Specify encryption compatibility

UserNeeds changes for IntuneL_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibility

Supported on SUPPORTED_Windows7 (defined in the Windows templates)

5568.1000

What it does

This policy setting allows you to specify the encrypted database compatibility. If you enable this policy setting, the compatibility format specified will be applied during encryption for new files - Use legacy format - Use next generation format - All files save with next generation format If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, the default setting, "Use next generation format," will be applied.

What it writes

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

Why it needs changes for Intune

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

Options

Option	Type	Registry value	Allowed values
L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibilityDropIDDefault: All files save with next generation format	Drop-down list	`compatmode`	Use legacy format`0` Use next generation format`1` All files save with next generation format`2`

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\security\crypto]
"compatmode"=dword:00000002

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 encryption compatibility
# Name: L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibility
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: word16.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\word\security\crypto' -Name 'compatmode' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 2

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_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibility

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_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibility</LocURI>
        </Target>
        <Data>&lt;enabled/&gt;
&lt;data id="L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibilityDropID" value="2"/&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 encryption compatibility
# Name: L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibility
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: word16.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\word\security\crypto' -Name 'compatmode' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 2
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\word\security\crypto\compatmode') | 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 encryption compatibility
# Name: L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibility
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: word16.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\word\security\crypto' -Name 'compatmode' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 2

History 1 retained release

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

Template

Internal name: L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibility
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="$(string.L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibility)" explainText="$(string.L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibilityExplain)" key="software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\word\security\crypto" name="L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibility" presentation="$(presentation.L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibility)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Cryptography" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7" />
      <elements>
        <enum id="L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibilityDropID" valueName="compatmode">
          <item displayName="$(string.L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibilityStr1)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="0" />
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibilityStr2)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="1" />
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibilityStr3)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="2" />
            </value>
          </item>
        </enum>
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibility" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <dropdownList defaultItem="2" noSort="true" refId="L_SpecifyEncryptionCompatibilityDropID">
        </dropdownList>
      </presentation>

Supported platforms and category

word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_Cryptography
<category displayName="$(string.L_Cryptography)" name="L_Cryptography" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Security" />
    </category>
word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_MicrosoftOfficeWord
<category displayName="$(string.L_MicrosoftOfficeWord)" name="L_MicrosoftOfficeWord" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_Security
<category displayName="$(string.L_Security)" name="L_Security" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_WordOptions" />
    </category>
word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_WordOptions
<category displayName="$(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_Cryptography
<category displayName="$(string.L_Cryptography)" name="L_Cryptography" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Security" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Cryptography">Cryptography</string></strings>
word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_MicrosoftOfficeWord
<category displayName="$(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_Security
<category displayName="$(string.L_Security)" name="L_Security" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_WordOptions" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_Security">Security</string></strings>
word16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_WordOptions
<category displayName="$(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>