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What is settings inheritance?

  • Article

Applies to:

  • iOS
  • Windows 10
  • Windows 11
  • Windows 11 SE

Settings are applied to groups. Since groups are set up as hierarchies, with one group above another, all settings applied to a group are inherited by its subgroups. Subgroups automatically take on the changes you make to the group above it. This action is called inheritance. Settings inheritance is helpful when you want to apply settings to large groups of users and devices.

A tree of groups of and subgroups.

Configure subgroups individually

To override recently inherited settings, go directly to the subgroup. Configure it individually by removing or adding settings. Then save your changes.

Settings in conflict

If you apply conflicting settings to the same group, Intune will analyze each one individually. Intune always chooses the settings that, with certainty, complies with school policies.

In other cases, when Intune can't resolve the conflict, you should review the settings conflict report.

Example of inheritance conflict

As an example, consider the subgroup, 12th Grade AP Computer Science. The subgroup falls under the parent group, 12th grade. You assign a strict security scanning requirement to all files and apps downloaded devices in the 12th grade group.

However, you know that for an upcoming assignment, 12th Grade AP Computer Science must download JavaScript files that don't need to be scanned. If you don't override settings inheritance, the more restrictive Twelfth Grade setting will be applied to the users in Twelfth Grade AP Computer Science.

Settings error report

If a setting can't be resolved, it will appear in the Settings error report. For more information about reports, see View and download reports.

Next steps

Find out more about the full groups experience in Intune.