Intune has a new feature called Organizational Messages. It’s a way to send branded messages directly to Windows 11 devices using Intune. These messages notify and update users about key important information updates or provide onboarding information for employees.  This can be especially handy for organizations that utilize hybrid work strategies. There are three types of messaging to choose from.

• Taskbar messages appear just above the taskbar and remain viewable until the user acts on them. Taskbar messages can be used to alert users about things like a critical Windows update that will be installed at the end of the week that will disrupt desktop operations.

• Notification messages appear in the Notification Center as a popup before disappearing. Notification messages are good for informational messages such as a future training session.

•  Get Started app messages appear in the Get Started app the first time a user initiates it once the device has been enrolled in Intune. These messages are good for sending welcome messages, device tips, company policy changes and new employee information.

To access the Organizational Messages feature, go to Tenant Administration in Microsoft Endpoint Manager and select Organizational Messages (preview) as shown below in the screenshot.

To configure Organizational Messages, you must be assigned one of the following roles.

• Azure AD Global Administrator
• Intune Administrator
• Organizational messages manager (Microsoft Intune role)
• Organizational messages writer (Azure AD role)

Prerequisites

Organization messages are only supported on devices running Windows 11, versions 22H2 or later. You must also have one of the following licenses for your users.

• Microsoft 365 E3
• Microsoft 365 E5
• Endpoint Management + Security E3 and Windows Enterprise E3
• Endpoint Management + Security E5 and Windows Enterprise E5

Each message type requires a logo for branding and identification purposes. This is usually the company logo. Only PNG files are supported, and each message type has a different dimensions requirement.

• Taskbar messages must be 64 x 64 pixels
• Notification area messages must be 48 x 48 pixels
• Get Started app messages must be 50 pixels long and 50 – 100 pixels wide.

PNG files that don’t meet the exact dimension specifications will cause an error, preventing you from proceeding further in the message creation process as shown below.

You can include custom URLs in your messages, but they must be added to your list of verified Azure AD custom domain names.

Enabling Organizational Messages

Before creating your messages, you must enable the policy that allows the delivery of organizational messages. To do this, go to Devices > Configuration profiles and click “Create profile.” Select “Windows 10 and later” as the platform and “Settings catalog” as the profile type. Using the Settings picker, do a search for “experience” and then select it from the list of viewable categories. Then select “Enable delivery of organizational messages (User)” as shown in the screenshot below and complete the wizard by adding scope tags and user/group assignments.

Now you are ready to create your messaging.

Creating Organizational Messages

Go to Tenant Administration > Organizational messages (preview) and click on Message. You can then select the type of message you want to create as shown in the screenshot below. In this example we are creating a taskbar message.

Next you will upload your logo, which is required. You will also select which domain you want to apply the messages to and choose your preferred language. You can then preview what the message will look like.

Next you will configure a schedule for the message as shown below.

Complete the creation wizard by assigning the message to your targeted groups or users. Then review your created message.

The created message will then appear as part of your list of messages.

As mentioned previously, each of the three message types include different message templates. Below are some of the options for Notification messaging.

Some Limitations Concerning Organizational Messages

There are some limitations and issues concerning organizational messages that you should be aware of.

• You cannot send messages to devices or mixed groups. An organizational message sent to both users and devices will only be sent to the users.
• Users that belong to more than 200 groups are not supported by organizational messages (who knows why?)
• You can’t assign priority levels to organizational messages so they will be received by users in random order.
• Scope groups and scope tags aren't available in organizational messages.

If you’re using Intune as your endpoint management solution, there’s a good chance you are managing devices dispersed over a wide geographical area. That may include multiple time zones. So how do you go about ensuring that each machine is matched with its correct time zone?

There are a variety of ways to assign time zones to a Windows 10 computer.

1. You can configure it within the registry by navigating to

\HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation

Then create GPO using Group Policy Preference to deploy the registry settings.

2. In Windows 10/11 you can use the Windows Time Zone Utility. This is a command-line tool that you run using an Administrator command prompt. The command is tzutil.exe. You can use the question mark to see the available commands.
   
   
   To see the list of time zones supported by Windows 10, you can use the /l switch. Keep this command in mind for future reference later in the article.
   
3. You can also use PowerShell. The screenshot below shows a couple of available commands. The second command is used to assign the desired time zone. Note that I am using “Hawaiian Standard Time” that appeared using the tzutil /l command above.
   
   
4. While you could deploy the PowerShell using Intune, there is a simpler way using the settings catalog.  Log onto the Intune portal and go to Devices > Configuration Profiles and create a profile. Choose Windows 10 as the platform and Settings catalog as the Profile type. Name the profile and then click the “Add Settings” link. Using the Settings picker, do a search for “time zone” and choose “Time Language Settings” as the category. Then select “Configure Time Zone” as shown in the screenshot below.
   
   
   Then input the desired time zone as shown below. These are the same time zone names we saw using the tzutil command utility earlier. In the example below I am assigning Eastern Standard Time. Other possible assignments could be Central America Standard Time, Central Brazilian Standard Time, GMT Standard Time, Pacific Standard Time, etc.
   
   
   Then like any configuration profile, select any optional scope tags, and assign the profile to the desired group or users.
    

We often talk about adding devices to the Intune environment, but what about deleting them. What’s the best way to do it? There are several options. One option is to have inactive devices automatically removed from Intune using a cleanup rule. An inactive device means it hasn’t checked into Intune for a set number of days. You can configure the time window by going to Devices > Device clean-up rules and configuring the two required settings. You can input a number between 30 and 270. In the example below I have chosen 120 days as the cutoff. This means that day any device that has been inactive for 121 days or more will be deleted from Intune immediately. By clicking on the “View affected devices” link you can see the list of devices that will be deleted once the rule is saved. Device clean-up rules do not affect Android devices.

To Delete or Retire?

You can choose to delete or retire a computer from Intune at any time. What’s the difference? The answer is not much. Let’s outline what happens when a computer is retired.

• The device is removed from the company Intune portal
• Intune Endpoint Protection is removed
• Intune deployed certificates are removed
• Device configuration settings are no longer enforced or required so users can override them
• The computer will no longer received its updates from the Intune service
• Apps can no longer be installed from the portal and any Intune client software is removed
• WiFi and VPN profile settings are removed

When you retire a device, the retire process will begin the next time the device checks in and it will be removed from Intune once the steps outlined above in the list are completed. Delete means that the computer is removed from the Intune “All devices” list immediately. However, the retire process will begin the first time the device checks in. In other words, Delete performs the same tasks that Retire does. It just hastens the removal of the device from the listings page. The exception is cleanup rules that do delete devices immediately but do not retire them.

To retire or delete a device, go to Devices > All devices and select the computer you want to delete. Then choose the appropriate action you want as shown in the screenshot below.

Both Group Policy and Intune offer multiple Administrative Templates out of the box that provide settings for Microsoft operating systems and applications. Some third-party vendors provide ADMX and ADML templates that you can use to deploy settings for their products as well, but you must obtain them from the vendor and import them.  

Importing Administrative Templates into Group Policy

Importing third-party administrative templates into Group Policy simply requires that you paste the templates into the SYSVOL. Let’s say I wanted to manage settings for Zoom. I downloaded the templates and then placed them in the SYSVOL of one of my domain controllers as shown in the screenshot below. Note that you must also place the corresponding ADML templates into the appropriate language folder as well.

Then I use Group Policy Manager to create a GPO and the Zoom ADMX templates settings will appear automatically.

The Intune Importing Process

The process for importing ADMX and ADML templates into Intune is of course completely different. First off there are few limitations at present to keep in mind.

• You can upload a maximum of 10 ADMX files
• You can only upload one ADML file for each ADMX file
• Only en-us ADML files are supported currently
• Each file must be 1 MB or smaller
• Some ADMX files may have dependencies that must be uploaded first

After the matching ADMX and ADML templates are downloaded, go to Devices > Configuration profiles and select “Import ADMX.”

Click the Import link and navigate to the matching ADMX and ADML files as shown in the screenshot below.

Once completed, the imported ADMX template will now be listed. You must allot ample time for the templates to upload before using them as shown below.

In this case, the upload failed. In the screenshot below I clicked on the link to find out the details of the error.

It says that an ADMX file reference file called NamespaceMissing: Microsoft.Policies.Windows. was not found. This is one of the gotchas I mentioned above. To fix this, you must first click the ellipsis to the right and delete it. Then you need to upload the Windows ADMX and ADML files. These files are in your SYSVOL folder by default.  Upload them the same way you did the Zoom template files.

Once you complete the import wizard, click refresh until you see that the Windows.admx is available. Then upload the Zoom template once again. This time the upload process shouldn’t fail, and you will see both ADMX files available as shown below.

Now you can create Configuration profiles that use your imported ADMX files. Go to Profiles > Create profile and choose Windows 10 and later as the platform and Templates as the profile type. Then select “Imported Administrative templates (Preview)“as shown below.

Then you can select and configure the settings you want in your policy.

Then complete the profile configuration process by assigning the profile to your designated users.

Storage Sense is a disk cleanup feature found in Windows 10 and Windows 11 to free up drive space. When enabled, it serves as a silent assistant that automatically gets rid of items that you no longer need such as temporary files and items in your Recycle Bin. When enabled with its default settings it will run whenever the device is low on disk space. It can also delete neglected cloud backed content; a process referred to as Cloud Content Dehydration. This is especially valuable for users whose cloud storage far exceeds their local drives.

Using Group Policy to Manage Storage Sense

You can enable Storage Sense and configure settings using either Group Policy or Intune/MEM.  To enable it using Group Policy, create a GPO and go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Storage Sense and enable “Allow Storage Sense” as shown below.

Once enabled, Storage Sense will delete files from the Recycle Bin by default after 30 days. You can modify this period by enabling “Configure Storage Sense Recycle Bin cleanup threshold” and choose any digit between 0 and 365. A value of zero means that the files will never be deleted. You would do this if you wanted to enable Storage Sense but disable its Recycle Bin capabilities. The screenshot below shows the available policy settings.

Storage Sense also deletes Temporary files by default as well so there is no need to enable the “Allow Storage Sense Temporary Files cleanup” but you do need to specifically disable it if you don’t want it utilized.

One folder that Storage Sense doesn’t clean up by default is the Downloads folder. All those downloads become forgotten over time and can quickly add up, especially if it includes large ISO files. You can turn on this feature by enabling the “Configure Storage Storage Downloads Cleanup Threshold” and once again choosing 0 to 365 days. (BTW that isn’t a typo, the setting does repeat the world storage).

Next, lets enable the “Configure Storage Sense Cloud Content Dehydration Threshold” setting. Here you will input the minimum number of days you want a cloud-backed file to be unopened before being deleted. I chose 90 days in the screenshot below.

Finally, there is the “Configure Storage Sense Cadence” setting. By default, Storage Sense will run whenever it detects low disk space, but you can force it to run on a scheduled cadence using this setting as shown in the screenshot below.

Intune/Endpoint Manager and Storage Sense

You can also manage Storage Sense using Intune/MEM as well.  Create a Configuration Profile and select Windows 10 and later as the platform and Settings as the Profile type. After naming the configuration profile, do a search for Storage Sense and select Storage as the category once found. Then choose the desired settings you want to configure. The process is illustrated in the screenshot below.

Once the settings are configured, complete the wizard, and assign to the group your designated group(s). Now you won’t have to worry about forgotten files taking up footprints across your PC fleet.

Microsoft Endpoint Manager (Intune) has given admins the ability to manage and deliver Google Chrome settings for some time now.  Until recently however, one had to create a custom OMA-URI device configuration policy to do so, which no one considers a very fun thing to do.  For instance, if you wanted to enforce the home page in Chrome you would need to know the OMA-URI path which most people have to look up.

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Chrome~Policy~googlechrome~Startup/HomepageLocation

You would then configure the string value for the policy:

Data type: String

Value: https://www.mdmandgpanswers.com/"/>

Well good news, MEM now supports built in settings for Google Chrome and there are two ways to do this.  In MEM go to Devices > Configuration profiles > Create profile.  Choose “Windows 10 and later” as the platform and under profile type select either Settings catalog or Templates. 

Let’s first use the Settings catalog to set the home page.  Hit the Create button, name the profile, and click Next.  Here you need to click Add settings as shown in the screenshot below.

This takes you to the Settings picker. While built in settings are preferable to configuring OMA-URI configuration profiles, it isn’t always easy to find the setting you want.  Rather than browsing through all the included settings, you should do a search to locate the settings as efficiently as possible. This is much like doing a Google search so the more specific you are the better.  For instance, you could do a search for “Chrome” and choose the Chrome Administrative Templates that users cannot override, but this would still narrow it down to only 516 setting results as shown below.

Therefore, it’s good to know the name of the setting to find it quickly.  In the example below I searched “configure home page”.  Then I clicked on the “Home page and New Tab page” category and chose “Configure the home page URL” on the user side.

After finding the correct setting, I then configured it as shown in the screenshot below by enabling it and typing in the designated home page.  Click next and assign the profile to one or more groups and finish out the wizard to save it.

We can accomplish the same thing using Administrative Templates option. Once again you will name the profile using the Wizard and click Next.  This time let’s make it a computer side policy setting so expand Computer Configuration > Google > Google Chrome > Startup, Home page and New Tab page > Configure the home page URL.  Then enable and input the desired URL as last time.  The process is shown in the example below.

There are many setting options available in the Administrative Templates.  For instance, the screenshot below shows how to enforce Google SafeSearch for users.

In another example, I have specified the minimum SSL version for Google Chrome under User Configuration as well.

While you still must know where to go to find the desired settings you want, managing Google Chrome settings is a lot easier now under MEM.

Unless you are an SMB, you are probably going to phase in your Windows 11 upgrade over time.  That means that you will have to manage both versions until the upgrade is complete, which might require you to manage their settings or application deployments differently.  If you are using Intune to manage your Windows machines, you can use filtering to reduce the complexity of doing so. 

You can use Intune filters to target configurations, policies, and applications to specific device attributes such as Manufacturer, Model and OS version.  In this case we will create two filters that each target a different OS version.  Using Microsoft Endpoint Manager go to Intune > Tenant administration > Filters and create a new filter and name it as shown below.

Create a rule and select osVersion as the property, StartsWith as the operator and 10.0.2 as the value which I did myself in the screenshot below.  Then finish out the wizard to complete the filter.

Now create a second filter.  There are a couple of options when creating these filters.  You could use the same approach as the previous filter and match it with the Windows 10 value.  In this example, we chose a different approach and instead used the NotEquals operator, typing in 10.0.2 as the value.  This means that any Windows version other than Windows 11 will be included in this filter.

Now that you have the filters created, you can start applying them when needed.  In the example below, I have created a configuration profile that I have assigned to a computer group.  The group is made up of both Windows 10 and Windows 11 machines.  Because I want this profile to only apply to Windows 11 machines, I will click the filter link and choose “include filtered devices in assignment” and select the Windows 11 filter I created earlier.

Finish out the wizard and the configuration profile will now only target Windows 11 devices.  Those familiar with Group Policy will note the similarity to WMI filtering.  Once you upgrade all your Windows 10 devices, simply delete its designated filter.   

Keeping your Windows devices updated is critical today, not only from a security point of view, but a productivity one as Microsoft continues to deliver new features that spawn greater user innovation.  Deploying these updates is only part of the equation when it.  A computer can download a feature update for instance, but unless the computer is rebooted, it won’t be fully installed.  Often, users will delay the rebooting process, thus prolonging the pending start status and preventing it from attaining compliance.  That’s why you must enforce compliance.  Both Group Policy and Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM) give admins the ability to create an enforceable compliance window to ensure that Windows update processes are fully completed.

Deadlines and Grace Periods

These compliance policies allow you to configure a deadline that defines the number of days until a device is forced to restart to ensure compliance.  You can also configure an additional grace period to give users a little extra window if needed.  Note that you are restricted to defined ranges when assigning these time windows.  For Group Policy the ranges are as follows:

• For quality updates the deadline can be between 0 and 7 days.
• For feature updates the deadline can be between 0 and 14 days
• Grace periods are limited to 0 to 3 days regardless of the type of update

MEM provides longer durations to accommodate mobile devices.

• For quality updates the deadline can be between 2 and 30 days.
• For feature updates the deadline can be between 2 and 30 days
• Grace periods are limited to 0 to 7 days regardless of the type of update

For quality updates, the deadline and grace period start once the update is offered to the computer.  In the case of feature updates, both start once the update has been installed and the computer reaches a pending restart state.

Configuring Compliance Policies

To enforce a compliance policy using the Group Policy Administrative Console, go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Manage end user experience and choose “Specify deadlines for automatic updates and restarts.”  You can then configure the deadline and grace periods for both quality and feature updates as shown below.

Note that you have other settings available concerning the restarting process that you can assign as well.

To configure deadline and grace period durations using the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center and go to Devices > Create Update ring for Windows 10 and later.  Turn on the Allow button to enable deadlines and then assign the deadline and grace period for each update category.    Note that the deadlines and grace periods are appended to any configured deferral period.  The process is shown in the screenshot below.

By enforcing update compliance for your Windows machines through GP or MDM, you can ensure that required update processes are completed, keeping your computers secure and maximizing user productivity. 

Many organizations are choosing to use some type of MDM provider to manage their mobile devices.  Some organizations are even turning to MDM for all of their client devices.  If you have been relying on Group Policy to deliver configuration and security settings to these your Windows devices, you should know that there is still a disparity gap between between Group Policy and an MDM such as Microsoft Endpiont Manager (MEM) when it comes to setting coverage.  While Microsoft has closed this gap considerably over the past couple of years, there are still a number of Group Policy settings that MEM and other MDM solutions don’t accommodate.   Obviously, you need to know what settings can’t be replicated when considering a move to MDM.

MEM now provides an easy to use tool called Group Policy Analytics (Preview) that will analyze your on-premise GPOs and determine how they will translate into the cloud.  It will analyze a specific GPO and identify which settings are supported in the MDM, which ones have been deprecated and which ones are simply not available.  The first step is to select the GPO you want to test out in the Group Policy Management Console.  As shown in the screenshot below, simply right click on your selected GPO and choose “Save Report.”  Save it as an XML file.

The next step is to import the XML file into MEM.  Using the MEM admin center, go to Devices > Group Policy analytics (preview).  Select Import and point to the saved XML file as shown in the screenshot below.  Note that the saved XML cannot be larger than 4 MB. 

Click the X in the upper righthand corner and wait for the analyzation process to complete.  You will then see the percentage of settings are supported by the MDM.

Now click on the stated percentage and review the status of all your settings.  The supported settings will list the corresponding CSP mapping in the righthand column as shown below.

Group Policy analytics is a great tool to determine the MDM setting coverage of your GPOs.  If any of the non-supported settings are critical to your management or security policies, you may want to continue using Group Policy for a while longer or utilize a third-party settings management solution.

Not everyone needs to be a power user.  Some employees just need a basic computer to get the job done.  Examples include front line workers, home based users or those who access everything over a web browser.  While these users may only need the very basics, internal IT doesn’t want to skimp on security for them either.  It is for these types of situations that Microsoft began offering Windows 10 in cloud configuration.  Windows 10 Cloud Config simplifies the desktop experience for end users as well as the management experience for admins.   You can use it to configure new devices or reuse existing hardware in order to extend the life of older machines.   Because Windows 10 in cloud config is a Microsoft-recommended device configuration, you also know that it is secure.  Windows 10 Cloud Config is suited for the following types of scenarios:

• Devices that do not require complex setting configurations
• Are not dependent on any type of on-premise infrastructure
• Uses a basic set of apps that are curated by internal IT such as Microsoft Teams and Edge

To be clear, cloud config is not Windows “lite.”  It is the full Windows experience.  You deploy devices with it or assign it to existing devices using Microsoft Endpoint Manager.  From there you manage these machines just like any other MDM enrolled device.  These devices are configured with Windows 10 endpoint security settings and automatically updated through Windows Update for Business.  Admins don’t have to do a thing.  All user data is stored and redirected to OneDrive.  For this reason, Microsoft does not recommend cloud config be used for shared devices.

Cloud config can be deployed to any device running any one of the following operating systems.   

• Windows 10 Professional
• Windows 10 Enterprise
• Windows 10 Education

Cloud config requires the following licenses:

• Azure Active Directory Premium P1

• Microsoft Intune
• Microsoft Teams
• OneDrive for Business
• Windows 10 Pro (minimum)

Note that Microsoft recommends Enterprise Mobility + Security E3 and Office 365 E3.

There are two ways to deploy Windows 10 cloud config in Microsoft Endpoint Manager.  The easiest way uses the new guided scenarios feature.  Cloud config is one of the sets of customized steps that admins can use to quickly deploy devices for a given scenario.  You can also configure cloud config manually in order to deploy it using the following steps:

1. Create an Azure AD group
2. Configure device enrollment
3. Deploy a script to configure Known Folder Move and remove built-in apps
4. Deploy apps
5. Deploy endpoint security settings
6. Configure Windows Update settings
7. Deploy a Windows 10 compliance policy
8. Additional optional configurations

For this example, we are going to use guided scenario.  You will find it by going to Troubleshooting + support > Guided scenarios.  The first time you access this section you may have to click the “Got it” button as shown below.

Then choose Deploy Windows 10 in cloud configuration by clicking the Start button for that scenario.

The first step involves the naming of the devices during the Windows Autopilot enrollment process.  If you choose not to use the device name template, all devices will use the OEM name.  If you select “Yes” however, you can then create a unique pattern to name the devices.  You can use the %RAND:x% variable to include a string of random characters after Fabrikam.  The X represents the number of random characters allocated.  In the example below we are appending 4 random characters to Fabrikam.

The next step is to select the apps you want to deploy to these devices. Because Cloud Config is about keeping things simple, Microsoft recommends keeping the list of included apps to a minimum so that your cloud config devices are simple to use and manage.  By default, the guided scenario includes Edge and Teams.  As you cannot remove them when using the guided scenario, you must uninstall them at a later time if you don’t want them.  You can then select additional Microsoft 365 optional apps as is shown in the screenshot below.

Next is the Assignment phase in which you will assign the cloud config devices to a group.  Here you can either create a new group or choose an existing group as is shown below.

After you create your group and click “Next” you will be presented with a Summary showing all of your selections.  You can go back to the other tabs, and change any values you added.  Once you verify your settings then click Deploy. 

You can then watch as the resources are being created along with their status.  If there's an error, then the guided scenario isn't deployed, and all changes are reverted.  Once deployed successfully you can use the monitoring and reporting features in the Endpoint Manager.  If you want to remove any of your chosen settings, go to each policy created by the cloud config guided scenario and configure the settings to Not Configured.  Then redeploy the policies. 

In the end, cloud config is just a recommended set of configuration settings for Windows 10 for standardized deployments that are easy to manage.  While it isn’t for everyone, it is an ideal fit for specific user scenarios.