GPO Policies do not work for Microsoft Office 365 Apps ?

Question

Hello, I have several Windows 10/11 VMS running on Hyper V.

• I have downloaded Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise/Office LTSC 2021/Office 2019/Office 2016 to control my Office 365 Policies through Group Policies.
• And imported the ADMX/ADML files to my Policy Definitions on my Server 2022 Datacenter Domain Controller. I have configured several policies to check if they work. Unfortunately, none of the policies are working. My questions are:

1. Is it possible to control Microsoft 365 Apps through GPO Policies? Or only until Office 2016 version?
2. If yes, why do the exported ADMX/ADML files only show the Office 2016 version?

The Policies that I am trying to config: Block all unmanaged add-ins (admx.help) Disable commands (admx.help) Warn before printing, saving or sending a file that contains tracked changes or comments (admx.help) And others... Office Version: Microsoft 365 for Enterprise 16.0.16227.20280 Thanks in Advance! Regards

Answer 1

Microsoft 365 Apps for BUSINESS (desktop clients) do not support Group Policies save for 5 measly privacy settings.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptions/office-applications-service-description/office-applications-service-description#:~:text=Group%20Policy%20support6

You would have to move to Microsoft 365 Apps for ENTERPRISE or E3/E5.

Answer 2

The Office 2016 ADMX should work fine for newer versions of Office as the actual registry paths are unchanged. Some Office policy apparently doesn't work with Office 365 Business but should be fine with Enterprise. I tend to use group policy registry preferences to deploy a lot of these settings as they are easier to tune to subsets of users, or to set to apply once then allow user overwrite and work with 365 Business Premium.