Plan for Change: Update to Windows 365 User settings transition

What and Why

We're updating the transition plan for legacy Windows 365 User settings previously announced in MC1418556. This transition covers settings for local administrator access, user-initiated Cloud PC reset and restore, restore-point frequency, and disaster recovery.

These settings are managed through the applicable Cloud PC configurations or Windows App settings policies under Cloud PC Settings in the Microsoft Intune admin center.

We recommend recreating your existing configurations as the corresponding capabilities become available. This lets you control transition timing, assignments, policy priority, and validation. After the self-transition period, Microsoft plans to automatically migrate remaining eligible User settings policies around April to June 2027. We'll send follow-up communications with confirmed dates and instructions as we get closer to the auto-migration period.

Existing User settings policies will remain in place and continue to apply until you transition them or Microsoft completes and validates their migration. They will not be removed or stop applying in January 2027 as previously announced.

Rollout Schedule

The October and November 2026 dates previously announced in MC1418556 have changed.

Early November 2026

• The Enable local admin setting becomes generally available in Cloud PC configurations.

Mid November 2026

• The User settings tab will be renamed User settings (legacy) and will appear grayed out.
• Creation of new policies under User settings (legacy) will be disabled.
• Existing legacy policies can still be edited.
• In-product banners will prompt admins to transition policies.

Early December 2026

• Existing User settings policies become read-only and can no longer be edited.
• Existing policies remain visible and continue to apply.

April-June 2027

• Microsoft plans to migrate remaining eligible User settings policies.
• We'll provide confirmed migration dates and instructions in a future communication.

Legacy policy retirement: Existing policies will continue to apply until their migration is complete and validated.

Impact on Your Organization

Who is affected: 

• Organizations that manage Windows 365 Cloud PCs by using User settings policies in the Microsoft Intune admin center.

What will happen:

The following settings are included in the planned Microsoft-managed migration. When recreating configurations yourself, use the corresponding policy type under Cloud PC Settings.

A legacy policy containing multiple settings may require replacement configurations in both policy types. Recreate only settings applicable to your Windows 365 offer and supported configuration.

Policy management and priority

• After legacy policy creation is disabled, use the applicable Cloud PC Settings policy type for new configurations. After editing is disabled, you can no longer modify existing legacy policies.
• In Cloud PC Settings, higher-ranked policies take precedence for each configured setting. Not configured values do not participate in conflict resolution.
• Microsoft auto-migrated policies will receive the lowest rank so that policies created directly by IT admins in the new Settings framework take precedence.

Action Required/Recommendations

We recommend proactively migrating existing User settings policies to the new Settings framework where possible. Doing so lets you control when configurations are recreated, verify assignments, and validate behavior before Microsoft migrates remaining eligible settings.

Before the Microsoft-managed migration:

1. Review your existing User settings policies and record every configured setting and its assigned users and groups.
2. Use the table above to identify the destination policy type for each setting.
3. Recreate applicable configurations in Cloud PC configurations and/or Windows App settings as the corresponding capabilities become available.
4. Review assignments and policy rank, then validate that each recreated setting produces the intended behavior for the affected users and Cloud PCs. For recovery configurations, review restore-point frequency and backup region. Replacing a User setting does not result in loss of existing backup copies when those values remain unchanged.
5. After completing and validating your manual migration to the Settings framework, we recommend to delete the corresponding legacy User settings policies to prevent duplicates during Microsoft-managed migration. Any remaining legacy policies will still be migrated, but the Microsoft-migrated policies will have lower priority.
6. Update internal administration procedures and notify your helpdesk and support teams.

Learn more

• Settings overview for Windows 365
• Cloud PC configurations
• Enable Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
• User settings in Windows 365

Compliance considerations

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.