Microsoft Edge › PDF Reader
View XFA-based PDF files using IE Mode for allowed file origin.
Supported on Microsoft Edge version 132, Windows 7 or later
What it does
Internet Explorer (IE) mode uses the Adobe Acrobat Active-X PDF Plugin to open XFA-based PDF files. This policy works only if the Active-X plugin is already on the user's device, it's not installed as part of this policy. It's important to note that XFA is a legacy technology that's deprecated by its original creators. It's not an ISO standard and as such doesn't align with the modern web architecture. Continued use poses potential risks and vulnerabilities. Given the deprecated status of XFA technology and the lack of any investment by its creators, we strongly recommend that you start planning your transition to more advanced HTML\PDF form-based solutions. In the interim, this policy provides a workaround for users to view XFA PDF in Microsoft Edge. If you enable this policy, you can configure the list of origins from which XFA PDF files will be automatically opened in Microsoft Edge using IE Mode. If you disable or don't configure the policy, XFA PDFs won't be considered for opening via Internet Explorer mode. For detailed information on valid URL patterns, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2095322 Alternatively, 'ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedFileHash' (View XFA-based PDF files using IE Mode for allowed file hash.) can also be used to configure list of file hashes instead of URL origins, which enables those files to be automatically opened in Microsoft Edge using IE Mode. Example value: https://contesso.sharepoint.com/accounts/ https://contesso.sharepoint.com/transport/ file://account_forms/
What it writes
- Hive
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER
- Registry key
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
Options
| Option | Type | Registry value | Allowed values |
|---|---|---|---|
| View XFA-based PDF files using IE Mode for allowed file origin. | List of values | Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins |
Any |
Configure and deploy
Choose a state and the option values; the output below is generated from the template for exactly that.
Enabled · Computer · template defaults
Registry file (.reg)
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins]
PowerShell
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
function Set-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
)
if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
}
New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}
function Remove-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
)
if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
}
}
function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
)
if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
return
}
foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
}
}
# Policy: View XFA-based PDF files using IE Mode for allowed file origin.
# Name: ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: msedge.admx
Clear-RegistryKeyValues -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins'
- The OMA-URI is an inferred ADMX-backed Policy CSP candidate derived from the source ADMX file name and policy name.
- Some Microsoft policies use built-in Policy CSP pages whose area names don't match the ADMX file name, so verify the candidate against Microsoft Learn before deployment.
- The generated payload is incomplete because one or more ADMX element values were not supplied: ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOriginsDesc
ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_msedge/ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOriginsIntune remediation scripts
Detection
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$reasons = [System.Collections.Generic.List[string]]::new()
function Test-RegistryValueExists {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
)
if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
return $false
}
return $null -ne (Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)
}
function Test-RegistryValueEquals {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Kind,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Expected
)
if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
return $false
}
$valueObject = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if ($null -eq $valueObject) {
return $false
}
$actual = $valueObject.$Name
switch ($Kind) {
'String' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
'ExpandString' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
'DWord' { return [uint32]$actual -eq [uint32]$Expected }
'QWord' { return [uint64]$actual -eq [uint64]$Expected }
'MultiString' {
$actualArray = @($actual)
$expectedArray = @($Expected)
if ($actualArray.Count -ne $expectedArray.Count) { return $false }
for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Count; $index++) {
if ([string]$actualArray[$index] -cne [string]$expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
'Binary' {
$actualArray = [byte[]]$actual
$expectedArray = [byte[]]$Expected
if ($actualArray.Length -ne $expectedArray.Length) { return $false }
for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Length; $index++) {
if ($actualArray[$index] -ne $expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
default { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
}
}
# Policy: View XFA-based PDF files using IE Mode for allowed file origin.
# Name: ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: msedge.admx
$keyPath = 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins'
if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $keyPath) {
$propertyNames = (Get-Item -LiteralPath $keyPath).Property
if ($propertyNames.Count -gt 0) {
$reasons.Add('Key should be empty: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins') | Out-Null
}
}
if ($reasons.Count -eq 0) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
$reasons | ForEach-Object { Write-Output $_ }
exit 1
Remediation
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
function Set-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
)
if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
}
New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}
function Remove-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
)
if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
}
}
function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
)
if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
return
}
foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
}
}
# Policy: View XFA-based PDF files using IE Mode for allowed file origin.
# Name: ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: msedge.admx
Clear-RegistryKeyValues -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins'
History 37 retained releases
- 150.0.4078.8016 Jul 2026
- Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.
36 later releases left it unchanged.
Template
- Internal name
ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins- Namespace
Microsoft.Policies.Edge- Template file
msedge.admx- Release
- Microsoft Edge 155.0.4283.62 · file set
0a733b0040dbbf02…
Definition, editor controls and support
Definition
<policy class="Both" displayName="$(string.ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins)" explainText="$(string.ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins_Explain)" key="Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" name="ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins" presentation="$(presentation.ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
<parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:pdf" />
<supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V132" />
<elements>
<list id="ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOriginsDesc" key="Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins" valuePrefix="" />
</elements>
</policy>Editor controls
<presentation id="ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOrigins" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions"><listBox refId="ViewXFAPDFInIEModeAllowedOriginsDesc">View XFA-based PDF files using IE Mode for allowed file origin.</listBox></presentation>Supported platforms and category
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:category:microsoft_edge
<category displayName="$(string.microsoft_edge)" name="microsoft_edge" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:category:pdf
<category displayName="$(string.pdf_group)" name="pdf" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
<parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:microsoft_edge" />
</category>
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:definition:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V132
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_WIN7_V132)" name="SUPPORTED_WIN7_V132" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:category:microsoft_edge
<category displayName="$(string.microsoft_edge)" name="microsoft_edge" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:microsoft_edge">Microsoft Edge</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:category:pdf
<category displayName="$(string.pdf_group)" name="pdf" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
<parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:microsoft_edge" />
</category>
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:pdf_group">PDF Reader</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:definition:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V132
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_WIN7_V132)" name="SUPPORTED_WIN7_V132" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V132">Microsoft Edge version 132, Windows 7 or later</string></strings>