product filter in combination with search terms lets administrators quickly narrow down the list to the settings they wish to configure. The search works on both the name of the setting and any part of the setting’s path.

Many of the settings are applicable on both users and devices. Administrators can use column headings to distinguish between types of settings and differentiate between settings that have been configured and not configured.

Click on a setting to see its description and determine how it should be appropriately configured.

The description text for each setting includes the minimum app version supported by the setting as well as the ADMX setting version. This will help troubleshooting using widely available Microsoft and community documentation about ADMX files and their expected behavior. After editing the necessary settings and deploying them to the respective users and devices, close the profile to save the changes.

Upon reopening the profile, all of the settings that have been configured will automatically filter to the top. This makes it easy to know what settings have been set and administrators can edit the configuration profile if desired.

Next steps

Microsoft Intune is designed with the learnings and feedback from administrators managing over 175M devices worldwide. This feature is another reason more customers choose Microsoft endpoint management solutions for the easiest path to manage their Windows 10, Office 365, and other mobile applications and devices either on-premises, attached to the cloud, or both. Share your experience after you take administrative templates for a spin in your own modern workplace.

Microsoft offers a variety of resources and support tools to help you in this journey. Plan your cloud services deployments with online resources and tools from FastTrack, a service that’s included in your eligible Microsoft subscription at no additional cost. FastTrack provides customized guidance for onboarding and adoption, including access to Microsoft engineering expertise, best practices, tools, and resources so you can leverage existing resources instead of creating new ones.

Visit the planning and migration documentation to drive successful customer adoption of managed mobile productivity with a robust communication plan.

More info and feedback

Learn how to get started with Microsoft Intune with our detailed technical documentation. Don’t have Microsoft Intune? Start a free trial or buy a subscription today!

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