Delay before starting background spelling checker

UserNeeds changes for IntuneL_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker

Supported on SUPPORTED_Windows7 (defined in the Windows templates)

5568.1000

What it does

This policy setting allows you to configure when the background spell check is started. If you enable this policy setting, you may specify the delay, in milliseconds, before the background spell check is started. This setting only applies when Word is running in a terminal server session. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Word will behave normally when in a terminal server session.

What it writes

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key: software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\word\options

Why it needs changes for Intune

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

Options

Option	Type	Registry value	Allowed values
Milliseconds (e.g. 5000 milliseconds = 5 seconds)Default: 0	Number	`terminalserverspellingstart`	0 to 2147483647

Configure and deploy

Choose a state and the option values; 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\word\options]
"terminalserverspellingstart"=dword:00000000

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: Delay before starting background spelling checker
# Name: L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: word16.admx

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

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_word16/L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker

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_word16/L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker</LocURI>
        </Target>
        <Data>&lt;enabled/&gt;
&lt;data id="L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker3" value="0"/&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: Delay before starting background spelling checker
# Name: L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: word16.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\word\options' -Name 'terminalserverspellingstart' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 0
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\word\options\terminalserverspellingstart') | 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: Delay before starting background spelling checker
# Name: L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: word16.admx

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

History 1 retained release

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

Template

Internal name: L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker
Namespace: word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows
Template file: word16.admx
Release: Microsoft 365 Apps 5568.1000 · file set 8be05d876aae137d…

Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="User" displayName="$(string.L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker)" explainText="$(string.L_DelaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingcheckerExplain)" key="software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\word\options" name="L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker" presentation="$(presentation.L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Proofing" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7" />
      <elements>
        <decimal id="L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker3" maxValue="2147483647" minValue="0" valueName="terminalserverspellingstart" />
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <decimalTextBox defaultValue="0" refId="L_Delaybeforestartingbackgroundspellingchecker3" spinStep="1">Milliseconds (e.g. 5000 milliseconds = 5 seconds)</decimalTextBox>
      </presentation>

Supported platforms and category

word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_MicrosoftOfficeWord
<category displayName="$(string.L_MicrosoftOfficeWord)" name="L_MicrosoftOfficeWord" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_Proofing
<category displayName="$(string.L_Proofing)" name="L_Proofing" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_WordOptions" />
    </category>
word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_WordOptions
<category displayName="$(string.L_WordOptions)" name="L_WordOptions" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeWord" />
    </category>
word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:unresolved:Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7
<unresolved reference="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7" />
word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_MicrosoftOfficeWord
<category displayName="$(string.L_MicrosoftOfficeWord)" name="L_MicrosoftOfficeWord" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeWord">Microsoft Word 2016</string></strings>
word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_Proofing
<category displayName="$(string.L_Proofing)" name="L_Proofing" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_WordOptions" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Proofing">Proofing</string></strings>
word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_WordOptions
<category displayName="$(string.L_WordOptions)" name="L_WordOptions" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeWord" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_WordOptions">Word Options</string></strings>