Office 365 - suppress file format option on first run

Question

When a user runs one of the Office 365 apps for the first time, it shows a dialog box to choose default saving format. Is it possible to suppress this? I want the programs to use the standard Office XML format, and have tried setting this by using all options I have been able to find in both the instal script and in the GPOs, but neither seems to prevent the dialog box from appearing. Have I missed something or is it it impossible to prevent this?

Thanks

Answer 1

If you want to check if the "Default file Types" dialog appears or not, please try to create the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\General
Value name = ShownFileFmtPrompt
Value type = REG_DWORD
Value data = 1

Answer 2

For disabling default file format dialog, you may:

Seting default file format to MS XML in registry:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\General]
"FirstRunTime"=dword:019975fa
"FileFormatBallotBoxAppIDBootedOnce"=dword:00000000
"FileFormatBallotBoxTelemetryEventSent"=dword:00000001
"ShownFileFmtPrompt"=dword:00000001
"FileFormatBallotBoxShowAttempts"=dword:00000001

For Open XML:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\General]
"FirstRunTime"=dword:019975fb
"FileFormatBallotBoxAppIDBootedOnce"=dword:00000000
"FileFormatBallotBoxTelemetryEventSent"=dword:00000001
"ShownFileFmtPrompt"=dword:00000001
"FileFormatBallotBoxShowAttempts"=dword:00000001

Or set this in XML file which is used for install office 365 by command
setup" /configure office365-install.xml

<AppSettings>
<User Key="SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\General" Name="FirstRunTime" Value="019975fa" Type="REG_DWORD" App="office16" />
<User Key="SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\General" Name="FileFormatBallotBoxAppIDBootedOnce" Value="00000000" Type="REG_DWORD" App="office16" />
<User Key="SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\General" Name="FileFormatBallotBoxTelemetryEventSent" Value="00000001" Type="REG_DWORD" App="office16" />
<User Key="SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\General" Name="ShownFileFmtPrompt" Value="00000001" Type="REG_DWORD" App="office16" />
<User Key="SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\General" Name="FileFormatBallotBoxShowAttempts" Value="00000001" Type="REG_DWORD" App="office16" />
</AppSettings>

Instalator put this setings from XML in registry:
Počítač\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\User Settings{SOMENUMBER}\Create\software\microsoft\office\16.0
(Number in this key is not the same for all instalations.)

When user run first time office aplication like Winword, office copy this registry keys in your HKCU.
Default file format is now set, and dialog is not shown.

Answer 3

If you make a deployment xml file for office 365, you get a question to answer about this when dowloading the file from config.office.com. It will be included in the xml file.
![147793-image.png][1]

Answer 4

Thanks - that registry key exists.

Does changing it to 0 prevent the dialog from appearing, and is there a group policy setting which controls this?

Answer 5

Try to set the default file save formats through GPO the prompt will not be shown. You can try this method:

Enable the following settings:

“Microsoft Excel 2016\Excel Options\Save > Default file format” set to “Excel Workbook (.xlsx)”
“Microsoft PowerPoint 2016\PowerPoint Options\Save > Default file format” set to “PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx)
“Microsoft Word 2016\Word Options\Save > Default file format” set to “Word Document (*.docx)”