Configure Application Guard container precreation
Verified with Microsoft 365/Office 5568.1000 — updated on September 4, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
Path in the GPO console
User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office 2016\Security Settings\Trust Center\Application Guard Description
This policy setting determines if the Application Guard container, for isolating untrusted files, is pre-created for improved run time performance. If you enable this policy setting, you can specify the number of days to continue pre-creating an Application Guard container if the user has not opened a file with Application Guard. Pre-creating a container when the user logs in will decrease the wait time when opening an untrusted file. “65535” will configure Office to always create an Application Guard container when a user logs into Windows. "20" will configure Office to pre-create the container each time a user logs into Windows for up to 20 days after the last time the user opened an untrusted file using Application Guard. “0” will configure Office to never pre-create the container. Instead the container will only be created when a user opens their first untrusted file after logging into Windows. Note: if you configure Office to never pre-create a container then users will experience a longer wait when opening an untrusted file after logging into Windows. If you disable or don’t configure this setting, Office will use a built-in heuristic to pre-create the container. Note: This policy setting only applies to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise.
Registry
software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\security\applicationguard Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Configure Application Guard container precreation
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\security\applicationguard]
"prewarmwindow"=dword:00000000More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Configure Application Guard container precreation
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\security\applicationguard'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'prewarmwindow' -Value 0 -Type DWordIntune XML
No direct Policy CSP / OMA-URI mapping for this policy. Use the Intune Remediation tab, or ingest the ADMX in Intune.Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Configure Application Guard container precreation
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\security\applicationguard' -Name 'prewarmwindow' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Configure Application Guard container precreation
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\security\applicationguard'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'prewarmwindow' -Value 0 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Configure Application Guard container precreation
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Configure Application Guard container precreation
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\security\applicationguard' -Name 'prewarmwindow' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Configure Application Guard container precreation
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\security\applicationguard'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'prewarmwindow' -Value 0 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.