Change Start Menu power button

UserNative Intune settingPowerButtonAction

Supported on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7

25H2 · 1.0

What it does

Set the default action of the power button on the Start menu. If you enable this setting, the Start Menu will set the power button to the chosen action, and not let the user change this action. If you set the button to either Sleep or Hibernate, and that state is not supported on a computer, then the button will fall back to Shut Down. If you disable or do not configure this setting, the Start Menu power button will be set to Shut Down by default, and the user can change this setting to another action.

What it writes

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key: Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

Why it needs changes for Intune

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

In Intune

Native Intune setting: Yes — Policy CSP

./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_StartMenu/PowerButtonActionADMX_StartMenu on Microsoft LearnADMX-backed: Windows ships this template, so it is set with the template's own values, without an import.Windows builds listed: 10.0.22000, 10.0.19043.1202, 10.0.19042.1202, 10.0.19041.1202.

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

Options

Option	Type	Registry value	Allowed values
Choose one of the following actionsRequiredDefault: Shut Down	Drop-down list	`PowerButtonAction`	Shut Down`2` Sleep`16` Log off`1` Lock`512` Restart`4` Switch User`256` Hibernate`64`

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\Windows\Explorer]
"PowerButtonAction"=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: Change Start Menu power button
# Name: PowerButtonAction
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: StartMenu.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer' -Name 'PowerButtonAction' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 2

These deployment candidates come from the ADMX template; they are separate from the native CSP mapping above.

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_StartMenu/PowerButtonAction

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_StartMenu/PowerButtonAction</LocURI>
        </Target>
        <Data>&lt;enabled/&gt;
&lt;data id="PowerButtonActionDropdown" 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: Change Start Menu power button
# Name: PowerButtonAction
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: StartMenu.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer' -Name 'PowerButtonAction' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 2
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\PowerButtonAction') | 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: Change Start Menu power button
# Name: PowerButtonAction
# Scope: User
# State: Enabled
# Source: StartMenu.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer' -Name 'PowerButtonAction' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 2

History 5 retained releases

22H2 · 3.015 Jul 2024
- Translations changed; choose a language above to compare its wording.
22H2 · 1.015 Jul 2024
- Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.

3 later releases left it unchanged.

Template

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

Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="User" displayName="$(string.PowerButtonAction_DisplayName)" explainText="$(string.PowerButtonAction_ExplainText)" key="Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" name="PowerButtonAction" presentation="$(presentation.PowerButtonAction)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:StartMenu" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7Only" />
      <elements>
        <enum id="PowerButtonActionDropdown" required="true" valueName="PowerButtonAction">
          <item displayName="$(string.SHTDN_SHUTDOWN)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="2" />
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.SHTDN_SLEEP)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="16" />
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.SHTDN_LOGOFF)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="1" />
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.SHTDN_LOCK)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="512" />
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.SHTDN_RESTART)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="4" />
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.SHTDN_SWITCHUSER)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="256" />
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.SHTDN_HIBERNATE)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="64" />
            </value>
          </item>
        </enum>
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="PowerButtonAction" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <dropdownList defaultItem="0" noSort="true" refId="PowerButtonActionDropdown">Choose one of the following actions</dropdownList>
      </presentation>

Supported platforms and category

Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:StartMenu
<category displayName="$(string.StartMenu)" explainText="$(string.StartMenu_Help)" name="StartMenu" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:definition:SUPPORTED_Windows7Only
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_Windows7Only)" name="SUPPORTED_Windows7Only" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <or>
          <reference ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsServer2008_R2" />
          <reference ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:MicrosoftWindows7" />
        </or>
      </definition>
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:unresolved:Microsoft.Policies.Windows:MicrosoftWindows7
<unresolved reference="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:MicrosoftWindows7" />
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:unresolved:Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsServer2008_R2
<unresolved reference="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsServer2008_R2" />
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:StartMenu
<category displayName="$(string.StartMenu)" explainText="$(string.StartMenu_Help)" name="StartMenu" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:StartMenu">Start Menu and Taskbar</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:StartMenu_Help">Contains settings that allow you to add, remove, or disable items from the Start menu, taskbar, and notification area.</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:definition:SUPPORTED_Windows7Only
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_Windows7Only)" name="SUPPORTED_Windows7Only" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <or>
          <reference ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsServer2008_R2" />
          <reference ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:MicrosoftWindows7" />
        </or>
      </definition>
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:SUPPORTED_Windows7Only">Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7</string></strings>