Apps blocked by Writing Assistance admin policy

UserNeeds changes for IntuneL_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedApps

Supported on SUPPORTED_Windows10_0 (defined in the Windows templates)

5568.1000

What it does

This policy setting allows administrators to specify a list of applications where Writing Assistance will be blocked. If you enable this policy setting, enter one application executable name per line (e.g., notepad.exe). Writing Assistance will be disabled in those applications. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Writing Assistance will not be blocked by this policy in any application.

What it writes

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key: software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\writingassistant\adminblockedapps

Why it needs changes for Intune

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

Options

Option	Type	Registry value	Allowed values
Blocked application names (e.g., notepad.exe)	List of values		Any

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\writingassistant\adminblockedapps]

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: Apps blocked by Writing Assistance admin policy
# Name: L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedApps
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: office16.admx

Clear-RegistryKeyValues -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\writingassistant\adminblockedapps'

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.
The generated payload is incomplete because one or more ADMX element values were not supplied: L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedAppsListId

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_office16/L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedApps

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: Apps blocked by Writing Assistance admin policy
# Name: L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedApps
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: office16.admx

$keyPath = 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\writingassistant\adminblockedapps'
if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $keyPath) {
    $propertyNames = (Get-Item -LiteralPath $keyPath).Property
    if ($propertyNames.Count -gt 0) {
        $reasons.Add('Key should be empty: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\writingassistant\adminblockedapps') | 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: Apps blocked by Writing Assistance admin policy
# Name: L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedApps
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: office16.admx

Clear-RegistryKeyValues -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\writingassistant\adminblockedapps'

History 1 retained release

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

Template

Internal name: L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedApps
Namespace: office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows
Template file: office16.admx
Release: Microsoft 365 Apps 5568.1000 · file set 8be05d876aae137d…

Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="User" displayName="$(string.L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedApps)" explainText="$(string.L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedAppsExplain)" key="software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\writingassistant\adminblockedapps" name="L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedApps" presentation="$(presentation.L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedApps)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_WritingAssistance" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows10_0" />
      <elements>
        <list id="L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedAppsListId" />
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedApps" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <listBox refId="L_WritingAssistantAdminBlockedAppsListId">Blocked application names (e.g., notepad.exe)</listBox>
      </presentation>

Supported platforms and category

office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_MicrosoftOfficeSystem
<category displayName="$(string.L_MicrosoftOfficeSystem)" name="L_MicrosoftOfficeSystem" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_WritingAssistance
<category displayName="$(string.L_WritingAssistance)" name="L_WritingAssistance" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeSystem" />
    </category>
office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:unresolved:Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows10_0
<unresolved reference="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows10_0" />
office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_MicrosoftOfficeSystem
<category displayName="$(string.L_MicrosoftOfficeSystem)" name="L_MicrosoftOfficeSystem" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeSystem">Microsoft Office 2016</string></strings>
office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:L_WritingAssistance
<category displayName="$(string.L_WritingAssistance)" name="L_WritingAssistance" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_MicrosoftOfficeSystem" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows:L_WritingAssistance">Writing Assistance</string></strings>