Specify delay before sending people search request

UserNeeds changes for IntuneL_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequest

Supported on SUPPORTED_Windows7 (defined in the Windows templates)

5568.1000

What it does

This policy is used to set the delay for sending people search requests from the Find a Contact box in Outlook and the Related People section that appears in the Backstage view (Info tab) of Office applications. If you enable this policy setting, you can specify the delay in milliseconds between when the user stops (or pauses) typing in the search box and when the application sends a search request. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, the default delay is 200 milliseconds (0.20 seconds).

What it writes

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key: software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\im

Why it needs changes for Intune

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

Options

Option	Type	Registry value	Allowed values
in millisecondsDefault: 200	Number	`presencecontactfastsearchdelay`	1 to 100000000

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\common\im]
"presencecontactfastsearchdelay"=dword:000000C8

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: Specify delay before sending people search request
# Name: L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequest
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: outlk16.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\im' -Name 'presencecontactfastsearchdelay' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 200

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_outlk16/L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequest

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_outlk16/L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequest</LocURI>
        </Target>
        <Data>&lt;enabled/&gt;
&lt;data id="L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequestSpinID" value="200"/&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: Specify delay before sending people search request
# Name: L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequest
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: outlk16.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\im' -Name 'presencecontactfastsearchdelay' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 200
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\im\presencecontactfastsearchdelay') | 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: Specify delay before sending people search request
# Name: L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequest
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: outlk16.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\im' -Name 'presencecontactfastsearchdelay' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 200

History 1 retained release

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

Template

Internal name: L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequest
Namespace: outlk16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows
Template file: outlk16.admx
Release: Microsoft 365 Apps 5568.1000 · file set 8be05d876aae137d…

Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="User" displayName="$(string.L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequest)" explainText="$(string.L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequestExplain)" key="software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\im" name="L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequest" presentation="$(presentation.L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequest)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="outlk16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Miscellaneous" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7" />
      <elements>
        <decimal id="L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequestSpinID" maxValue="100000000" minValue="1" valueName="presencecontactfastsearchdelay" />
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequest" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <decimalTextBox defaultValue="200" refId="L_SpecifyDelayBeforeSendingPeopleSearchRequestSpinID" spinStep="200">in milliseconds</decimalTextBox>
      </presentation>

Supported platforms and category

outlk16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_MicrosoftOfficeOutlook
<category displayName="$(string.L_MicrosoftOfficeOutlook)" name="L_MicrosoftOfficeOutlook" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
outlk16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_Miscellaneous
<category displayName="$(string.L_Miscellaneous)" name="L_Miscellaneous" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="outlk16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeOutlook" />
    </category>
outlk16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:unresolved:Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7
<unresolved reference="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7" />
outlk16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_MicrosoftOfficeOutlook
<category displayName="$(string.L_MicrosoftOfficeOutlook)" name="L_MicrosoftOfficeOutlook" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="outlk16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeOutlook">Microsoft Outlook 2016</string></strings>
outlk16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_Miscellaneous
<category displayName="$(string.L_Miscellaneous)" name="L_Miscellaneous" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="outlk16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeOutlook" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="outlk16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</string></strings>