MCX

Administrators can use Managed Preferences (MCX) to better control behavior of Office 2011 for Mac. Prior to this version, most preferences were not stored in .plist file format, which is necessary for MCX. The following .plist files and keys can be used with Open Directory, Active Directory with an extended schema, Defaults, third party products that support MCX and local computer MCX policies.

By disabling Office FirstRun items, hiding welcome windows and hiding the document galleries a new user will go immediately to a blank document the first time he launches any Office application.

Disable Office FirstRun

When any application is run for the first time, a series of setup screens will prompt the user to “customize” his version of Office, prompt him to enable updates, prompt him to join the Customer Improvement Experience Program and register. The following domains and keys will disable these screens.

Domain: com.microsoft.autoupdate2

<dict>
	<key>HowToCheck</key>
	<string>Manual</string>
	<key>LastUpdate</key>
	<date>2001-01-01T00:00:00Z</date>
</dict>

Domain: com.microsoft.error_reporting

<dict>
	<key>SQMReportsEnabled</key>
	<false/>
	<key>ShipAssertEnabled</key>
	<false/>
</dict>

Domain: com.microsoft.office

<dict>
	<key>14\FirstRun\SetupComplete</key>
	<integer>1</integer>
	<key>14\UserInfo\UserName</key>
	<string>User Name</string>
	<key>14\UserInfo\UserOrganization</key>
	<string>Company Name</string>
</dict>

Hide welcome windows

The first launch of each application displays a Welcome window highlighting new features. The following settings will disable these windows.

Domain: com.microsoft.Excel

<dict>
	<key>14\Microsoft Excel\Hide Welcome Window</key>
	<integer>1</integer>
</dict>

Domain: com.microsoft.Outlook

<dict>
	<key>FirstRunExperienceCompleted</key>
	<true/>
</dict>

Domain: com.microsoft.PowerPoint

<dict>
	<key>14\Options\Options\Hide Welcome Dialog</key>
	<integer>1</integer>
</dict>

Domain: com.microsoft.Word

<dict>
	<key>14\Options\Hide Welcome Dialog</key>
	<integer>1</integer>
</dict>

Hide Document Gallery

This is a user configurable option but at first launch the document gallery for Excel, PowerPoint and Word appears just before opening a blank document. The following settings turn off the document gallery and take the user directly to a blank document.

Domain: com.microsoft.office

<dict>
	<key>14\File New State\FNXCEL</key>
	<integer>0</integer>
	<key>14\File New State\FNPPT3</key>
	<integer>0</integer>
	<key>14\File New State\FNMSWD</key>
	<integer>0</integer>
</dict>

Application preferences

Following are some keys and values for Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Word. These are not all inclusive but merely examples of what you can find. Similar keys are available in more than one application. Most keys are self-explanatory.