Windows 10 configuration recommendations for education customers

  • Article
  • 7 minutes to read
  • Applies to:
    ✅ Windows 10

Privacy is important to us, we want to provide you with ways to customize the OS diagnostic data, consumer experiences, Cortana, search, and some of the preinstalled apps, for usage with education editions of Windows 10 in education environments. These features work on all Windows 10 editions, but education editions of Windows 10 have the settings preconfigured. We recommend that all Windows 10 devices in an education setting be configured with SetEduPolicies enabled. For more information, see the following table. To learn more about Microsoft's commitment to privacy, see Windows 10 and privacy.

We want all students to have the chance to use the apps they need for success in the classroom and all school personnel to have apps they need for their job. Students and school personnel who use assistive technology apps not available in the Microsoft Store, and use devices running Windows 10 S, will be able to configure the device at no extra charge to Windows 10 Pro Education. To learn more about the steps to configure this device, see Switch to Windows 10 Pro Education from Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 S.

In Windows 10, version 1703 (Creators Update), it's straightforward to configure Windows to be education ready.

Area How to configure What this area does Windows 10 Education Windows 10 Pro Education Windows 10 S
Diagnostic Data AllowTelemetry Sets Diagnostic Data to Basic This feature is already set This feature is already set The policy must be set
Microsoft consumer experiences SetEduPolicies Disables suggested content from Windows such as app recommendations This feature is already set This feature is already set The policy must be set
Cortana AllowCortana Disables Cortana

* Cortana is enabled by default on all editions in Windows 10, version 1703		 If using Windows 10 Education, upgrading from Windows 10, version 1607 to Windows 10, version 1703 will enable Cortana.

See the Recommended configuration section below for recommended Cortana settings.		 If using Windows 10 Pro Education, upgrading from Windows 10, version 1607 to Windows 10, version 1703 will enable Cortana.

See the Recommended configuration section below for recommended Cortana settings.		 See the Recommended configuration section below for recommended Cortana settings.
Safe search SetEduPolicies Locks Bing safe search to Strict in Microsoft Edge This feature is already set This feature is already set The policy must be set
Bing search advertising Ad free search with Bing Disables ads when searching the internet with Bing in Microsoft Edge. See [Ad-free search with Bing](#ad-free-search-with-bing View configuration instructions as detailed in Ad-free search with Bing View configuration instructions as detailed in Ad-free search with Bing View configuration instructions as detailed in Ad-free search with Bing
Apps SetEduPolicies Preinstalled apps like Microsoft Edge, Movies & TV, Groove, and Skype become education ready

* Any app can detect Windows is running in an education ready configuration through IsEducationEnvironment		 This feature is already set This feature is already set The policy must be set

It's easy to be education ready when using Microsoft products. We recommend the following configuration:

  1. Use an Office 365 Education tenant.

    With Office 365, you also have Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). To learn more about Office 365 Education features and pricing, see Office 365 Education plans and pricing.

  2. Activate Intune for Education in your tenant.

    You can sign up to learn more about Intune for Education.

  3. On PCs running Windows 10, version 1703:

    1. Provision the PC using one of these methods:
    2. Join the PC to Azure Active Directory.
      • Use Set up School PCs or Windows Configuration Designer to bulk enroll to Azure AD.
      • Manually Azure AD join the PC during the Windows device setup experience.
    3. Enroll the PCs in MDM.
      • If you've activated Intune for Education in your Azure AD tenant, enrollment will happen automatically when the PC is joined to Azure AD. Intune for Education will automatically set SetEduPolicies to True and AllowCortana to False.
    4. Ensure that needed assistive technology apps can be used.
      • If you've students or school personnel who rely on assistive technology apps that aren't available in the Microsoft Store, and who are using a Windows 10 S device, configure their device to Windows 10 Pro Education to allow the download and use of non-Microsoft Store assistive technology apps. See Switch to Windows 10 Pro Education from Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 S for more info.

  4. Distribute the PCs to students.

    Students sign in with their Azure AD/Office 365 identity, which enables single sign-on to Bing in Microsoft Edge, enabling an ad-free search experience with Bing in Microsoft Edge.

  5. Ongoing management through Intune for Education.

    You can set many policies through Intune for Education, including SetEduPolicies and AllowCortana, for ongoing management of the PCs.

Configuring Windows

You can configure Windows through provisioning or management tools including industry standard MDM.

  • Provisioning - A one-time setup process.
  • Management - A one-time and/or ongoing management of a PC by setting policies.

You can set all the education compliance areas through both provisioning and management tools. Additionally, these Microsoft education tools will ensure PCs that you set up are education ready:

AllowCortana

AllowCortana is a policy that enables or disables Cortana. It's a policy node in the Policy configuration service provider, AllowCortana.

Note

See the Recommended configuration section for recommended Cortana settings.

Use one of these methods to set this policy.

MDM

  • Intune for Education automatically sets this policy in the All devices group policy configuration.
  • If you're using an MDM provider other than Intune for Education, check your MDM provider documentation on how to set this policy.

    • If your MDM provider doesn't explicitly support this policy, you can manually set this policy if your MDM provider allows specific OMA-URIs to be manually set.

      For example, in Intune, create a new configuration policy and add an OMA-URI.

      • OMA-URI: ./Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Experience/AllowCortana
      • Data type: Integer
      • Value: 0

Group Policy

Set Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search > AllowCortana to Disabled.

Provisioning tools

SetEduPolicies

SetEduPolicies is a policy that applies a set of configuration behaviors to Windows. It's a policy node in the SharedPC configuration service provider.

Use one of these methods to set this policy.

MDM

  • Intune for Education automatically sets this policy in the All devices group policy configuration.
  • If you're using an MDM provider other than Intune for Education, check your MDM provider documentation on how to set this policy.

    • If your MDM provider doesn't explicitly support this policy, you can manually set this policy if your MDM provider allows specific OMA-URIs to be manually set.

      For example, in Intune, create a new configuration policy and add an OMA-URI.

      • OMA-URI: ./Vendor/MSFT/SharedPC/SetEduPolicies

      • Data type: Boolean

      • Value: true

        Create an OMA URI for SetEduPolices.

Group Policy

SetEduPolicies isn't natively supported in Group Policy. Instead, use the MDM Bridge WMI Provider to set the policy in MDM SharedPC.

For example:

  • Open PowerShell as an administrator and enter the following:

    $sharedPC = Get-CimInstance -Namespace "root\cimv2\mdm\dmmap" -ClassName "MDM_SharedPC"

$sharedPC.SetEduPolicies = $True

Set-CimInstance -CimInstance $sharedPC

Get-CimInstance -Namespace $namespaceName -ClassName $MDM_SharedPCClass

Provisioning tools

Ad-free search with Bing

Provide an ad-free experience that is a safer, more private search option for K–12 education institutions in the United States.

Configurations

Azure AD and Office 365 Education tenant

To suppress ads when searching with Bing on Microsoft Edge on any network, follow these steps:

  1. Ensure your Office 365 tenant is registered as an education tenant. For more information, see Verify your Office 365 domain to prove education status.
  2. Domain join the Windows 10 PCs to your Azure AD tenant (this tenant is the same as your Office 365 tenant).
  3. Configure SetEduPolicies according to one of the methods described in the previous sections in this topic.
  4. Have students sign in with their Azure AD identity, which is the same as your Office 365 identity, to use the PC.

Note

If you are verifying your Office 365 domain to prove education status (step 1 above), you may need to wait up to 7 days for the ad-free experience to take effect. Microsoft recommends not to roll out the browser to your students until that time.

Office 365 sign-in to Bing

To suppress ads only when the student signs into Bing with their Office 365 account in Microsoft Edge, follow these steps:

  1. Configure SetEduPolicies according to one of the methods described in the previous sections in this topic.
  2. Have students sign into Bing with their Office 365 account.

Deployment recommendations for school IT administrators