Windows Autopilot device preparation FAQ

Windows Autopilot device preparation is a re-architecture of Windows Autopilot. While the experience to OEMs, IT admins, and users is similar, the underlying architecture is different. The updated architecture in Windows Autopilot Device preparation gives new capabilities that improves the deployment experience.

Windows Autopilot device preparation benefits government customers who can now use Windows Autopilot device preparation to streamline their deployments at scale. It also benefits new customers onboarding Windows Autopilot device preparation by reducing the complexity of setting up the deployment.

Windows Autopilot device preparation is available for Government Community Cloud (GCC) High and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). It'll be available for Intune operated by 21Vianet in China later this year.

Currently Windows Autopilot device preparation only supports the user-driven scenario.

The pre-provisioning mode and self-deploying mode scenarios will be supported in the future, but aren't part of the initial release.

We limited the number of applications that can be applied during the out-of-box experience (OOBE) to increase stability and achieve a higher success rate. Looking at our telemetry, almost 90% of all Autopilot deployments are deployed with 10 or less fewer apps. This limit is intended to improve the overall user experience so that users can become more productive quickly. We understand that there are outliers and companies that want to target more during setup. However, for the user-driven approach, we want to use the desktop experience for non-essential applications.

Yes. While we always recommend Win32 applications, mixing applications in Windows Autopilot deployments might result in errors. With the Windows Autopilot device preparation, we have streamlined the providers so different application types shouldn't affect each other.

Only device-based configurations are delivered during OOBE. For this reason:

• Assign security policy to devices.
• Ensure all selected applications in the Windows Autopilot device preparation policy are set to install in the System context.
• Ensure all selected applications in the Windows Autopilot device preparation policy are targeted to the device security group specified in the Windows Autopilot device preparation policy.
• Ensure all selected PowerShell scripts in the Windows Autopilot device preparation policy are targeted to the device security group specified in the Windows Autopilot device preparation policy.

Many users aren't sure when the provisioning process is complete. To help mitigate confusion and calls to support, we added a completion page in OOBE. Administrators can configure the page to require a user to manually select Continue or set the page to auto-continue. This message lets the user know that OOBE setup is complete. However, additional installations that were assigned to the device group but not specified in the Windows Autopilot device preparation policy might still be occurring in the background.

Windows Autopilot device preparation will support non-Microsoft MDMs. In this initial release, configuration is only possible via Intune.

Currently, Windows Autopilot device preparation is only available on:

• Windows 11, version 23H2 with KB5035942 or later.
• Windows 11, version 22H2 with KB5035942 or later.

There's no need to migrate from existing Windows Autopilot profiles to Windows Autopilot device preparation policies. We expect both solutions to exist in parallel for a while as we work to improve the experience and add more functionality.

Not at all! We're continuing to work on Windows Autopilot in parallel with developing Windows Autopilot device preparation. The first release of Windows Autopilot device preparation doesn't have all the scenarios of Windows Autopilot, specifically pre-provisioning and self-deploying modes, so we'll continue to invest in those areas. Additionally, in the future, we plan to add any high value features from Windows Autopilot device preparation to Windows Autopilot to improve the experience for all customers.

No. Windows Autopilot device preparation only supports Microsoft Entra join.

The following types of applications are supported for use with Windows Autopilot device preparation:

• Line-of-business (LOB).
• Win32.
• Microsoft Store - only Microsoft Store apps that support WinGet are supported.
• Microsoft 365.

No. Windows Autopilot device preparation policies are deployed to a user group and not a device group. Once a user in that user group signs into the device during OOBE, the Windows Autopilot device preparation deployment begins. During the deployment, the device is then automatically added to the device group specified in the Windows Autopilot device preparation policy.

If multiple Windows Autopilot device preparation policies are deployed to a user, the policy with the highest priority gets priority. Policy priorities are displayed at the Home > Enroll devices | Windows enrollment > Device preparation policies screen. The policy with the highest priority is higher in the list and has the smallest number under the Priority column. To change a policy's priority, move it in the list by dragging the policy within the list.

The key to making Windows Autopilot device preparation deployments faster and more efficient than Windows Autopilot is Enrollment Time Grouping. With Enrollment Time Grouping, devices are automatically added to an assigned device group specified in the Windows Autopilot device preparation policy. Since the device group is assigned instead of dynamic as used in Windows Autopilot, anything assigned to the device group is processed faster and more efficiently. The assigned group eliminates the need to perform queries that are required with dynamic groups.

During a Windows Autopilot device preparation deployment, a Setting up for work or school window with a round progress bar displays on the device:

Windows Autopilot device preparation doesn't use the Enrollment Status Page (ESP) like Windows Autopilot. If the ESP displays during the deployment, then the device isn't running a Windows Autopilot device preparation deployment. Instead, the device might be:

• A Windows Autopilot registered device.
• A Windows Autopilot profile is assigned to the device.

Verify that the device isn't registered as a Windows Autopilot device and that a Windows Autopilot profile isn't assigned to the device. Windows Autopilot profiles take precedence over Windows Autopilot device preparation policies.

If a device needs to be removed as a Windows Autopilot device, see Deregister a device.