Kiosk mode is a feature where you can control which applications are shown in start menu when a user signs-in to HoloLens. There are 2 supported scenarios:
Single app kiosk mode – No start menu is displayed, and a single app is launched automatically, when user signs in.
Example uses: A device that runs only Dynamics 365 Guides app.
Multiple app kiosk mode – Start menu shows only those applications, which were specified in kiosk configuration when a user signs in. An app can be chosen to automatically launch if desired.
Example uses: A device that shows only the Store app, Feedback Hub and Settings app in start menu.
Description of kiosk mode experience when a user signs-in
The following table lists the feature capabilities in the different kiosk modes.
Start menu
Quick Actions menu
Camera and video
Miracast
Cortana
Built-in voice commands
Single-app kiosk
Disabled
Disabled
Disabled
Disabled
Disabled
Enabled*
Multi-app kiosk
Enabled
Enabled*
Available*
Available*
Available*
Enabled*
* For more information about how to enable disabled features, or how voice commands interact with disabled features and Cortana see HoloLens AUMIDs for apps.
Key general considerations before configuring kiosk mode
Determine the kind of user account signing into HoloLens in your environment - HoloLens supports Microsoft Entra accounts, Microsoft Accounts (MSA) and Local accounts. Additionally, temporarily created accounts called guests / visitors are also supported (only for Microsoft Entra join devices). Learn more at Manage user identity and sign-in for HoloLens.
Determine the targets of kiosk mode experience–Whether it's everyone, a single user, certain users, or users who are member of Microsoft Entra group(s), etc.
For multiple app kiosk mode, determine application(s) to show on start menu. For each application, its Application User Model ID (AUMID) will be needed.
Determine if kiosk mode will be applied to HoloLens via either runtime provisioning packages or Mobile Device Management (MDM) server.
Security considerations
Kiosk mode shouldn't be considered as a security method but as a means to control the start-up experience on user sign-in. You may combine kiosk mode experience with options mentioned below if there are specific security related needs:
When Settings app is configured to show in kiosk mode and you want to control which pages are shown in Settings app, refer to Page Settings Visibility.
Key technical considerations for Kiosk mode for HoloLens
Applies only if you're planning to use runtime provisioning packages or creating kiosk configurations manually yourself. Kiosk mode configuration uses a hierarchical structure based on XML:
An assigned access profile defines which applications are displayed in start menu in kiosk mode. You can define multiple profiles in same XML structure, which can be referenced later.
An assigned access configuration references a profile and target user(s) of that profile, for example, a specific user, or Microsoft Entra group or visitor, etc. You can define multiple configurations in same XML structure depending on complexity of your usage scenarios (see supported scenarios section below).
You may choose to have only one Microsoft Entra user sign-in. Once the user has signed in once the device will continue to sign them in automatically and never sign out.
Users in different Microsoft Entra groups experience kiosk mode that is for their group only.
• Temporary user account is automatically created by HoloLens on sign-in and is removed when temporary user signs out. • Consider enabling visitor auto-login policy.
Steps in configuring kiosk mode for HoloLens
Kiosk configurations can be created and applied in following ways:
With MDM server's UI, for example, Intune's kiosk templates or it custom OMA-URI configurations, which are then remotely applied to HoloLens.
With runtime provisioning packages, which are then directly applied to HoloLens.
Here are the following ways to configure, select the tab matching the process you'd like to use.
Choose whether single app or multiple app kiosk and also choose kind of user targeting for kiosk mode.
Choose the app to run in kiosk mode.
Leave rest of the options as is.
Choose which groups / devices or users this configuration profile should get assigned to.
Review and create to save configuration profile.
Perform MDM sync starting from either device or Intune to apply configuration to device. Sync devices from Intune or on device via Settings > Accounts > Work or school > select the connected account > Info > Sync.
Sign in as the target user to experience kiosk.
Microsoft Intune multi app kiosk template
Create a configuration profile.
Choose kiosk template.
Choose whether single app or multiple app kiosk and also choose kind of user targeting for kiosk mode.
Choose the app(s) to run in kiosk mode.
Leave rest of the options as is.
Choose which groups / devices or users this configuration profile should get assigned to.
Review and create to save configuration profile.
Perform MDM sync starting from either device or Intune to apply configuration to device. Sync devices from Intune or on device via Settings > Accounts > Work or school > select the connected account > Info > Sync.
Sign in as the target user to experience kiosk.
Microsoft Intune custom template
Create xml configuration for your desired kiosk experience. See examples here to begin.
Create a custom configuration profile.
Specify name of custom configuration profile and click on “Add” in “Configuration settings” section to add OMA-URI settings.
Specify name of OMA-URI settings.
In OMA-URI textbox, enter ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/AssignedAccess/Configuration
Choose Data type as String.
In value textbox, copy-paste the assigned access configuration xml (see reference links for examples based on your scenario and update as needed before copy-pasting).
Select the save button to save the setting and configuration.
Choose which groups / devices or users this configuration profile should get assigned to.
Review and create to save configuration profile.
Perform MDM sync starting from either device or Intune to apply configuration to device. Sync devices from Intune or on device via Settings > Accounts > Work or school > select the connected account > Info > Sync
Sign in as the target user to experience kiosk.
Runtime provisioning - Multi app
Create xml configuration for your desired kiosk experience. See examples here to begin.
On the Start page select Provision HoloLens devices.
Select Provision HoloLens 2 devices, then select next.
Name your project. Optionally write a description. Select Finish to proceed.
In the bottom left of the screen, select Switch to advanced editor. Confirm switching to the advanced editor by selecting Yes.
On the left hand side, expand Runtime settings, AssignedAccess and select AssignedAccessSettings.
Define your kiosk in the text box. For example, the following creates a single app kiosk for a local account named LocalAccount that is the settings app.
{"Account":"LocalAccount","AUMID":"BAEAEF15-9BAB-47FC-800B-ACECAD2AE94B_cw5n1h2txyewy!App"}
Select Export , then Provisioning Package.
Change owner type to IT Admin.
Select Next three times. Then select Build.
After your provisioning package builds, open the Output location folder. The .ppkg file is your provision package. Optional step: Save your project.
How can visitor accounts automatically log on to kiosk experience?
Available on builds Windows Holographic, version 21H1 and onwards, Microsoft Entra ID and Non-Azure AD configurations both support visitor accounts being autologon enabled for Kiosk modes.
By default devices configured for kiosk mode with visitor accounts will have a button on the sign-in screen that will sign in a visitor with a single tap. Once signed in, the device won't show the sign-in screen again until the visitor is explicitly signed out from the start menu or the device is restarted. However sometimes you may want to set up the device such that the sign-in screen is never shown and for the device to automatically sign in using a visitor account to the kiosk experience. To do this, configure the MixedReality/VisitorAutoLogon policy.
A device configured to automatically sign in using a visitor account won't have on-device UI to exit this mode. To ensure that a device isn't accidentally locked out, this policy requires that no other user accounts are present on the device. As a result, this policy must be applied during device setup either by using a provisioning package or by MDM using Autopilot.
Is kiosk experience supported on HoloLens (1st gen)?
Kiosk mode is available only if the device has Windows Holographic for Business. All HoloLens 2 devices ship with Windows Holographic for Business and there are no other editions. Every HoloLens 2 device is able to run Kiosk mode out of the box.
HoloLens (1st gen) devices need to be upgraded both in terms of OS build and OS edition. Here's more information on updating a HoloLens (1st gen) to Windows Holographic for Business edition. To update a HoloLens (1st gen) device to use kiosk mode, you must first make sure that the device runs Windows 10, version 1803, or a later version. If you have used the Windows Device Recovery Tool to recover your HoloLens (1st gen) device to its default build, or if you have installed the most recent updates, your device is ready to configure.
How to use device portal to configure kiosk in nonproduction environments?
When you set up HoloLens to use the Device Portal, you have to enable Developer Mode on the device. Developer Mode on a device that has Windows Holographic for Business enables you to side-load apps. However, this setting creates a risk that a user can install apps that have not been certified by the Microsoft Store. Administrators can block the ability to enable Developer Mode by using the ApplicationManagement/AllowDeveloper Unlock setting in the Policy CSP. Learn more about Developer Mode.
Kiosk Mode can be set via Device Portal’s REST API by doing a POST to /api/holographic/kioskmode/settings with one required query string parameter (“kioskModeEnabled” with a value of “true” or “false”) and one optional parameter (“startupApp” with a value of a package name). Keep in mind that Device Portal is intended for developers only and shouldn't be enabled on nondeveloper devices. The REST API is subject to change in future updates/releases.
Introduced a new MDM policy MixedReality\AllowLaunchUriInSingleAppKiosk. This can be enabled to allow for other apps to be launched with in a single app Kiosk, which may be useful, for example, if you want to launch the Settings app to calibrate your device or change your Wi-fi.
The OMA-URI of new policy: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/MixedReality/AllowLaunchUriInSingleAppKiosk
Bool value
Issue - No apps are shown in start menu in kiosk mode
Symptoms
When encountering failures in applying kiosk mode, the following behavior appears:
Prior to Windows Holographic, version 20H2 - HoloLens will show all applications in the Start menu.
Windows Holographic, version 20H2 - if a device has a kiosk configuration, which is a combination of both global assigned access and Microsoft Entra group member assigned access, if determining Microsoft Entra group membership fails, the user will see “nothing shown in start” menu.
Starting with Windows Holographic, version 21H1, Kiosk mode looks for Global Assigned Access before showing an empty start menu. The kiosk experience will fall back to a global kiosk configuration (if present) if there are failures during Microsoft Entra group kiosk mode.
Troubleshooting steps
Verify that AUMID of app is correctly specified and it doesn't contain versions. Refer to HoloLens AUMIDs for inbox apps for examples.
Ensure that application is installed on the device for that user.
If kiosk configuration is based on Microsoft Entra groups, ensure internet connectivity is present when the Microsoft Entra user signs in. If desired configure MixedReality/AADGroupMembershipCacheValidityInDays policy so this can function without internet as well.
If XML was used to create assigned access configuration (either via runtime provisioning or Intune custom-OMA URI), ensure that XML is well-formed by opening it in any web browser or XML editor. Refer to Kiosk XML code samples for well-formed and valid templates.
Issue - Building a package with kiosk mode failed
Symptoms
A dialog like below is shown.
Troubleshooting steps
Click on the hyper-link shown as in the dialog above.
Open ICD.log in a text editor and its contents should indicate the error.
Note
If you have made several attempts, check the time stamps in the log. This will help you check only the current issues.
Issue – Provisioning package built successfully but failed to apply.
Symptoms
Error is shown when applying the provisioning package on HoloLens.
Troubleshooting steps
Browse to the folder where Windows Configuration Designer project for runtime provisioning package exists.
Open ICD.log and ensure that there are no errors in the log while building the provisioning package. Some errors aren't showing during build but are still logged in ICD.log
Issue – Multiple app assigned access to Microsoft Entra group doesn't work
Symptoms
On Microsoft Entra user sign-in, device doesn't go into expected kiosk mode.
Troubleshooting steps
Confirm in Assigned Access configuration XML that GUID of Microsoft Entra group of which signed-in user is a member of is used and not the GUID of the Microsoft Entra user.
Confirm that in Intune portal that Microsoft Entra user is indeed shown as member of targeted Microsoft Entra group.
For Intune only, confirm that device is showing as compliant. For more information, see device compliance reference.
Plan and execute an endpoint deployment strategy, using essential elements of modern management, co-management approaches, and Microsoft Intune integration.