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Turn off IRM protection on XPS Export for Word

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 Word 2016\Word Options\Security

Description

This policy controls the default IRM protection setting when exporting Word documents to XPS files. Enabling this policy setting will turn off IRM protection when exporting to XPS, if not explicitly set by users through the Export Options dialog. If you disable or don't configure this policy setting, the default IRM protection setting for XPS export is based on previous IRM export selection.

Registry

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

Value name: disableirmonxpsexport

Enabled: disableirmonxpsexport = 1

Disabled: disableirmonxpsexport = 0

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: Turn off IRM protection on XPS Export for Word
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7

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

PowerShell

# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off IRM protection on XPS Export for Word
# 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\word\security'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'disableirmonxpsexport' -Value 1 -Type DWord

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

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