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Microsoft 365 Apps Group Policy settings

2,420 settings · 5568.1000 · 10 Aug 2026

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Microsoft Excel 2016 › Excel Options › Save

AutoRecover save location

UserNeeds changes for IntuneL_AutoRecoversavelocation

Supported on SUPPORTED_Windows7 (defined in the Windows templates)

What it does

This policy setting allows you to specify the location where AutoRecover information is to be saved. Directing the location to a network drive may allow you to back up these files along with other network files. If you enable this policy setting, you may specify the location where AutoRecover information is to be saved. If you disable or you do not configure this policy setting, the default location is %userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel.

What it writes

Hive
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key
software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options
Why it needs changes for Intune
  • Policy references a Windows supportedOn definition.
  • ADMX-INTUNE-WINDOWS-SUPPORTEDON-REFERENCE

Options

OptionTypeRegistry valueAllowed values
AutoRecover save locationDefault: %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel Text autorecoverpath Up to 255 characters

Configure and deploy

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

State
Options used when Enabled

Enabled · User · template defaults

Registry file (.reg)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options]
"autorecoverpath"=hex(2):25,00,55,00,53,00,45,00,52,00,50,00,52,00,4f,00,46,00,49,00,\
  ,4c,00,45,00,25,00,5c,00,41,00,70,00,70,00,6c,00,69,00,63,00,\
  ,61,00,74,00,69,00,6f,00,6e,00,20,00,44,00,61,00,74,00,61,00,\
  ,5c,00,4d,00,69,00,63,00,72,00,6f,00,73,00,6f,00,66,00,74,00,\
  ,5c,00,45,00,78,00,63,00,65,00,6c,00,00,00


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: AutoRecover save location
# Name: L_AutoRecoversavelocation
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: excel16.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options' -Name 'autorecoverpath' -PropertyType 'ExpandString' -Value '%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel'
  • 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_AutoRecoversavelocation

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_AutoRecoversavelocation</LocURI>
        </Target>
        <Data>&lt;enabled/&gt;
&lt;data id="L_autorecoversavelocation2" value="%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel"/&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: AutoRecover save location
# Name: L_AutoRecoversavelocation
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: excel16.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options' -Name 'autorecoverpath' -Kind 'ExpandString' -Expected '%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel'
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options\autorecoverpath') | 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: AutoRecover save location
# Name: L_AutoRecoversavelocation
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: excel16.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options' -Name 'autorecoverpath' -PropertyType 'ExpandString' -Value '%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel'

History 1 retained release

  1. 5568.100010 Aug 2026
    • Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.

Template

Internal name
L_AutoRecoversavelocation
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="$(string.L_AutoRecoversavelocation)" explainText="$(string.L_AutorecoversavelocationExplain)" key="software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options" name="L_AutoRecoversavelocation" presentation="$(presentation.L_AutoRecoversavelocation)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Save" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7" />
      <elements>
        <text expandable="true" id="L_autorecoversavelocation2" valueName="autorecoverpath" />
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="L_AutoRecoversavelocation" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <textBox refId="L_autorecoversavelocation2">
          <label>AutoRecover save location</label>
          <defaultValue>%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel</defaultValue>
        </textBox>
      </presentation>

Supported platforms and 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:category:L_Save
<category displayName="$(string.L_Save)" name="L_Save" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_ExcelOptions" />
    </category>
excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:unresolved:Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7
<unresolved reference="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7" />
excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_ExcelOptions
<category displayName="$(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="$(string.L_MicrosoftOfficeExcel)" name="L_MicrosoftOfficeExcel" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeExcel">Microsoft Excel 2016</string></strings>
excel16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_Save
<category displayName="$(string.L_Save)" name="L_Save" 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_Save">Save</string></strings>
ChangeIntel

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Sources read 18 Oct 21:27 UTC · 253 of 255 readable · 252 fully read · documentation 0/410 current