PolicyDefinitions C:\Windows\SYSVOL\domain\Policies\PolicyDefinitions

Central Store: one set of ADMX and ADML files in SYSVOL, used by every GPO editor in the domain instead of local copies.

Updated on 12 November 2026 By AltF4 Formation

What it’s for

Without a Central Store, each administrator sees the ADMX templates of their own computer, so settings differ with their Windows version. Creating this folder in SYSVOL makes every GPO editor in the domain read the same set. The console says so at the top of “Administrative Templates”: policy definitions are “retrieved from the central store”.

Active Directory does not create the folder. Once it exists, local copies are ignored.

What it contains

The .admx files at the root, and one subfolder per language (en-US, fr-FR) for the .adml files. It is replicated like the rest of SYSVOL and reachable at \\<domain>\SYSVOL\<domain>\Policies\PolicyDefinitions.

Risks and best practices

To update, copy the full PolicyDefinitions from the newest Windows (or the downloaded template package) over the existing one, keeping the language subfolders.
Add every language your administrators use; a missing language shows settings without labels.
A partial copy, with an .admx but no matching .adml, breaks the editor for everyone. Test from an admin workstation before rolling it out.
Watch DFSR replication: a lagging domain controller serves an older set.

Useful commands

# As administrator: feed the store from this server (-WhatIf to simulate)
$dest = "\\$env:USERDNSDOMAIN\SYSVOL\$env:USERDNSDOMAIN\Policies\PolicyDefinitions"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $dest -WhatIf
Copy-Item "$env:windir\PolicyDefinitions\*" -Destination $dest -Recurse -Force -WhatIf

# Check
(Get-ChildItem $dest -Filter *.admx).Count
Get-ChildItem $dest -Directory | Select-Object Name

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