en-US office user

OLE Active Content

Verified with Microsoft 365/Office 5568.1000 — updated on September 4, 2026

Microsoft 365/Office 5568.1000

Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7

Path in the GPO console

User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft PowerPoint 2016\PowerPoint Options\Security

Description

This policy setting controls the prompting and activation behavior for the "OLE Active Content" option in PowerPoint. If you enable this policy setting, you can choose from three options to control how the "OLE Active Content" option functions: - Disable (don't activate any OLE Active Content). If users click an action button with the "Object action" action assigned to it, nothing will happen. - Enable (prompt user before activating OLE Active Content). If users click an action button with the "Object action" action assigned to it, PowerPoint will prompt them to continue before activating the action. This option enforces the default configuration in PowerPoint. - Enable all (allow activating OLE Active Content without prompting). If users click an action button with the "Object action" action assigned to it. PowerPoint will activate the action automatically, without prompting. If you do not configure this policy setting, PowerPoint follows the Enable (prompt user before activating OLE Active Content) option.

Registry

HKCU software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\powerpoint\security

More options available

Options

enableoleactions enum
  • disable (don't allow activating OLE Active Content) -> 0
  • enable (prompt user before activating OLE Active Content) -> 1 (default)
  • enable all (allow activating OLE Active Content without prompting) -> 2

Export Builder

BETA

Configure 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: OLE Active Content
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\powerpoint\security]
"enableoleactions"=dword:00000001
More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)

PowerShell

# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: OLE Active Content
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
# 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\powerpoint\security'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'enableoleactions' -Value 1 -Type DWord

Building a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.

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