Disabling Proofing Tools and related options Word 2013/ 2016 for an Exam

In this post i am going to be describing an issue that has for a long time not been well documented, by either Microsoft or anyone else. This is the updated post to reflect the changes for 2016.

We had an exam requirement for many years for computer based exams to disable the spell check, thesaurus and grammar check facility and to remove the ability to re-enable it. The requirement was to enable it for certain users only for example those within an OU.

MS in their infinite wisdom created ADMX/ADM templates that give admins the ability to disable some of the proofing tools in a GPO. However this does not disable the ability to re-enable these options from the GUI. Also in the Word 2016 ADMX templates, MS have REMOVED the option to disable Spell Check!

I wrote an article a couple of years ago and figured as i was working on it i would update it..

I have also created a .REG file that can be downloaded below. It can be used to enable and disable on the fly quickly on standalone devices.

EnableDisable_Proofing.zip

Resolution

We found the solution to this issue was something relatively straight forward. 

Microsoft have published on TechNet, a list of user interface items that can be disabled using control ID's and virtual key codes. Link is below. The codes below are for 2013, but they work fine with 2016.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179143(v=office.15).aspx

We are going to use these codes and some other GPO options for Word 2016 to disable the key shortcuts, menu items and the options menu so the users cannot re-enable them.

This guide assumes that you have already downloaded and installed the Office 2016 ADMX templates, available here.

1. To start with create a new GPO, call it Proofing Tools Disabled.


2. The first thing that you need to do is decide how you want to link this GPO to the users. There are two options, link to the user accounts in an OU or link to a group of computers in an OU.


3. If you are linking the GPO to a computers OU you need to enable the following group policy option, if not skip this step. 



COMPUTER CONFIGURATION > Policies > Administrative Templates > System > Group Policy 


• User Group Policy Loopback processing mode = ENABLED - Merge


4. Next we need to set the group policy options that disable the proofing tools. Locate the options below.



USER CONFIGURATION > Policies > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Word 2016 > Word Options > Proofing




• Check Grammar with Spelling = Disabled
• Do Not Enable additional actions in the right-click menu = Enabled
• Mark Grammar Errors as you type = Disabled
• Writing Style = Disabled
• Autocorrect / Capitalize first letter of sentance = Disabled
• Autocorrect / Capitalize names of days = Disabled
• Autocorrect / Correct TWo INitial CApitals =Disabled
• Autocorrect / Correct accidental usage of cAPS LOCK key = Disabled
• Autocorrect / Correct keyboard setting = Disabled
• Autocorrect / Replace text as you type =Disabled


5. Next add the following option



USER CONFIGURATION > Policies > Administrative Templates > System > Microsoft Word 2016 > Miscellaneous




• Do not use online machine translation = Enabled


6. Next because MS removed the option to disable Spell Check from the GPO, we need to use the registry. Create a GPP for the registry key below.



HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Proofing Tools\1.0\Office

Value Name = WordSpellingOptions
Value type = REG_DWORD
Value data = 0 (0=disabled, 5=enabled)





7. Next we need to use the Disable items in user interface options to remove the parts of the GUI that allow the users to re-enable the options we have set. Locate the group policy setting below.



USER CONFIGURATION > Policies > Administrative Templates > System > Microsoft Word 2016 > Disable Items in User Interface > Custom 




In Disable Commands add the list below:

• 2566 
• 15780 
• 9056 
• 6111 
• 12842
• 14453 
• 2815 
• 3492 
• 4025 
• 3997 
• 3958 
• 790 
• 2
• 3217
• 2349 
• 329
• 3219 
• 2469 
• 2788
• 11323 
• 7343 
• 7387 

In Disable Shortcut Keys add the list below:

• 118 
• 254 
• 79,12 
• 118,16 
• 118,4 


Hopefully this helps someone else with this issue.