Use Intune for Education to manage groups, apps, and settings
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Intune for Education is a streamlined device management solution for educational institutions that can be used to quickly set up and manage Windows 10 and iOS devices for your school. It provides a new streamlined UI with the enterprise readiness and resiliency of the Intune service. You can learn more about Intune for Education by reading the Intune for Education documentation.
Set up Intune for Education, buy apps from the Store, and install the apps
In this walkthrough, we go through a sample scenario and walk you through the steps to:
- Use express configuration to quickly set up Intune for Education
- Use Intune for Education to buy apps from the Microsoft Store for Education
- Use Intune for Education to install the apps for all users in your tenant
For verified education tenants, Microsoft automatically provisions your app catalog with these apps so you see them appear on your Intune for Education catalog even before you've bought any apps:
Excel
Fresh Paint
Minecraft Education
OneNote
PowerPoint
Sway
Word
Note
Apps that you own in the Microsoft Store for Education are automatically available in Intune for Education. Any changes you make to your purchases get reflected in Intune for Education.
This video explains how this is done, or follow the step-by-step guide.
You can watch the descriptive audio version here: Microsoft Education: Use Intune for Education to manage groups, apps, and settings (DA)
Set up Intune for Education
Intune for Education provides an Express configuration option so you can get going right away. We use that option here.
Sign into the Intune for Education console. You see the Intune for Education dashboard once you're signed in.
Figure 1 - Intune for Education dashboard
On the dashboard, select Launch Express Configuration, or select the Express configuration option on the menu on the left.
In the Welcome to Intune for Education screen, select Get started.
Figure 2 - Select Get started to set up Intune for Education
In the Get school information (optional) screen, it should indicate that SDS is already configured. Select Next.
Figure 3 - SDS is configured
In the Choose group screen, select All Users. All apps and settings that we select during express setup will apply to this group.
You can choose another group during this step, but note that your experience may vary from what we show in the walkthrough.
The Next button will appear at the bottom of the screen after you select All Users. Select Next.
Tip
At the top of the screen, did you notice the Choose group button change to a green check mark? This means we are done with that step. If you change your mind or need to make changes, simply select the button to go back to that step. Try it!
Figure 4 - Select the buttons to go back to that step
In the Choose apps screen, you see a selection of Web apps, Microsoft Store apps, and desktop (Win32) apps. You also see a list of popular apps from each category.
Add or remove apps by selecting them. A blue checkmark means the app is added and will be installed for all members of the group selected in the Choose group step.
In this walkthrough, it's up to you to select the apps you choose to install. Just remember what they are so that later in the walkthrough you can verify that the apps were installed correctly on the device.
Tip
Web apps are pushed as links in the Windows Start menu under All apps. If you want apps to appear in Microsoft Edge browser tabs, use the Homepages setting for Microsoft Edge through Express configuration or Manage Users and Devices.
Figure 5 - Choose the apps that you want to install for the group
When you're done choosing apps, select Next at the bottom of the screen.
If you select Microsoft Store apps, you see a notification that Intune for Education is getting these apps.
In the Choose settings screen, we will set the settings to apply to the group. Select the reverse caret (downward-facing arrow) to expand the settings group and get more information about each setting in that settings group.
Figure 6 - Expand the settings group to get more details
For this walkthrough, set the following settings:
- In the Microsoft Edge settings group, change the Do-Not-Track headers setting to Require.
- In the App settings group, change the Microsoft Store for Business apps setting to Block, and then set the Require Microsoft Store for Business apps to be installed from private store to Require.
Figure 7 - Set some additional settings
Select Next. In the Review screen, you see a summary of the apps and settings you selected to apply.
Figure 7 - Review the group, apps, and settings you configured
Select Save to end express configuration.
You see the You're done! screen, which lets you choose one of two options.
Figure 8 - All done with Intune for Education express configuration
Select All done or select the X on the upper-right corner of the screen to dismiss this screen and go back to the dashboard.
Add apps bought from Microsoft Store for Education
Example 1 - Minecraft Education
If you would like to purchase Minecraft Education or want to learn how to get, distribute, and manage permissions for Minecraft Education, see For IT administrators - get Minecraft Education.
Example 2 - Free educational/reference apps
In the Intune for Education console, select Apps from the menu on the left.
Figure 9 - Select Apps to see the list of apps for your tenant
In the Store apps section, select + New app. This takes you to the Microsoft Store for Education portal and you will already be signed in.
Figure 10 - Select the option to add a new Store app
In the Microsoft Store page, check some of the categories for suggested apps or search the Store for a free educational or reference app. Find ones that you haven't already installed during express setup for Intune for Education.
For example, these apps are free:
- Duolingo - Learn Languages for Free
- Flashcards Pro
- Khan Academy
- My Study Life
Find or select the app you want to install and select Get the app.
In the app's Store page, select the ... button and select Add to private store.
Repeat steps 3-5 to install another app or move to the next step.
In the Microsoft Store for Education portal, select Manage > Apps & software > Manage apps to verify that the apps you purchased appear in your inventory.
For example, if you bought Duolingo and Khan Academy, they show up in your inventory along with the apps that Microsoft automatically provisioned for your education tenant.
Figure 11 - Apps inventory in Microsoft Store for Education
In the Private store column of the Apps & software page, the status for some apps indicates that it's "In private store" while others say "Not in private store". We won't go over this in the walkthrough, but you can learn more about this in Distribute apps using your private store.
Note
You'll see in the above screenshot that some apps say that Add is in progress. Sync happens automatically, but it may take up to 24 hours for your organization's private store and 12 hours for Intune for Education to sync all your purchased apps.
Install apps for all users
Now that you've bought the apps, use Intune for Education to specify the group to install the apps for. Here, we show you how to install the apps you bought for all devices used by all users in your tenant.
In the Intune for Education console, select the Groups option from the menu on the left.
Figure 12 - Groups page in Intune for Education
In the Groups page, select All Users from the list of groups on the left, and then select Users in the taskbar at the top of the All Users page.
Figure 13 - List of all users in the tenant
In the taskbar at the top, select Apps and then select Edit apps to see a list of available apps.
Figure 14 - Edit apps to assign them to users
Select the apps to deploy to the group. A blue checkmark appears next to the apps you select.
Figure 15 - Select the apps to deploy to the group
Once you're done, select Save at the bottom of the page to deploy the selected apps to the group.
You are notified that app assignments are being updated. The updated All Users groups page now includes the apps you selected.
Figure 16 - Updated list of assigned apps
You're now done assigning apps to all users in your tenant. It's time to set up your Windows 10 device(s) and check that your cloud infrastructure is correctly set up and your apps are being pushed to your devices from the cloud.