Forum Discussion
ActiveX Controls
Hi Jamie, to enable ActiveX in the most minimal way via Intune, do the following:
Create an Administrative Templates profile
In Intune: Device configuration > Templates > Administrative Templates
Navigate to Microsoft Office 2016-2019 (or Office 365) > Security Settings > ActiveX Controls.
Set the key policies
“Prompt me before initializing and running all controls with minimal restrictions” - Enabled
“ActiveX Control Initialization (user)” - 6 (Prompt)
If needed, enable “Allow ActiveX controls to run in Office documents” with minimal restrictions.
Scope and assign
Target the user group (or device group) that needs this setting.
Choose User vs. Device configuration based on your Office deployment.
Sync and verify
In Intune, go to Devices - Sync to force a policy check‑in.
Open Excel and check File - Options > Trust Center to confirm the new prompt appears.
If it’s still blocked, export the working ADMX settings from a test PC and import them as a Custom OMA‑URI pointing to the registry keys under:
HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\<version>\[App]\Security\ActiveX
This keeps ActiveX disabled by default but prompts you when it really matters.
Looks like Administrative Templates was retired very recently. Surely these settings were moved elsewhere, but I'm having difficulties finding where in both Templates and Settings Catalog. Any ideas?
I have them within settings catalog:
Microsoft Office 2016 > Security Settings:
ActiveX Control Initialization (User)
Disable All ActiveX (User)If you're managing Office356 clients centrally and they are Entra/hybrid joined, you'll need to manage Office settings at https://config.office.com/officeSettings/officePolicies , that is where you manage version and client settings.
