The Problem with Local Policy Templates
When you edit a Group Policy Object (GPO) on a Domain Controller, the Group Policy Management Editor loads its Administrative Templates (.admx files) from the local C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions folder. This creates a massive problem in enterprise environments: if you import a new template (like Google Chrome settings) to DC-01, an administrator logging into DC-02 will not see those settings because the templates are not replicated. The solution is creating a Central Store, a specialized folder inside the SYSVOL share that automatically replicates all your ADMX templates to every Domain Controller in the domain.
Step 1: Locate the SYSVOL Directory
Log in to your Primary Domain Controller (PDC Emulator). Open File Explorer and navigate to the root of your domain’s SYSVOL share. The default local path is:
C:\Windows\SYSVOL\domain\Policies
Alternatively, you can access it via the network path: \\yourdomain.local\SYSVOL\yourdomain.local\Policies.
Step 2: Create the Central Store Folder
Inside the Policies folder, you will see several folders with long GUID names (these represent your actual GPOs).
You must create a new folder here exactly named: PolicyDefinitions.
Active Directory is hard-coded to look for this specific folder name. Once this folder exists, all Domain Controllers will instantly stop using their local templates and will pull from this central network location instead.
Step 3: Copy Your Existing Templates
Currently, your new Central Store is completely empty. If you open a GPO now, you will have no settings available.
Navigate to your local machine’s template folder: C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions.
Copy every single file and folder located inside this directory, and paste them into your newly created Central Store (\\yourdomain.local\SYSVOL\yourdomain.local\Policies\PolicyDefinitions).
Note: This includes the hundreds of .admx files in the root, as well as the language-specific folders (like en-US) which contain the .adml translation files.
Step 4: Verify the Central Store is Active
To confirm you have successfully created the Central Store, open the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC).
Right-click any GPO and select Edit. In the Group Policy Management Editor, expand Computer Configuration > Policies, and click on Administrative Templates.
Look at the description text next to the folder icon. It should now say: “Administrative Templates: Policy definitions (ADMX files) retrieved from the central store.”
Step 5: Install Custom Third-Party Templates
Now that the Central Store is active, managing third-party policies is incredibly easy. For example, if you download the official Google Chrome ADMX templates, simply extract the ZIP file, and copy the chrome.admx file into the root of your Central Store, and the chrome.adml file into the en-US folder.
Within minutes, DFSR (Distributed File System Replication) will copy those files to every other Domain Controller in your network. Any administrator, on any DC, will now see the Google Chrome configuration options when editing a GPO.