Set up ManageEngine for Windows

For companies without Microsoft 365 Business Premium, ManageEngine Mobile Device Manager Plus manages up to 25 devices for free, with no time limit, from the cloud.

What the free edition includes

• Up to 25 devices, free with no time limit.
• The full feature set. The free edition is not a cut-down version.
• Windows, Apple and Android devices, from one console.
• A choice of cloud or on-premises. Choose cloud, and there is no server for you to run.

A new account starts as a 30-day trial with no device limit, then carries on free for up to 25 devices.

Create the account

1. Sign up for Mobile Device Manager Plus Cloud at manageengine.com with a company email address, not a personal one.
2. Create the account in your company’s name. As with Apple Business, the account should belong to the business rather than to the person who set it up.

Enroll Windows PCs

ManageEngine offers several ways in. For a handful of PCs, invitations are the simplest:

• Invite enrollment: you send an email invitation from the console, and the person follows its instructions on the PC.
• Self enrollment: people enroll their own devices by signing in. This needs Microsoft Entra ID or Active Directory sign-in turned on first.
• Automatic enrollment through Microsoft Entra ID, for PCs joining a Microsoft 365 account, and Windows Autopilot for new PCs. Both need Microsoft Entra ID.

On the PC itself, enrollment happens under Settings, Accounts, Access work or school, using Enroll only in device management.

Settings to put in place first

• Disk encryption with BitLocker. Before encrypting anything, confirm where the console keeps the recovery keys, and that you can retrieve one.
• Windows updates installed on a schedule, rather than left to the person.
• A password policy and an automatic screen lock.
• Wi-Fi, so staff are never handed the network password.

Give Virtisphere access

Add us as a named user with a role that fits the work. The built-in Technician role can manage inventory, profiles and apps but cannot change administrative settings, which is the right level for day-to-day device work. Users and roles are managed under Admin, User Administration. See Give Virtisphere access.