Are there any settings in the DeepL for Windows app that an IT administrator can configure?
Yes, the DeepL for Windows app (app version 24.6.2 and later) can be configured from outside by IT administrators. This is mostly possible for proxy settings at the moment. More settings will be available in the future.
In this article, you'll learn more about which settings are available to administrators and how to configure them:
- Available administrator settings
- Configuring administrator settings
- Settings via Windows registry
- Settings via environment variables
Available administrator settings
This is an overview of all possible settings an administrator can configure outside of the DeepL for Windows app:
| Name | Type | Description | Since app version |
| proxy.active | Boolean | If set to true, the DeepL for Windows app is using proxy settings in general. The value true is mandatory if any other proxy settings are used. | 24.6.2 |
| proxy.host | Text | The host name of the proxy server. If no protocol scheme is given (e.g. http://), http:// scheme is assumed. Only used when proxy.active is set to true. | 24.6.2 |
| proxy.port | Numeric | Port number of the proxy server. Only positive integer values are allowed. Only used when proxy.active is set to true. | 24.6.2 |
| proxy.activeCredentials | Boolean | If set to true, the DeepL for Windows app is using proxy.username and proxy.password for proxy authentication (if provided). | 24.6.2 |
| proxy.username | Text | Username for proxy authentication. Only used when proxy.activeCredentials is set to true. | 24.6.2 |
| proxy.password | Text | Password for proxy authentication. Only used when proxy.activeCredentials is set to true. | 24.6.2 |
| free.app.usage.blocked | Boolean | If set to true, the DeepL for Windows app is accessible only for logged in Pro users. | 24.8.2 |
Note: The app must be restarted for the changes to take effect.
If an administrator configures any of those settings, the corresponding settings in the DeepL for Windows app will become inactive and grayed out. Now, the app user can’t change them anymore.
This way, administrators may, for example, set proxy.activeCredentials to false to prevent users from adding a proxy username and/or password in their app’s settings under Advanced.
To provide more flexibility for administrators, the proxy settings do not affect each other.
Important: To undo a setting, the administrator must remove the setting completely. The user can then configure the setting again in their DeepL for Windows app.
Configuring administrator settings
To give administrators maximum flexibility, the DeepL for Windows app is looking for the settings mentioned above at different locations on the client’s device, ordered by descending priority:
- Windows Registry of the local machine:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\DeepL SE
- Windows Registry of the current user:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\DeepL SE
- Environment variables
- Preferences inside the DeepL for Windows app:
This is the normal behavior for users when none of the above places are used. It is the same as in older DeepL for Windows app versions.
If a setting is found at one location, the setting is ignored at locations with lower priority. Different settings can be set at different locations, if needed. However, to avoid confusion, all settings should be placed at one location.
Note: Registry and environment variables can be set via Intune (or other MDMs). More information about Microsoft Intune can be found here.
Settings via Windows registry
Via the Windows registry, administrators can configure the above settings via simple key/value-pairs at:
-
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\DeepL SE
-
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\DeepL SE
The keys and values always have the type string or text and are parsed by the DeepL for Windows app when the app is started. One example is the following proxy configuration using the Windows Registry Current Machine:
This example results in the following settings screen in the windows app (cannot be changed by the user):
Settings via environment variables
As an alternative to registering keys, administrators can set environment variables. System environment variables have a higher priority than user environment variables.
To avoid naming issues, every setting for environment variables has the prefix DEEPL_APP_ and dots (“.”) are replaced with underscores (“_”).
For example:
DEEPL_APP_PROXY_ACTIVE
The values of these environment settings are all text and are the same as the registry variant.