Require an app protection policy on Windows devices

App protection policies apply mobile application management (MAM) to specific applications on a device. These policies let you secure data within an application for scenarios like bring your own device (BYOD).

::

Prerequisites

• We support applying policy to the Microsoft Edge browser on devices running Windows 11 and Windows 10 version 20H2 and higher with KB5031445.
• Set up an app protection policy targeting Windows devices. For details, see Configured app protection policy targeting Windows devices.
• Sovereign clouds aren't supported.

User exclusions

Conditional Access policies are powerful tools. We recommend excluding the following accounts from your policies:

• Emergency access or break-glass accounts to prevent lockout due to policy misconfiguration. In the unlikely scenario where all administrators are locked out, your emergency access administrative account can be used to sign in and recover access.
  • More information can be found in the article, Manage emergency access accounts in Microsoft Entra ID.
• Service accounts and Service principals, such as the Microsoft Entra Connect Sync Account. Service accounts are noninteractive accounts that aren't tied to any specific user. They're typically used by backend services to allow programmatic access to applications, but they're also used to sign in to systems for administrative purposes. Calls made by service principals aren't blocked by Conditional Access policies scoped to users. Use Conditional Access for workload identities to define policies that target service principals.
  • If your organization uses these accounts in scripts or code, replace them with managed identities.

Create a Conditional Access policy

Start with Report-only mode so admins can check how the policy affects existing users. When admins are sure the policy works as intended, they can switch to On or stage the deployment by adding specific groups and excluding others.

Require app protection policy for Windows devices

Follow these steps to create a Conditional Access policy that requires an app protection policy when using a Windows device to use the Office 365 apps group in Conditional Access. Also set up and assign the app protection policy to users in Microsoft Intune. For details about creating the app protection policy, see App protection policy settings for Windows. This policy includes multiple controls that let devices either use app protection policies for mobile application management (MAM) or be managed and compliant with mobile device management (MDM) policies.

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a Conditional Access Administrator.
2. Browse to Entra ID > Conditional Access > Policies.
3. Select New policy.
4. Give your policy a name. We recommend that organizations create a meaningful standard for the names of their policies.
5. Under Assignments, select Users or workload identities.
   1. Under Include, select All users.
   2. Under Exclude, select Users and groups and choose your organization's emergency access or break-glass accounts.
6. Under Target resources > Resources (formerly cloud apps) > Include, select Office 365.
7. Under Conditions:
   1. Device platforms set Configure to Yes.
      1. Under Include, Select device platforms.
      2. Choose Windows only.
      3. Select Done.
   2. Client apps set Configure to Yes.
      1. Select Browser only.
8. Under Access controls > Grant, select Grant access.
   1. Select Require app protection policy and Require device to be marked as compliant.
   2. For multiple controls, select Require one of the selected controls
9. Confirm your settings and set Enable policy to Report-only.
10. Select Create to enable your policy.

After confirming your settings using policy impact or report-only mode, move the Enable policy toggle from Report-only to On.

Sign in to Windows devices

When users attempt to sign in to a site that is protected by an app protection policy for the first time, they're prompted: To access your service, app, or website, you might need to sign in to Microsoft Edge using [email protected] or register your device with organization if you're already signed in.

Clicking on Switch Edge profile opens a window listing their Work or school account along with an option to Sign in to sync data.

This process opens a window offering to allow Windows to remember your account and automatically sign you into your apps, websites, and services. Select Yes to sign in and enroll your device in mobile application management.

After selecting Yes, you might see a progress window while policy is applied. After a few moments, you should see a window saying You're all set, app protection policies are applied.

If your organization shows the following MDM enrollment option, select No. Selecting Yes enrolls your device in mobile device management (MDM), not mobile application management (MAM).

Troubleshooting

Common issues

In some circumstances, after getting the "you're all set" page you might still be prompted to sign in with your work account. This prompt might happen when:

• Your profile is added to Microsoft Edge, but MAM enrollment is still being processed.
• Your profile is added to Microsoft Edge, but you selected "this app only" on the heads up page.
• You enrolled into MAM but your enrollment expired or you aren't compliant with your organization's requirements.

To resolve these possible scenarios:

• Wait a few minutes and try again in a new tab.
• Contact your administrator to check that Microsoft Intune MAM policies are applying to your account correctly.

Existing account

There's a known issue where there's a pre-existing, unregistered account, like [email protected] in Microsoft Edge, or if a user signs in without registering using the Heads Up Page, then the account isn't properly enrolled in MAM. This configuration blocks the user from being properly enrolled in MAM.

Next steps

• What is Microsoft Intune app management?
• App protection policies overview