System › LAPS

Configure automatic account management

ComputerIntune-readyLAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementPolicy

Supported on At least Microsoft Windows 10 or later

25H2 · 1.0

What it does

This policy configures automatic account management policy options. Specify the target account to manage: specifies whether the built-in admin account or a custom account should be managed. Automatic account name (or name prefix): specifies the name, or name prefix, to use for the managed account. If this policy setting is configured, Windows LAPS will use it as the account name or name prefix for the target account. If this policy setting is not configured, Windows LAPS will use "WLapsAdmin" as the account name or name prefix. Note: this name is treated as a prefix when account name randomization is configured, see comments below. Enable the managed account: specifies whether the managed account should be enabled or not. If this policy setting is configured, Windows LAPS will enable the specified managed account. If this policy setting is not configured, Windows LAPS will disable the specified managed account. Note: Windows LAPS will regularly maintain and rotate the password of the managed account regardless of whether the account is maintained in an enabled\disabled status. Randomize the name of the managed account: specifies whether the name of the managed account should be randomized with a random numeric suffix. If this policy setting is configured, Windows LAPS will add an eight digit random numeric suffix to the managed automatic account name, and will re-randomize the name of the managed account every time the password is rotated. If this policy setting is not configured, Windows LAPS will use the managed automatic account name as configured. If the managed automatic account name prefix is configured, Windows LAPS will use up to the first twelve (12) characters of that name as a prefix for the random name. If the managed automatic account name is not configured, Windows LAPS will use "WLapsAdmin" as the name prefix. Note: the DSRM account on domain controllers cannot be configured for automatic account management. This policy has no effect on domain controllers and will be ignored even if configured for a DC. See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2188435 for more information.

What it writes

Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Registry key: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS
Value name: AutomaticAccountManagementEnabled
When enabled: DWORD 1
When disabled: DWORD 0

In Intune

No native CSP; import the ADMX (Intune-ready).

From Microsoft's Policy CSP DDF files (DDF v2 Files, February 2026), read 18 Oct 2026.

Options

Option	Type	Registry value	Allowed values
Specify the target account to manageDefault: Manage the built-in admin account	Drop-down list	`AutomaticAccountManagementTarget`	Manage the built-in admin account`0` Manage a custom admin account`1`
Automatic account name (or name prefix)	Text	`AutomaticAccountManagementNameOrPrefix`	Up to 20 characters
Enable the managed account	Checkbox	`AutomaticAccountManagementEnableAccount`	On (1) or off (0)
Randomize the name of the managed account	Checkbox	`AutomaticAccountManagementRandomizeName`	On (1) or off (0)

Configure and deploy

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

Enabled · Computer · template defaults

Registry file (.reg)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS]
"AutomaticAccountManagementEnableAccount"=dword:00000001
"AutomaticAccountManagementEnabled"=dword:00000001
"AutomaticAccountManagementNameOrPrefix"=""
"AutomaticAccountManagementRandomizeName"=dword:00000001
"AutomaticAccountManagementTarget"=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: Configure automatic account management
# Name: LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementPolicy
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: LAPS.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementEnabled' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementTarget' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 0

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementNameOrPrefix' -PropertyType 'String' -Value ''

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementEnableAccount' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementRandomizeName' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

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: LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementNameOrPrefix, LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementEnableAccount, LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementRandomizeName

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_LAPS/LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementPolicy

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: Configure automatic account management
# Name: LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementPolicy
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: LAPS.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementEnabled' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 1
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS\AutomaticAccountManagementEnabled') | Out-Null
}

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementTarget' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 0
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS\AutomaticAccountManagementTarget') | Out-Null
}

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementNameOrPrefix' -Kind 'String' -Expected ''
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS\AutomaticAccountManagementNameOrPrefix') | Out-Null
}

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementEnableAccount' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 1
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS\AutomaticAccountManagementEnableAccount') | Out-Null
}

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementRandomizeName' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 1
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS\AutomaticAccountManagementRandomizeName') | 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: Configure automatic account management
# Name: LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementPolicy
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: LAPS.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementEnabled' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementTarget' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 0

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementNameOrPrefix' -PropertyType 'String' -Value ''

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementEnableAccount' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS' -Name 'AutomaticAccountManagementRandomizeName' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

History 5 retained releases

24H2 · 1.030 Sep 2024
- Added in this release.

1 later release left it unchanged.

Template

Internal name: LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementPolicy
Namespace: Microsoft.Policies.LAPS
Template file: LAPS.admx
Release: Windows 11 25H2 · 1.0 · file set de4e49983ebd651f…

Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="Machine" displayName="$(string.LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementPolicy)" explainText="$(string.LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementPolicy_Help)" key="SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\LAPS" name="LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementPolicy" presentation="$(presentation.LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementPolicy)" valueName="AutomaticAccountManagementEnabled" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.LAPS:LAPS_CAT" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.LAPS:SUPPORTED_Windows10" />
      <enabledValue>
        <decimal value="1" />
      </enabledValue>
      <disabledValue>
        <decimal value="0" />
      </disabledValue>
      <elements>
        <enum id="LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementTarget" valueName="AutomaticAccountManagementTarget">
          <item displayName="$(string.AutomaticAccountManagementTarget_Item0)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="0" />
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.AutomaticAccountManagementTarget_Item1)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="1" />
            </value>
          </item>
        </enum>
        <text id="LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementNameOrPrefix" maxLength="20" valueName="AutomaticAccountManagementNameOrPrefix" />
        <boolean id="LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementEnableAccount" valueName="AutomaticAccountManagementEnableAccount" />
        <boolean id="LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementRandomizeName" valueName="AutomaticAccountManagementRandomizeName" />
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementPolicy" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <dropdownList defaultItem="0" refId="LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementTarget">Specify the target account to manage:</dropdownList>
        <textBox refId="LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementNameOrPrefix">
          <label>Automatic account name (or name prefix):</label>
        </textBox>
        <checkBox refId="LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementEnableAccount">Enable the managed account</checkBox>
        <checkBox refId="LAPS_AutomaticAccountManagementRandomizeName">Randomize the name of the managed account</checkBox>
      </presentation>

Supported platforms and category

Microsoft.Policies.LAPS:category:LAPS_CAT
<category displayName="$(string.LAPS)" name="LAPS_CAT" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:System" />
    </category>
Microsoft.Policies.LAPS:definition:SUPPORTED_Windows10
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_Windows10)" name="SUPPORTED_Windows10" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:System
<category displayName="$(string.System)" explainText="$(string.System_Help)" name="System" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.LAPS:category:LAPS_CAT
<category displayName="$(string.LAPS)" name="LAPS_CAT" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:System" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.LAPS:LAPS">LAPS</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.LAPS:definition:SUPPORTED_Windows10
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_Windows10)" name="SUPPORTED_Windows10" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.LAPS:SUPPORTED_Windows10">At least Microsoft Windows 10 or later</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:System
<category displayName="$(string.System)" explainText="$(string.System_Help)" name="System" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:System">System</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:System_Help">Allows configuration of various system component settings.</string></strings>