Alert before overwriting cells

UserNeeds changes for IntuneL_Alertbeforeoverwritingcells

Supported on SUPPORTED_Windows7 (defined in the Windows templates)

5568.1000

What it does

This policy setting sets the "Alert before overwriting cells" option found under File tab | Options | Advanced | Editing Options. If you enable or do not configure this policy setting, Excel will give a warning if cells are about to be overwritten. This is the default behavior. If you disable this policy setting, Excel will suppress the warning that cells are about to be overwritten.

What it writes

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key: software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\binaryoptions
Value name: fnodragwarning_76_1
When enabled: DWORD 0
When disabled: DWORD 1

Why it needs changes for Intune

Policy references a Windows supportedOn definition.
ADMX-INTUNE-WINDOWS-SUPPORTEDON-REFERENCE

Configure and deploy

Choose a state; the output below is generated from the template for exactly that.

Enabled · User · template defaults

Registry file (.reg)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\binaryoptions]
"fnodragwarning_76_1"=dword:00000001

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: Alert before overwriting cells
# Name: L_Alertbeforeoverwritingcells
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: excel16.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\binaryoptions' -Name 'fnodragwarning_76_1' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 0

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\binaryoptions' -Name 'fnodragwarning_76_1' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

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.

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_excel16/L_Alertbeforeoverwritingcells

ADMX SyncML candidate

<SyncML xmlns="SYNCML:SYNCML1.2">
  <SyncBody>
    <Replace>
      <CmdID>1</CmdID>
      <Item>
        <Meta>
          <Format>chr</Format>
          <Type>text/plain</Type>
        </Meta>
        <Target>
          <LocURI>./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_excel16/L_Alertbeforeoverwritingcells</LocURI>
        </Target>
        <Data>&lt;enabled/&gt;</Data>
      </Item>
    </Replace>
    <Final/>
  </SyncBody>
</SyncML>

Intune 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: Alert before overwriting cells
# Name: L_Alertbeforeoverwritingcells
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: excel16.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\binaryoptions' -Name 'fnodragwarning_76_1' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 0
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\binaryoptions\fnodragwarning_76_1') | Out-Null
}

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\binaryoptions' -Name 'fnodragwarning_76_1' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 1
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\binaryoptions\fnodragwarning_76_1') | 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: Alert before overwriting cells
# Name: L_Alertbeforeoverwritingcells
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: excel16.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\binaryoptions' -Name 'fnodragwarning_76_1' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 0

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\binaryoptions' -Name 'fnodragwarning_76_1' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

History 1 retained release

5568.100010 Aug 2026
- Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.

Template

Internal name: L_Alertbeforeoverwritingcells
Namespace: excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows
Template file: excel16.admx
Release: Microsoft 365 Apps 5568.1000 · file set 8be05d876aae137d…

Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="User" displayName="$(string.L_Alertbeforeoverwritingcells)" explainText="$(string.L_AlertbeforeoverwritingcellsExplain)" key="software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\binaryoptions" name="L_Alertbeforeoverwritingcells" valueName="fnodragwarning_76_1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Advanced" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7" />
      <enabledValue>
        <decimal value="0" />
      </enabledValue>
      <disabledValue>
        <decimal value="1" />
      </disabledValue>
    </policy>

Editor controls

Supported platforms and category

excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_Advanced
<category displayName="$(string.L_Advanced)" name="L_Advanced" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_ExcelOptions" />
    </category>
excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_ExcelOptions
<category displayName="$(string.L_ExcelOptions)" name="L_ExcelOptions" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeExcel" />
    </category>
excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_MicrosoftOfficeExcel
<category displayName="$(string.L_MicrosoftOfficeExcel)" name="L_MicrosoftOfficeExcel" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:unresolved:Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7
<unresolved reference="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7" />
excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_Advanced
<category displayName="$(string.L_Advanced)" name="L_Advanced" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_ExcelOptions" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Advanced">Advanced</string></strings>
excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_ExcelOptions
<category displayName="$(string.L_ExcelOptions)" name="L_ExcelOptions" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeExcel" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_ExcelOptions">Excel Options</string></strings>
excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_MicrosoftOfficeExcel
<category displayName="$(string.L_MicrosoftOfficeExcel)" name="L_MicrosoftOfficeExcel" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeExcel">Microsoft Excel 2016</string></strings>