User Guide Cancel

Manage self-service policies

  1. Adobe Enterprise & Teams: Administration guide
  2. Plan your deployment
    1. Basic concepts
      1. Licensing
      2. Identity
      3. User management
      4. App deployment
      5. Admin Console overview
      6. Admin roles
    2. Deployment Guides
      1. Named User deployment guide
      2. SDL deployment guide
      3. Deploy Adobe Acrobat 
    3. Deploy Creative Cloud for education
      1. Deployment home
      2. K-12 Onboarding Wizard
      3. Simple setup
      4. Syncing Users
      5. Roster Sync K-12 (US)
      6. Key licensing concepts
      7. Deployment options
      8. Quick tips
      9. Approve Adobe apps in Google Admin Console
      10. Enable Adobe Express in Google Classroom
      11. Integration with Canvas LMS
      12. Integration with Blackboard Learn
      13. Configuring SSO for District Portals and LMSs
      14. Add users through Roster Sync
      15. Kivuto FAQ
      16. Primary and Secondary institution eligibility guidelines
  3. Set up your organization
    1. Identity types | Overview
    2. Set up identity | Overview
    3. Set up organization with Enterprise ID
    4. Setup Azure AD federation and sync
      1. Set up SSO with Microsoft via Azure OIDC
      2. Add Azure Sync to your directory
      3. Role sync for Education
      4. Azure Connector FAQ
    5. Set up Google Federation and sync
      1. Set up SSO with Google Federation
      2. Add Google Sync to your directory
      3. Google federation FAQ
    6. Set up organization with Microsoft ADFS
    7. Set up organization for District Portals and LMS
    8. Set up organization with other Identity providers
      1. Create a directory
      2. Verify ownership of a domain
      3. Add domains to directories
    9. SSO common questions and troubleshooting
      1. SSO Common questions
      2. SSO Troubleshooting
      3. Education common questions
  4. Manage your organization setup
    1. Manage existing domains and directories
    2. Enable automatic account creation
    3. Set up organization via directory trust
    4. Migrate to a new authentication provider 
    5. Asset settings
    6. Authentication settings
    7. Privacy and security contacts
    8. Console settings
    9. Manage encryption  
  5. Manage users
    1. Overview
    2. Administrative roles
    3. User management strategies
      1. Manage users individually   
      2. Manage multiple users (Bulk CSV)
      3. User Sync tool (UST)
      4. Microsoft Azure Sync
      5. Google Federation Sync
    4. Assign licenses to a Teams user
    5. In-app user management for teams
      1. Manage your team in Adobe Express
      2. Manage your team in Adobe Acrobat
    6. Add users with matching email domains
    7. Change user's identity type
    8. Manage user groups
    9. Manage directory users
    10. Manage developers
    11. Migrate existing users to the Adobe Admin Console
    12. Migrate user management to the Adobe Admin Console
  6. Manage products and entitlements
    1. Manage products and product profiles
      1. Manage products
      2. Buy products and licenses
      3. Manage product profiles for enterprise users
      4. Manage automatic assignment rules
      5. Entitle users to train Firefly custom models
      6. Review product requests
      7. Manage self-service policies
      8. Manage app integrations
      9. Manage product permissions in the Admin Console  
      10. Enable/disable services for a product profile
      11. Single App | Creative Cloud for enterprise
      12. Optional services
    2. Manage Shared Device licenses
      1. What's new
      2. Deployment guide
      3. Create packages
      4. Recover licenses
      5. Manage profiles
      6. Licensing toolkit
      7. Shared Device Licensing FAQ
  7. Get started with Global Admin Console
    1. Adopt global administration
    2. Select your organization
    3. Manage organization hierarchy
    4. Manage product profiles
    5. Manage administrators
    6. Manage user groups
    7. Update organization policies
    8. Manage policy templates
    9. Allocate products to child organizations
    10. Execute pending jobs
    11. Explore insights
    12. Export or import organization structure
  8. Manage storage and assets
    1. Storage
      1. Manage enterprise storage
      2. Adobe Creative Cloud: Update to storage
      3. Manage Adobe storage
    2. Asset migration
      1. Automated Asset Migration
      2. Automated Asset Migration FAQ  
      3. Manage transferred assets
    3. Reclaim assets from a user
    4. Student asset migration | EDU only
      1. Automatic student asset migration
      2. Migrate your assets
  9. Manage services
    1. Adobe Stock
      1. Adobe Stock credit packs for teams
      2. Adobe Stock for enterprise
      3. Use Adobe Stock for enterprise
      4. Adobe Stock License Approval
    2. Custom fonts
    3. Adobe Asset Link
      1. Overview
      2. Create user group
      3. Configure Adobe Experience Manager Assets
      4. Configure and install Adobe Asset Link
      5. Manage assets
      6. Adobe Asset Link for XD
    4. Adobe Acrobat Sign
      1. Set up Adobe Acrobat Sign for enterprise or teams
      2. Adobe Acrobat Sign - Team feature Administrator
      3. Manage Adobe Acrobat Sign on the Admin Console
    5. Creative Cloud for enterprise - free membership
      1. Overview
  10. Deploy apps and updates
    1. Overview
      1. Deploy and deliver apps and updates
      2. Plan to deploy
      3. Prepare to deploy
    2. Create packages
      1. Package apps via the Admin Console
      2. Create Named User Licensing Packages
      3. Manage pre-generated packages
        1. Manage Adobe templates
        2. Manage Single-app packages
      4. Manage packages
      5. Manage device licenses
      6. Serial number licensing
    3. Customize packages
      1. Customize the Creative Cloud desktop app
      2. Include extensions in your package
    4. Deploy Packages 
      1. Deploy packages
      2. Deploy Adobe packages using Microsoft Intune
      3. Deploy Adobe packages with SCCM
      4. Deploy Adobe packages with ARD
      5. Install products in the Exceptions folder
      6. Uninstall Creative Cloud products
      7. Use Adobe provisioning toolkit enterprise edition
    5. Manage updates
      1. Change management for Adobe enterprise and teams customers
      2. Deploy updates
    6. Adobe Update Server Setup Tool (AUSST)
      1. AUSST Overview
      2. Set up the internal update server
      3. Maintain the internal update server
      4. Common use cases of AUSST   
      5. Troubleshoot the internal update server
    7. Adobe Remote Update Manager (RUM)
      1. Release notes
      2. Use Adobe Remote Update Manager
    8. Troubleshoot
      1. Troubleshoot Creative Cloud apps installation and uninstallation errors
      2. Query client machines to check if a package is deployed
  11. Manage your Teams account
    1. Overview
    2. Update payment details
    3. Manage invoices
    4. Change contract owner
    5. Change your plan
    6. Change reseller
    7. Cancel your plan
    8. Purchase Request compliance
  12. Renewals
    1. Teams membership: Renewals
    2. Enterprise in VIP: Renewals and compliance
  13. Manage contracts
    1. Automated expiration stages for ETLA contracts
    2. Switching contract types within an existing Adobe Admin Console
    3. Value Incentive Plan (VIP) in China
    4. VIP Select help
  14. Reports & logs
    1. Audit Log
    2. Assignment reports
    3. Content Logs
  15. Get help
    1. Contact Adobe Customer Care
    2. Support options for teams accounts
    3. Support options for enterprise accounts
    4. Support options for Experience Cloud

Create policies that control the applications your users can install and update.

For IT admins

Self-service policies allow IT Admins to apply customization options for end users to install and update Creative Cloud apps via the Creative Cloud desktop app.

For end users

Based on the policies set by the IT Admin, the end-user experience will change within the Creative Cloud desktop app.

This article covers the steps for both IT admins and end users to make use of self-service policies.

For IT admins

As an admin, on the Admin Console, you will need to apply the required customization settings on a product profile. What this means, is that you apply self-service policies at the product profile level. This then ensures that the policy applies to all end users included in that product profile.  

Apply self-service policies

  1. Log in to the Admin Console and navigate to Products and click a product profile.

  2. Go to the Permissions tab and click Edit on the Self-service policies line item.

  3. By default, the self-service policy of a product profile is turned off. You will need to explicitly turn on the self-service policy for each product profile, as required.

    Self-service policies

And, specify the policies as follows:

User Managed

User Managed policies define the level of control that users have on how and when they install and update applications on their machines.

User managed

1. Automatically update all applications

The Auto-update toggle on the Creative Cloud desktop app on client machines, is visible and available to end users under Preferences. When enabled, it will update end user apps automatically as soon as new versions are released. However, note that end users will also need to turn on automatic updates in the Creative Cloud desktop app.

Note:

If this checkbox is not selected, end users will not see the Auto-update toggle in their Creative Cloud desktop app.

Details of end-user experience.

2. Make updates available 30 days after release

Updates are made available to your end users 30 days after Adobe has released them.

This means that, if Adobe releases a new version of an application today, it will not be visible for 30 days in your end users Creative Cloud desktop app.

Details of end-user experience.

3. Enable "show older apps" option in Creative Cloud desktop app

The Show older apps toggle will be visible under preferences in your end users Creative Cloud Desktop app if this option is selected. End users have the access to (can update and install) End of life apps such as Adobe Muse. If this option is not selected, end users will not see this toggle in their Creative Cloud Desktop app. 

Details of end-user experience.

Checking multiple User Managed options

The User Managed options described above are not mutually exclusive. This means that you can check multiple options.

Some example scenarios:

To turn on the auto-update feature for end users and make updates available after 30 days.

Pick options one and two

Pick options one and two

To ensure users need to manually update applications.

But they'll only see updates 30 days after release and to turn on the show older apps feature.

Pick options one and two

To turn on both the auto-update and show older app features:

Restricted

Disable the Apps panel on the Creative Cloud desktop app. This prevents end users from installing or updating applications. And since the Apps panel is not available, users are not even able to view the applications in the Apps panel.

Restricted self-service policy

Details of end-user experience.

Common questions (for IT admins)

A policy will be applied for users within 24 hours of the admin assigning the policy to the product profile.

To apply a policy immediately, ask your users to do one of the following:

  • Sign out and sign back into their Adobe account.
  • Quit and relaunch Creative Cloud desktop app.
  • Click Check for updates in Creative Cloud desktop app.

No. The policy is applied at the Creative Cloud desktop level and will be valid for all Creative Cloud apps.

For instance, if an Automatically update all applications policy is applied to a Photoshop offer, then in the Creative Cloud desktop app, all Creative Cloud apps will be made available for automatic updates.

By default, self-service policies are turned off. So, this does not impact existing product profiles. However, you can use this feature to apply policies on profiles that you've previously created. Or even on default product profiles available on the Admin Console.

The policy is applied at the Creative Cloud desktop level and will be valid for all Creative Cloud apps.

For instance, if the Make updates available 30 days after release policy is applied to a Photoshop offer, then in the Creative Cloud desktop app, all Creative Cloud apps will be made available 30 days after their release.

Self-service policies always take precedence over Managed package settings.

So, say you create a managed package and choose the Enable Self-service option and deploy that package to a user machine. Now, you apply the Restricted policy setting to a product profile and add that user to the product profile. The Restricted policy setting will apply to the user.

Currently self-service policies can be applied to product profiles that are based on Creative Cloud products. Policies are not available for product profiles that are based on Document Cloud or non-Creative Cloud products.

No. Policies are only available for Named User Licensing.

We recommend not applying conflicting policies to users in multiple product profiles. If users are in multiple product profiles with multiple User Managed policies selected, all user managed policies are set. If a user is in multiple product profiles with a User Managed and Restricted policy set, the User Managed policy will take precedence.

No. Currently policies are valid only for Creative Cloud apps.

Yes. Self-service policies are applied to a product profile. You can add users to the product profile by any means: individually, by CSV bulk upload, by using the User Sync tool.

For end users

If your Creative Cloud apps are licensed by an organization, how you install and update apps via the Creative Cloud desktop app, will depend on how the admin in your organization has set up the Creative Cloud desktop environment on your computer.

Apps panel disabled error

If you see the following error on the Apps tab of your Creative Cloud desktop app, your admin has disabled the option to install or updates apps on your computer.

You don't have access to manage apps

Note for admins:

The Apps panel is disabled if:

Auto-update

If your admin has enabled automatic updates, ensure that the Auto-update option on your Creative Cloud desktop app is turned on. If it is turned on, you are not required to explicitly install or update Adobe applications on your machine. These will be kept up to date automatically.

To stop the automatic install and update of apps on your machine:

  1. Open the Creative Cloud desktop app on your computer.
  2. Click the Preferences icon in the upper-right corner of the Creative Cloud desktop app.
  3. Navigate to the Apps tab.
  4. Turn off Auto-update.
Auto-update applications

When the Auto-update option is applied, your apps will be automatically updated as soon as new versions are released.

Auto-update first time use

Note:

 This option is available only if your admin has enabled automatic updates for you. Which means that, if you don't see this option in the Apps tab, your admin has disabled automatic updates. You will need manually update the apps on your computer.

Show older apps

asdf

To see (and installEnd of life apps such as Adobe Muse. 

Note: This option is available only if your admin has enabled Show older apps for you. Which means that, if you don't see this option in the Apps tab, your admin has disabled Show older apps. You will need not have the option to see or install End of life apps.

 Adobe

Get help faster and easier

New user?